Pinocchio Italian Restaurant - Temple Bar — Restaurant in Dublin

An experience that was mediocre at best with sub par service, small portions and inefficienct restaurant service on show. We would not recommend pinocchio restaurant and will likely not return.

We visited on may 24th in the evening with a large group.

On arrival our table was prepared beside the kitchen door and toilet. This in itself is not a problem but the positioning of the table meant that any other customers had to ask people at our table to move in order to access the toilet. We had a wheelchair user with us and were moved as a result of that to another table at the front of the restaurant but this likely would have not been the case had we been a full able bodied group. A large table should never have been placed there and the restaurant was clearly overbooked. The staff were friendly but the service was slow and lacking which was a management issue and not a reflection on the regular staff. We waited approximately an hour and a half for our mains to arrive. There were four carbonaras which were not hot and of very different portion sizes. The pizza was not cut and a sharp knife not provided which entailed some issues. The monkfish was not a full fillet and was a little too old and there was a strong fish odour despite the sauce. Overall the portions were too small at the price point and the quality did not justify their size either.

A deposit of €100 and a service charge were present despite the lack of organisation and prompt service. The restaurant looks to have a high influx of tourist patrons given its location and is likely one of their main clientele. The term "tourist trap" would be appropriate. The table placement is also high density and the restaurant is very loud and very hot when full which some of our group found unpleasant.

It is difficult to highlight any positives from...

Where do I begin, for starters I would describe this place as a dismal.

Were seated about an inch away from the next table, I can deal with that but others didn’t like it and left.

Waited over 15 mins to order any drinks/food. Starter came quickly was bang average. Still no drinks, table was cleared after 25 mins. Main meals arrived, still no drinks nor did we have cutlery asked 3 members of staff before we could get cutlery or drinks.

Drinks arrived “apple juice” maybe a fermented carton of apple that’s been lying at the back of a fridge for a few months.

Partner ate his main meal said it was alright my meal was tomato pasta, more like a watery soup with pasta barely touched it.

Overall the service in this restaurant is terrible, the staff were all super friendly but there is no organisation nor ownership for responsibility. Everyone running around like headless chickens. Basic table service like ensuring a table has enough cutlery or serving drinks and not having to wait nearly 50 mins for them.

Disappointing as reviews seemed alright but genuinely a shame for the staff.

A lot of unhappy tables around me, when we were leaving the table behind us were extremely unhappy arguing...

Maybe they were having a bad night but... It wasn't busy at all when we arrived and the staff were friendly. I ordered Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli in a tomato sauce and that's exactly what I got, the sauce was so bland it was like they opened a pack of passata and chucked in a few cherry tomatoes for good measure. The portion was pretty small for the price and I was left hungry. I ordered a Marinara Pizza (traditional, Italian pizza with no cheese). I was brought a Margherita Pizza (lots of cheese). When the right pizza arrived it was delicious. I then asked which desserts were vegetarian, after checking with the kitchen they said they all were as there was no meat, just milk. I specifically asked if anything was set with gelatine, I was told no. I ordered a passion fruit tart and would be fairly confident in saying it was set with gelatine. My husband ordered a tiramisu, which looked lovely but about a third of the way through he pulled out a long brown hair (definitely not his!). They also market themselves as 'Flavour of Italy' and a cookery school, it's definitely not any flavour of Italy that I've ever had....