Trattoria del Cavaliere — Restaurant in Catania

As someone who has spent five years as a commercial fisherman and a lifetime eating and preparing seafood, I approached this Italian restaurant in Sicily with high hopes, eager for the fresh, bold flavors that the region is known for. Unfortunately, what I encountered was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had—both in the kitchen and front of house.

Let’s start with the carbonara. What was served bore little resemblance to the classic Roman dish. Instead of a silky, emulsified sauce made from egg yolks, pecorino, and guanciale, I was presented with a plate of pasta swimming in oil and dotted with what could only be described as scrambled eggs. It was clear the cook had either no understanding of the technique or no care for execution—likely both. The dish was clumsy, dry in some parts, greasy in others, and completely devoid of flavor.

Then came the seafood, which, given my background, I can identify blindfolded in terms of freshness. The smell hit the table before the plate did—an unmistakably sour, fishy aroma that can only come from seafood that is either frozen improperly or well past its prime. The texture was rubbery and the flavor offensive. This wasn’t just disappointing; it was potentially dangerous. Any establishment serving seafood in this condition should be ashamed—and health-inspected.

As bad as the food was, the service somehow managed to be worse. The staff was shockingly rude, dismissive, and entirely unprofessional. When I politely raised my concerns about the seafood’s quality, I was met not with understanding, but with instant defensiveness and thinly veiled hostility. There was no acknowledgment of the issues—only an arrogant insistence that everything was fine and that I must not know what I’m talking about. That kind of arrogance might fly with tourists, but not with someone who has pulled fresher fish out of the sea in the middle of a storm than they managed to plate on a calm evening.

To say I left hungry would be an understatement—but more than that, I left angry. Sicily deserves better representation of its proud culinary tradition than what this place offers. If you’re looking for fresh, well-prepared Italian food with a side of hospitality, do yourself a favor and eat literally...

If there was a way to give negative stars, this restaurant would certainly have me considering it. It's surprising to say, but I've encountered more authentic and enjoyable Italian cuisine far from Italy’s shores. The high ratings this place boasts leave one scratching their head—how many of them can we take at face value?Starting with the "Cozze impepata," I was left wondering what was more disappointing: the noticeable grit in the mussels or the absence of meat in many of them. The adventure continued with a pistachio and speck pasta that seemed to redefine 'al dente' by simply eliminating the need to chew at all. And if the goal was pistachio pesto, what was served missed the mark by a mile, resembling more a cream pasta with a nod to pistachios. The bruschetta, too, seemed like a missed opportunity. One imagines that even a modest attempt at home might surpass what was offered, which was essentially a sparse scattering of supermarket tomatoes on bread.Even the sparkling water managed to defy expectations by being anything but sparkling, despite what the label promised.And then there’s the service, which, even in a hypothetical world where the food was outstanding, wouldn't let the restaurant's rating soar. From the almost theatrical indifference in serving bread and starters to the apparent quest of the waitstaff to be anywhere but engaging with customers. The experience of being pointed towards another waiter when asking for service added a layer of unwanted adventure to the dining experience.In a lighter vein of critique, this restaurant could be considered an educational experience on how NOT to do Italian cuisine. It's a unique encounter, one that might leave you with a newfound appreciation for the places that do...

Umm… I really want to give this place a better rating but it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Atmosphere - in this front it was all right. Nothing special but good. I don’t have any particularly negative notes in that’s front.

Service - the survive was all right too. I think it would’ve been a way better experience if we were able to communicate with our server properly. At no point did it feel like we were understanding each other. If felt rushed and confusing.

Food - I think on this long I have the most to say. I’ll start with the menu; they only had Italian physical copies of their menu (which is fine) and a digital version of it in English. The digital version did not make things clear, it was all very… bare minimum. We were more or less choosing things blindly. The food itself was nothing special too. We had the Sicilian Appetizers eh oh looked great and tasted well until we found meat in a meatless selection (great news for a vegetarian). My All’Arabbiata was like any other (it also contained meat, something I’ve never encountered before; I picked it out since it was in fact stated in the menu, something I had unfortunately skipped over initially). The octopus, according to my company, was not great either, same with the linguine do mare.

I… yeah, I think it’s a great place for a different set of people. Probably someone who isn’t vegetarian and in a smaller group. We just weren’t too impressed with our dinner at the end of the day.

Dessert was good though! I had the semifreddo no viola and would...