Il Fornaio IFSC — Restaurant in Dublin

I used to be a frequent visitor to "Il Fornaio", pre-Covid, and thought highly of the place. I took my family there last night with great expectations. Roberto, the chef, was on a night off, unfortunately, as I had boasted his ability and talent. We started with a shared platter of salamis and cold meats, which was, though poorly presented and thrown together, of great quality and very tasty. A bottle of Nero d'Avola, reasonably priced at €32, was also very satisfying. A pasta and mushroom dish followed, looking like a dark brown mess on the plate, and tasting very coarse and heavy. No effort at presentation, more like slops at a school canteen. Pizzas followed in a heavy, doughy, shapeless mess. Hints of cheese and tomato failing to get though the dryness of overkooked chorizo. The lucky person with the Calzone was the only one to manage more than half. Some sense of clumsy effort here, and a lot less dry and heavy, though still an overly doughy base. Deserts, which used to be lovely, came ready made and tasted as though they had sat in the display cabinet longer than one would have wished. A chocolate cake was terribly dry and stale, and Tiramisu, mostly cream, no texture, and clearly not fresh, served effortlessly in the plastic box from the factory. A taste of each was enough and they also got removed from the table uneaten. Service was of a maching standard to this unfortunate experience. A young surly waiter clearly didn't want to be there. We had to ask four times for a jug of water, and similarly for anything else. Poor English is no excuse for not trying. Previous waitresses in the place had varying levels of English, but never let that hinder perfect service. This young man appears to have had little to no training in his job, and clearly had no interest in our experience, which is why, exceptionally, I share it here instead. I am sorely disappointed with this place, of which I used to speak so...

Really bad experience. I asked for a pizza only with aubergine mozzarella and tomato and the chef refused to prepare it because it was not on menu but they had aubergine in another pizza having the same basis of Mozzarella and tomato in the menú, unfortunately this pizza also contained Peppers and onion ( that I cannot eat) so I asked, since they had These ingredients, if they could please prepare that one just removing the other ingredientes. The waitress said it was possible but eventually the chef prepared the pizza with also the other ingredients knowning that I said twice that I could not eat them. I had to pick them manually and removed from my pizza. This was so rude! I ve been living in the same building for one year but after This episode I never went anymore ( I eat pizza once por week but I prefered to go elsewhere). In addition they close at nine but already at 8.30 they make you feel on a Rush because they Want to close. Really bad experience and also, as an Italian, I can say that pizza is not good! Just to rectify after your reply: I'm really sure about the place , I'm not really sure if the menú has changed because it was over one year ago ( maybe its not in the current menú but watching in the photos pubblished in the previous years by the customers I can see it). I'm pretty sure there was aubergine written there at that time, if it was not maybe I don't remember well and I asked for a margherita with only Peppers and you refused and brought me a pizza that also contained onion and other ingredients that I cannot eat. I'm 100% sure about it because I specified more times and eventually you didn't want to do it even tought you had all the ingredients so I had to manually remove them from my dish. The name of the pizza...

We recently stopped by this Italian restaurant for lunch while attending an event at the 3Arena. The space is small but cozy, offering an authentic Italian atmosphere that feels inviting at first glance.

Upon arrival, the chef greeted us with “Table for two?” but quickly followed with, “Do you have a reservation?” in a rather abrupt manner. Given that the restaurant was nearly empty at the time—just one other table that left shortly after we sat down—it felt unnecessary. Even during our visit, only about four more tables filled up, leaving us puzzled as to why reservations seemed such a priority.

The food was a mix of highs and lows. The bruschetta featured unusually large chunks of tomato, which wasn’t what we’d typically expect from Italian-style bruschetta, leaving us a little underwhelmed. Traditionally, bruschetta is topped with finely diced tomatoes to ensure a harmonious blend of flavours and ease of eating, so this deviation felt off. The pizza was tasty but overly juicy and runny, making it difficult to eat without spilling the toppings. While Neapolitan pizzas can have a soft and slightly moist centre due to fresh ingredients, this one crossed the line into excessive. It didn’t align with traditional Italian pizza preparation or even photos we’d seen in other reviews, which made it a bit disappointing.

The service was prompt, though the staff carried an air of rudeness that was hard to overlook. Despite arriving soaked from a downpour, we were dressed smartly and made an effort to be polite, so the attitude felt uncalled for.

Overall, while the food wasn’t bad, the service and atmosphere left much to be desired. Unfortunately, this experience didn’t leave us...