Ristorante Citysea — Restaurant in Palermo

My partner and I recently visited this restaurant with high expectations, especially considering its past inclusion in the Michelin Guide in 2020 and 2021.

Unfortunately, our experience fell far short of the level of service and attention to detail one would expect from such recognition.

From the beginning, there were several service-related issues that impacted our evening.

Water and menu took 15 minutes noticing other table arrived after and served before, we were there 1h before we received any food.

We asked for some olive oil to enjoy with our bread — a simple request — but it never arrived until we had to ask again. For some reason other table had the bottle of oil on the table and us not.

There seemed to be a general lack of communication among the staff, particularly regarding basic things like water refills and order taking, which took longer than expected.

We initially sat outside but requested to move inside due to the heat. We were accommodated, but the table we were brought to had a wilted, dead rose on it — not something you want to see when sitting down for a fine dining experience. Plus a dirty wine glass on the table, seemed that that table wasn’t checked. We ordered a steak and surprisingly were not asked how we’d like it cooked. When I inquired, the waiter/ manager (not sure) said I should have told them in advance, which didn’t reflect the level of attentive service we anticipated.

Furthermore, no one asked us about dietary restrictions — a crucial oversight. My partner is allergic to eggs, and yet the first starter they brought out included egg. Even after we mentioned her allergy, the next dish, a misto fritto, was served with mayonnaise. Unfortunately, the quality of the food also didn’t make up for the service issues. The shrimp were not cleaned properly and the steak which we asked medium rare was more like medium well, which was disappointing.

And finally, we noticed the steak was billed as 1kg, but when checked, it was only 850g — not a minor discrepancy when priced by weight.

We have been charged for a 14.2€ service fee for no service.

We came in hoping for a special evening, but left feeling quite underwhelmed. While the setting and past accolades suggested a refined experience, the execution — both in service and food — was not what we expected.

I hope the restaurant takes this feedback constructively and revisits some of its service standards, especially considering the expectations it has set...

We so much looked forward to drinking a cocktail here. But unfortunately we couldn’t, despite we tried.

A young lady welcomed us at the entrance and asked to go upstairs for the drinks. As soon as we went upstairs, we could not hear our voices unless almost screaming in front of each other’s face as the music was extremely loud. We waited for a couple of minutes and a waiter showed us a little corner with some kind of small sofas where to sit. Unfortunately it was next to the dj so the music was even louder. We needed to speak very loud to manage to barely hear what we were saying.

We really could not stand that, as we went for a cocktail after dinner, not for having fun in a disco. Therefore, unfortunately, we left without being able to order anything as it was really too much of that loud music.

The interior design of the place is magnificent, very very modern and stylish, the people working there were extremely busy, but very polite.

I guess it might be a nice place in daytime, when hopefully there is not any dj playing, or any loud music on, and people are able to enjoy a cocktail while chatting without getting a sore throat for having shouted loud.

Very sorry about that. Very unfortunate...

Former food and wine critic here… i NEVER post neg reviews; i know this is a rough business. But wow. They demanded €1200 in advance For New Year’s Eve for 6. Days before, Two of our group ended up unable to come; we warned them days in advance but they refused to offer a partial refund. They confirmed res for 7pm. when we got there, they refused to seat us or even let us inside until 830, so we stood in the cold for 90 minutes (nye and “no. The bar is closed”. Srsly?). By 1130 we had gotten four mediocre appetizers. one of us who ate oysters spent the next day projectile vomiting and we missed our long awaited trip to trapani. Service was… let’s say “aggressive?”A wandering alto sax player practically had his spit valve on my partner’s head- deafening. Sicily is my favorite food destination on earth. it gives me no happiness to say this. We left after eating MAYBE one tenth of what i paid for, most of which was yakked out the window of a rental car near castellamare...