TRATTORIA ROMA — Restaurant in Bucharest

Interesting place. Looks good from the outside but once you get in it's a rollacoster of frustrations and disappointments. Service is rather slow and messy. After our appetizers we've received a new set of fork and knife thrown directly on the placemat. I asked for some napkins but after waiting 5 minutes for that I just went and get some from the bar myself as the food was getting cold and I simply wanted to clean a bit the cutlery that rested on the placemats. The food is mediocre, decent at most. I had a sea food salad as appetizer which tasted only like vinegar and olives. Luckily we've also ordered a focacia and that was really good, freshly made, served fast and superdelicious. The second course was the grilled octopus with grilled vegetables. The octopus wasn't overcooked but lacked flavor. The vegetables were absolutely discussting. I was glad they were served on a separate plate. (photo uploaded) My wife ordered grilled shrimps with oil and garlic and baked potatoes on the side. They were tasty but the portion consisted of only 5 small shrimps. In the beginning we thought maybe we were unlucky but during the dinner a table of 6 close to us was also wildly compalingin about the service and the food which sort of made us think that that was indeed the standard there. If you must eat at Trattoria Roma your best bet are pasta and wine. It's rather hard to mess up pasta and they actually have a nice variety of wines. If you're looking for Italian dishes, look...

I had a medium rare steak with gorgonzola sauce and some potatoes in the oven. Not bad, but somehow to organize them better in the plate. The steak-gorgonzola sauce combination was unfortunate, I couldn't enjoy my dinner at its finest. Potatoes looked ordinary, but tasted nicely. The Aperol saved the night. I would recommend to improve the plating quality, as it is mediocre, and to serve the sauce separately. Update: Thank you for the response and my apologies for the delay. I just read your answer few minutes back. I appreciate you took the time to respond, but I think you missed the point of my review. Perhaps a quick look at the attached two photos will help you have a better understanding of why I was dissatisfied with the plating. I recall that the food was good, but when you are choosing a restaurant with prestige and history since 2002 I would assume you take into account the full experience of the customer and this implies the presentation of the dishes. I really hope my first review has been handled as opportunity to improve during these 8 months. If so, yes, I would be very happy to...

Not a particularly great restaurant overall, definitely not great for Italian.

The good: service was polite and otherwise quick, not much to dislike about it. The bathroom was also relatively clean and the place itself is a little off the beaten path.

The bad: pretty much everything else, starting with the food. I was with a small group and all of us ordered different types of pasta. The carbonara was basically a pasta omelette with regular ham. The AOP was extremely (not using this word lightly) salty, which made the spiciness feel worse than it should have. The "house" pasta looked and tasted like penne with ketchup and mayo. The seafood pasta didn't taste horrible, but it looked terrible.

This was a one time experience for me, and I would likely not try again, ever. However, I do know folks who work nearby that swear by it. So attempt if you wish, but maybe steer clear of the...