Simbua — Restaurant in Cagliari

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This restaurant was located on one of the side streets from the main street where a ton of restaurants were located. The walk to the restaurant through the shopping district & the other restaurants was lively with people and made for a fun walk. The restaurant had a pretty big indoor dining area but we (three of us) opted to sit outdoors as we wanted to soak in the atmosphere, the weather was amazing and the sun was just setting. Turned out to be a mixed blessing - there was a bunch of mosquitoes, a large family outing was seated next to us & there were many smokers & worst of all, just a little up at the street corner was where the area decided to place their trash bins. We couldn't smell them but just seeing so many of them out in the plain view detracted from the experience. Ok, enough whining. The food was generally very good with a few disappointments. We based our selections based on seafood & pasta. The best dis was the prawns that came in a dome & then made into soup with tomato base. From aesthetic flair & taste, it was hands down the best dish. The disappointment was the most expensive dish - lobster with pasta. We felt the lobster could have been fresher & the pasta was kind of bland. All the other dishes in between were on the tasty side. So, generally, we enjoyed the dinner and felt it was fairly worth it for the price we paid. Would I come back? Probably not, it was one of those one and done...

From the moment we sat down to the moment we left, our experience was unfortunately disappointing.

It took about 10 minutes for any staff to acknowledge us or bring menus, despite the restaurant not being overly busy. Once we ordered, we received a bowl of bread and some crackers that tasted stale, as if they had been sitting out for days.

We ordered the spaghetti with lobster and a caprese salad. The spaghetti was underwhelming — it resembled a quick, basic pasta dish made at home, with a plain tomato sauce and a few pieces of crab shell on top. The caprese salad consisted of just a few slices of tomato and mozzarella, lacking any presentation or seasoning.

In addition, we had no napkins or ashtray provided, and trying to get the attention of a waiter proved almost impossible. In the end, we had to walk up to the counter to pay because no one came to our table.

Overall, the food was below expectations and the service was inattentive. Definitely not an experience I...

TL;DR: bad food, bad service, does not deserve the current rating at all.

Me and my friends felt unwelcome from the moment we sat down to when we walked out . The waiter looked very annoyed with any questions about the menu (which didn't show which drinks were available).

The restaurant was empty, so there didn't seem to be a justification for such rude service.

My order (grilled octopus) came with the wrong side, and the octopus was chewy. Overall no flavour.

My friends had the carbonara, which was also flavourless. They did like the lasagne Bolognese. The picanha had a mountain of fat on it, with undercooked vegetables on the side. The seared salmon was completely raw inside (in a bad way). The shrimp platter is just confusing.

To top it off, there were lots of flies around the tables and the only ladies' toilet has no seat.

We'd been in Cagliari for 6 days, and this was easily the worst food...