Il Cuciniere — Restaurant in Catania

Very disappointed on my last day in Catania. First time I chose a restaurant based on google rating and perhaps it will be the last time. I usually go by hotel recommendations or Michelin website and I learned a lesson to stick to what have worked for me in the past. We ordered i) Sicilian pasta dish 'norma' which is basically spaghetti, tomato sauce, aubergine and cheese. In the past, this dish never failed us. Although it has simple ingredients, this dish was always delicious. This time when we had it, the dish was normal and somehow below our high expectations based on previous experience. ii) seafood risotto ,, i felt the rice was not well cooked and the overall taste was quite strange. My wife said to me the shrimps were smelly. I asked the waiter to take it back to the chef as the dish was not acceptable. They were sorry about this unfortunate experience and offered dessert as an apology. I didn't like that they assumed we didn't like Risotto because of 'personal preference' ,, on the contrary we love risotto ,, we had very good risotto just the day before in the same city 'catania' and in other restaurants around Italy...

This was our worst dining experience in 4 weeks of touring southern Italy. We decided on this restaurant as it was conveniently located in our hotel but were also influenced by the numerous good reviews we read online which we cannot now understand. There was some confusion with the waiter and the order of service - only one of the two of us was having an entree - which is all forgivable. What was not was the quality of the main meals - the pork with fruit sauce was a slab of dry and tough pork neck with, essentially apricot purée with a mound of ‘baked’ (roast cubes) of potato; for the steak - sirloin with a choice of the day’s special sides - the waiter failed to ask how the steak was to be done or what choice of sides (this was the wording on the English menu). We specified medium rare (showed him on Google translate to make it clear). The steak came out well done, no sauce, with a massive pile of potatoes. Could not finish either meal. There are many better places in Catania for lunch and...

The Staff was very friendly, especially Mr. Santos. Nice place to stay with family and friends. The breakfast was very good with fresh juices and local dishes. Having breakfast in the patio was an authentic Sicilian experience. The place ist magnificet but still need some reparations. Our room was well cleaned and we had free drinks in a small fridge. If you go there try the Gin Tonic...