Bar Italia Ristorante — Restaurant in Dublin

In all honesty, I almost gave this place a three out of five stars, but please continue you reading to understand my ratings.

So my partner and I booked this place in April as a celebration for her. Walking in the atmosphere was great. It wasn't too loud nor crowded and we got a nice spot in the corner with good lighting. We were greeted with very friendly Italian staff which very nice to see. The walls upon walls of Wine was quite fascinating and the variety of which is the main selling point of this restaurant.

Moving to the drinks, we both had the Limoncello spritz which tasted amazing. It's been a while since I had a Limoncello but the drinks convinced me to order a crate.

So far so good - but moving on to the food. TLDR: Pretty good, filling and honest food that personally didn't blow me away

Starters - Caprese Salad: This tasted pretty good paired with the Olive oil and vinegar provided. The tomatoes tasted super fresh and was a nice start to the meal. We did get a bit of a laugh due to the portion size though, but I'm not sure if that is the typical size of a Caprese Salad so I won't dive into it too much. 7/10

Starters - Bread Basket and Sticks: I think our server forgot to give us the additional bowl of bread. But, the staff took this mistake to heart and brought us the missing basket. The sticks were great and had good crunch. However, I was slightly disappointed with the Sourdough bread. Personally, I prefer bit more of a crunchy crust, but this comes down to a freshness thing. Not too bad though. 6/10

Before moving onto mains, I enjoyed the confidence that came with the description of your Carbonara dish - 10/10

Main - Tagliatelle fatte da noi al ragù: This tasted pretty good! The sauce was very flavorful and the pasta was cooked to perfection. My partner loved it, but I thought it was a tad bit too wet for me. If the sauce was reduced for another two minutes it would have been perfect for me. It would be nice to have our own Parmesan cheese pot for the table to scoop ourselves. 7/10

Main - Norcina Pizza Likewise, the sourdough dough (haha) used for this pizza tasted amazing. Unfortunately, it was let down by the ingredients ontop. Something just felt missing with the sauce - it didn't really blow me away. The sausage was a bit too crumbly and kept falling off my pizza. The toppings could have tasted better, but don't change the dough! It's perfect. As a note, we were given Chili oil that was a month beyond it's "Best Before Date." While this isn't as drastic as a "Use by date," I suggest checking dates of all your serving bottles to be safe. 6.5/10

Dessert - I'm going to be honest, we were planning on getting dessert but the food was so filling which was a good thing. Although we personally didn't have any, the selection had good variety and we will try the various options if we were to come back.

The staff did leave a lovely note for my partner who was celebrating graduation though which was very thoughtful of them. 10/10

Overall, we spent a little under 80 euro for this meal. Was it worth it? For the food alone, I wouldn't say so. But the location, the ambience, and the hospitality were top notch. If a bit more refinement went into the various recipes, this would be an even better spot for nice dinner for two, or for a big group.

Bar Italia is an honest business that didn't personally blow me away. But, it's all subjective at the end of the day, and I'm sure this place is a must-go/must-return for others.

Final...

Avoid, as I will be in future!

We were out for my birthday and having read great reviews we were really looking forward to the meal. The food was pretty good (especially the Pinsa) but definitely feels overpriced for what you get. Most of the staff were very friendly, however the set up is quite chaotic in the sense that all the wait staff seem to attend to all the tables, as opposed to each focusing on a handful. We were regularly left waiting for long periods before being offered menus, in between courses, before being offered more drinks, etc. We struggled to get any waiter's attention throughout the meal and we actually had to go grab the dessert menus for ourselves, because we were tired of waiting (this was at least 20 minutes after finishing our mains). We ordered some desserts and some coffees and, unfortunately, the cream on the two Irish Coffees we ordered was gone off (it smelt like cheese). It took about 10 minutes just to get a waiter's attention to let them know, my family who had ordered these coffees hadn't even taken a sip because we noticed the smell of the cream straight away and we just wanted them to be taken off the bill (as they were bad and had not been consumed whatsoever). One waiter apologized and took the coffees away, but the waiter who had made the coffees took it upon himself to come back to our table and cause a completely unnecessary scene, arguing with our table that the cream could not be bad as it had only been opened that day it (considering how hot it was that day, to me it was very believable that something like cream could easily go off - and I would not see this alone as a bad reflection on the restaurant). He was adamant there was nothing wrong with the coffees (even though they had already been taken away at this point so he could not check) and he was refusing to take them off the bill. This waiter went as far bringing a 2L bottle of cream to our table which he poured out in front of us to "prove" we we were lying, I guess (?) Even though we assume the cream used in the coffees was likely at the coffee machine (probably in a jug left sitting out in the hot sun at some point) and not the all the way downstairs in the kitchen fridge. Thankfully another more reasonable member of staff tried to remedy the situation and insisted on offering two free shots by way of apology (we had not asked for nor did we expect this) and the coffees were taken off the bill after all. However the ordeal with the other waiter really soured our evening. Mistakes happen and we would not be the type of people to cause any trouble or be rude to staff, but the reaction of this staff member and the way he argued with us was just totally unprofessional and...

I would love to give this restaurant 5 stars, but it is just lacking something, not all courses were consistent.

It is a beautiful stylish restaurant inside, and the owner is there, along with all the staff giving the impression they are Italian.

The starter wasn’t great, a tomato type mix with calamari on bruschetta / sourdough. The bread was fluffy and tasteless, and the calamari was below average, my partner eats calamari a lot and it was not up to scratch and quite rubbery.

Main courses were top class, 10/10. Lasagne was very different, pork and beef, a very saucy lasagne and it melted in your mouth. I got the house special, at €25 you would expect truffle ravioli to be amazing, and it was. It was certainly quality over quantity, as there were only three “ravioli parcels”. Very fresh and tasty, again melted in your mouth.

High quality dining and food, not your typical hearty Italian home made food.

The side order of focaccia bread was disappointing. A bit tough and tasteless with too much salt.

The aperitifs on arrival were interesting, but cocktails would be better or more of a choice of spirits or beer.

Their wine menu is amazing, very very extensive. We had a glass each and it was beautiful.

The desserts were handmade by the pastry chefs, canneloni and tiramisu were available. My partner got the tiramisu and said it was fantastic.

Overall I was impressed, it was certainly different from the typical Dublin dining experience, 8 out of 10.

I would say to anyone who likes Italian food like pizzas, pasta dishes etc and happy with large quantity over quality, do not come here. This is on the more expensive side and high quality of Italian food. Very professional staff and service, with lovely surround and views...