Il Covo Del Pirata — Restaurant in Cefalù

The food was pretty good and fresh, but that was probably the only thing really good thing about this restaurant. We tried to book with them but as English speakers this wasn’t so easy. Their opening times were also not shown anywhere on the internet, so we just chanced it.

As it was our last night in Cefalù my boyfriend and myself wanted something spectacular, so chose this restaurant as it had a sunset view over the beach. Due to our student budget we chose this restaurant over the one next door, but I wish we’d gone next door in the end.

My reasoning for this was that we arrived at around 7:30pm and asked for a seat outside. We were led to the balcony seating, which was ideal, but the majority of seats with a good view were taken. However, there was a 3-seated table at the end with a perfect view which was not labelled as reserved. Once placing the order I politely asked the waiter if we could move to the 3 seated table with the better view so when watching the sunset we weren’t eyeballing the couple adjacent, however he sort of smirked and looked down onto us and said “no, it’s 3 seats”. We thought it was odd but dismissed it.

THEN after thirty minutes the same waiter brought a couple through and placed them on the 3 seater! They didn’t appear to have reservation, and they were definitely not a party of 3! I was upset. For a business that relies upon tourists it is strange for them to treat visitors with such contempt.

Later I visited the bathroom and the view was better from there! The icing on the cake was the added service charge which covered the icy stares and lying staff....

In the middle of the old town, in a stunning location, lurking amongst a sea of quality restaurants lies Il Covo Del Pirata. This pirate isn’t well hidden, its traps are clear. You wander in unknowingly, down the end of a hall which leads from the Main Street to a small over crowded dining room. Now you’re in, the location looks good, so you stay. What follows is disappointing to say the least; Over crowded dining room. Shockingly bad service. A couple of guys who have no interest in service. No interest in customers. Bland food. We had pretty simple options, Bruschetta (no flavour), risotto (no flavour) Parmesan was given but it also had no flavour. Prices don’t match between receipt and menu. A bad wine list completes the set. Wine listed as simply ‘Syrah’, ‘Nero DaVolo’ etc… This was our worst dining experience in Sicily. There are enough fine restaurants in Cefalu to eat in without resorting to these plunderers of...

Great view, horrible food!!! The risotto ai frutti di mare consisted of pre-boiled rice (boiled in water) thrown together with a frutti di mare sauce which certainly has not ever seen any wine. A risotto, which they serve you in less than 5 minutes can‘t be fresh. Once the waiter puts down a bowl of cheap grated supermarket parmesan, you can predict the quality of the cooking already. The carbonara was equally bad, as they used exactly that kind of cheap supermarket parmesan in it, which has not even melted yet. They threw some crispy bacon pieces on top to make it seem authentic. Gordon Ramsay would have a ball with them. It‘s a shame to screw up a perfect location with that kind of food. The place is a tourist nepp, which can only survive as they don’t have to live off...