Gambino — Restaurant in Paris

A disappointing dining experience in Paris

My visit to this restaurant was a true letdown. I ordered the classic Italian carbonara (they offered a Parisian version with cream, which I specifically avoided), expecting the traditional recipe. Instead, I received a plate of soggy, un-drained pasta, swimming in plain water. There was no egg, no parmesan, and definitely no guanciale – just a piece of lightly cooked smoked pork loin thrown on top, finished with a random parsley leaf.

When I politely raised my concerns with the waiter, he smugly insisted that “this is how carbonara is made” and laughed at me, as if I was clueless. I found his tone and attitude incredibly disrespectful.

A woman I believe was the manager stormed over to the table visibly irritated. However, as soon as she reached us, she changed her tone and facial expression, and handled the situation politely. I explained the issue again, and she offered to bring me another dish. I chose a margherita pizza, which arrived half-burnt and equally tasteless. I genuinely think frozen supermarket pizza would have been better.

From the poorly made food to the lack of professionalism and basic courtesy, the whole experience was a major disappointment. I absolutely do NOT...

What a place. What an ambience. And most importantly - the food!!! Came to Paris without any prior research or reservation of any restaurant. On this day, I just knew I wanted to eat Italian food as I overate on baguettes. On our way back from sightseeing we saw this restaurant - came inside unannounced and we were received with a great smile! The atmosphere is calm, somehow cozy and cute. A great place for a date. The servers are treasures. They always seem to see what each customer is requiring, notice when one finishes eating, are not too much obnoxious as some servers can be, and yet they are present and ready anytime you need.

I ordered black truffle pasta. The truffle flavor was just right - not too intense - perfectly balanced. The pizzas are fabulous too.

Recommend!!

If you do not have a reservation, I would recommend going there early, around 19:00, as around 21:00 the place started to get packed (not a...

Looking at my profile you will see I rarely give a bad review. This restaurant was horrible. The bread they brought was moldy. We politely sent it back explaining it was moldy. The waiter did not say a word. Took it back and brought another basket of bread. He explained that he was sorry but they cannot watch everything as they should in a restaurant. Some things are missed. The aexond basket had more mold then the first. We should have left but based on reviews we stayed. Our food came and it was much worse then the olive garden chain in the United Sates. I ate at olive garden once in an emergency at 10 at night. The low price chain was better. Food was not fresh and tatsed terrible. All the other restaurants we ate at in our two weeks of travel in Europe were very good. This restaurant...