mm!! Trattoria — Restaurant in Catania

Posting my girlfriend’s review here since she doesn’t have Google reviews:

I would have given 0, but that wasn’t an option. I have never written a review before (promise) and even thought people who did had too much time on their hands. However, I went to this place today, based on the fact it appears in a book my boyfriend has called ‘Where Chefs Eat’. The book has led us to some of the most incredible meals we have ever had whilst travelling, which I would say are some of the best meals I have ever had.

So, we arrived and were seated promptly. Fine. The food came at a reasonable pace.

The good ends there.

I have been living in Italy for over a year and I have to say it’s the most bland food I have had since I landed. I am even counting the terrible little restaurants we have stopped at along the roadside.

We had caponata (one of my favourite dishes in Italy, ever) which tasted ridiculously sweet and a vongole pasta which was the blandest pasta I have had since being in Italy. The grilled octopus was mediocre at best and was the only dish that made it anywhere near a passable meal.

4 days before we ate at a Michelin place in Agrigento which cost €60 (incl wine) where we had a hell of a lot more food and a much warmer welcome. The entire dinner (bottle of wine, one pasta, one cortoni and one starter) at this place cost us €58.

What annoys me isn’t the absolutely terrible quality of the food. What annoys me is that we received the worst service I have ever had in Italy. Or, more to the point, ever.

I asked for the bill at least 3 times (although they had tried to take our plates multiple times to free our table, well before we were finished) and whilst we waited over 10-15 mins each time, I was repeatedly asked to ‘relax’. I can speak Italian, and our waiter could speak fluent English, so each time being asked to ‘relax’ whilst also being asked to vacate our table was, to say the least, frustrating. It was only when my boyfriend asked for the bill that it finally arrived.

As I say, ‘Where Chefs Eat’ has never steered us wrong before, but this time, I really wish I had listened to the terrible review I read online.

Rude staff and sub-par food. DO....

Besides the mediocre food (compared to other restaurants in the city), the service is what made this experience really bad. We ordered 2 plates of pasta with seafood (one with calamari and the other one with mussels). The portions were rather small for 13 euro per plate, besides that, the pasta was undercooked and the sea food was chewy. But the experience was worsened by the waiter.

We were the only people in the restaurant and when we asked to be seated at a table that was not next to the door, the waiter said that the table next to the door was the only one available. We sat down and asked for the menu in hope that this experience would match the other ones that we had around the city. But just as we started reading through the menu, the waiter started pacing around our table, making me personally feel anxious and watched.

Once the food came, I hoped that the pacing will stop and we will be able to enjoy our food in peace. But no, the waiter kept walking through the restaurant, just behind me, making it very difficult to concentrate on anything else.

About the food now, the pasta was too al dente, or more precisely almost raw. Considering that we were the only 2 people in the restaurant, the 20 min they took to bring us the plates was enough to boil 2 plates of pasta one after the other and still make it edible. The pasta we got though was disappointingly raw, as if they boiled it for 4 minutes tops and added the mussels in my case, without any other ingredients, making it rather bland. And even though I am more of a glass half-full girl, in case of my boyfriend, the plate was rather empty, he was left hungry and even if I offered my plate, he politely declined as he had tried and disliked my pasta, he has never declined eating from my plate!

I would not recommend mm! Tratoria, definetly not worth the money and the anxiety that you get by spending...

I must say that I found nothing remarkable about the culinary experience at this establishment. The dishes were rather bland and overpriced for what they offered in terms of flavour and presentation. The staff were quite lackadaisical and inattentive, constantly interrupting our dining with their aimless wandering. They seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of us, as they brought out our courses before we had finished our previous ones. (I kindly informed them that we were still enjoying our appetisers, but they merely shrugged it off and told us to relax. And mind you, we are not slow eaters by any means…) We felt rushed and unwelcome throughout our meal. When it came time to settle our bill, they stood there with their hands in their pockets (isn’t it customary to inquire if everything was satisfactory?). This may not be a fine dining establishment, but we expected at least some basic courtesy and comfort while eating here. Had we paid 80% less than what we did, we might have overlooked these shortcomings in taste and service. But alas, we were sorely disappointed by this place. They should really strive to improve their standards if they wish to stay...