Passafiume Cantina Bistrot — Restaurant in Cefalù

High prices, awful food, nice setting and friendly service.

At time of review this restaurant has 4.7 stars. A commendable achievement anywhere in the world. However, where these 4.7 stars have come from is a complete mystery. The service was good. This, unfortunately is the only good thing I would have to say about our meal here. The first warning sign should have hit home as the menu states that frozen products are used in lieu of fresh products if unavailable. You would think Sicily would if nothing else have an abundant supply of fresh seafood. We ordered two pasta dishes and a mixed salad. The ravioli with mushrooms and white ragu was edible but nothing special, it was bland and throughout the overwhelming flavour was salt (which was somewhat of a blessing). The squid tagliatelle. Where to start... the tagliatelle was so thick it could pass as udon noodles. The squid was rubbery, very fishy and in such great quantity at times it felt like being in the bowels of a Mediterranean trawler. The mixed salad (and maybe I just don’t get this) consisted mostly of tinned sweet corn. As far as I know tinned sweetcorn is not one of Sicily’s most sought after delicacies, but maybe I’m wrong. All in all this is a nice little place with some of the worst food that I’ve ever eaten. €53 for the above plus two glasses of cheap Nero D’Avola. The positives could not hold back the one star for...

Unfortunately, this was the most disappointing dining experience of our 10-day trip to Sicily. Service was inattentive throughout; we had to request basic essentials such as olive oil and salt and pepper. The bread served was not fresh, and we were informed they had already run out of potatoes — less than 30 minutes after opening.

What’s particularly telling is the pattern in previous reviews: rather than addressing constructive criticism, the management appears more focused on deflecting blame.

Only redeeming feature was the location, very pretty view of the Cathedral.

--‐---------- Thank you for your colourful response. While I appreciate your attempt at humour, it’s unfortunate that genuine feedback has been met with sarcasm rather than reflection. We visited in good faith, hoping for a memorable meal, and left disappointed — not because of missing fries, but due to inattentive service and a lack of basic hospitality.

For context, it began to rain as we were waiting for the bill, not during our meal — and staff showed no urgency or care in helping guests already seated.

Of course, I understand no establishment can please everyone, and statistics speak for themselves. But so do tone and attitude — and I’ll leave others to draw their own...

I’ll start with the immense patience and kindness of the staff, who did not once complain about us when we send back a drink and one of our party had misunderstood the menu due to a “lost in translation” situation that was in reality completely our own fault. They remade the drink and never even made us pay for the dish we didn’t eat.

The waitress recommended the linguini with red prawns and I did not regret this choice at all. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the sauce rich with flavours. The whiskey sour was also exactly what this simple yet layered drink should be and was made with actual sugar instead of syrup that can dilute the whiskey-taste. The same went for the mojitos we had. My friends all liked their dishes with just as much gusto experiencing Italian food as it should be. And my compliments to the staff on...