Bebop — Restaurant in Palermo

Very disappointing evening.

We entered a basically empty restaurant (only 1 other customer besides us) My wife and I were the only other customers, yet it was not possible to get some differentiated choises in the menu. We both needed to order the same dishes or order a la carte (which are exactly the same dishes at a more expensive rate), when dining in big groups I can understand this “rule” but with 3 customers in total in the restaurant it’s just a bit odd and shows lack of service towards the customers. Wine was decent and well presented by the sommelier, yet no one asked us if we liked to have an appetitive upon arrival. also glasses were never topped up.. self service. Amuse buche was good so was the antipasti, a dish based on breadcrumbs and tomato, yet very expensive for the ingredients used, taste was on point but nothing complex. Primi were good. We didn’t bother to order a secundi because no one presented or offered to order a secundi no efforts were made to make us feel comfortable or welcomed at all. Also when the primi were served no explanation of the dish was given nor some details about the used ingredients. Dolci, we didn’t bother to order anything anymore since the tone was set for the night. Very disappointing evening, we were ready to eat a 4 or 5 course menu and spend some money but the lack of professionalism ended the evening early.

If you are in town and looking to enjoy good food in this price range there are much better options (in my opinion). We had superb dining experiences in other restaurants in and near Palermo. The service was below any expectations for this price range. Food was...

I wanted to love this place but...... I didn't, so many aspects of the service, menu and food were at best lacklustre.

The positives, the decor and music are contemporary, well executed and welcoming. However the staff were somewhat disinterested in us when we arrived. We were greeted, told we could sit anywhere and then almost immediately told we couldn't sit where we chose. The menu was QR code based, which would have been OK except the wine we wanted wasn't available..... so update your website!..... it isn't difficult.

The food is complicated to navigate, if you choose the tasting menu; everyone on your table has to have the same options regardless of the potential choices listed. The way it works is you have 2 from the antipasti, 1 from the first section, 1 from the second and then you can choose different desserts.

The food isn't great, largely underwhelming, quite bland and as others have commented tiny tiny portions. The one redeeming course was the parmigiana palermitana. The bread..... there was a fair bit of it, so at least you felt as if you'd eaten but as the meal progressed, the bread definitely got crisper..... beware those of you with sensitive teeth, you could quite easily break one.

And the absolute kicker, the 5 course tasting menu is €55 and the restaurant adds a cover charge of €3 per person. Which by the way is more than some Michelin star restaurants I've visited.

I'm sorry to say overall this was disappointing, bland, style over substance and somewhat...

Disappointing experience. While the place and the food are designed well (look good), the food lacks in terms of creativity, cooking, and quantity, hence, not justifying the price tag and set expectation.

The taste was repetitive across several dishes. For example, the appetizer 'dove il contadino riposa' had similar content (cauliflower in pistachio cream, white moussed sauce, tomato base) as the amuse bouche, and then the mains 'Carciofo aperto sul Brace' again had similar taste and ingredient. This also included the salt flakes. The artichoke dish ('Carciofo ...') was one small piece in a bed of creamy sauce, hardly an appetizer in size or content, but labelled as a mains!! My wife had 'Spaghettoni,, which was a tiny amount of pasta that was under-cooked and swimming in a garlic/olive lemon-tasting sauce (supposedly fermented fish sauce). The other pasta 'Sicilia Barocca' was quite good, incl. the well-cooler al-dente pasta. The other appetizer 'Isola Versante Nord' combined a piece of swordfish with a sweetish sauce to an interesting taste.

There was a somelier, but useless in being there. Asked what we liked and made one proposal. Wow, what an achievemenz for a sommelier! No advice, no choice, no pairing suggestion. Overall, a very disapppointing experience.

We gave feedback to the two friendly lady staff at the end, but they were not interested, it seems. Another reason to avoid a...