Not impressed in the least with our selections...
Open only for dinner and located in the Sun Palace Resort, El Tratto is nicely appointed, with a wonderful and attentive waitstaff (as is true of the entire resort) and a fine wine list. Having stayed at the resort for 12 days, we passed by the restaurant many times perusing the delicious - sounding menu. I was quite excited when Hubby said he would forego his shorts/t-shirt and put on long pants and a button-down shirt for me! He's AWESOME!
We were seated immediately, our waiter was quick to follow for our beverage order, and a lovely antipasti cart was wheeled to our table...Parma ham, brie and Chihuahua cheeses, marinated mushrooms, olives, crostini and 2 kinds of prepared bruschetta. YUM! Then followed a lovely young lady with fresh, warm rolls, served on the bread plate with olive oil, balsamic and grated parm. (Hubby got seconds)
Our dinner selections included Tuna Carpaccio, Risotto w/ Funghi and Veal Cheeks, and Salmon Ravioli, with Limoncello for dessert. We were psyched!
Tuna Carpaccio - paper thin tuna beautifully presented with thinly sliced onion and celery and 2 breadsticks. After my first bite, it was obvious that the tuna was frozen and sliced as expected... unfortunately it was evidently left to thaw on the service plate and swimming in the thawed liquid. Also the amount of onion/celery was overkill (75% pushed aside). The tuna itself was delicious, albeit drippy.
Risotto w/ Funghi & Veal Cheeks - slightly under-done risotto (a bit soupy at the bottom of the bowl, when it should be creamy, but all-in-all good flavor), perfectly done mushrooms, and I learned that I'm NOT a fan of veal cheeks - as this was my first experience with them. That being said, I found them to be stringy and lacking flavor/seasoning. (IDK...is this the norm?) Since the cubes of meat were more of a garnish and not cooked into the risotto, I just pushed them aside and ate about half of the fairly substantial portion.
Salmon Ravioli w/ Dill & Lemon-Butter Sauce - undercooked (not even to the al dente stage, filling barely warm) and tasted like Costco specials. Nothing fresh about this dish. Hubby returned it. The manager came over quickly, apologized and offered a different selection. He did everything right to rectify the situation, however Hubby wasn't interested (full of antipasti and bread LOL).
Limoncello - this was similar to key lime pie, but without much tang. Totally edible, but meh.
Hubby CAN recommend the lasagna! He had that one night as room-service.
5-stars: atmosphere, service, antipasti, bread, management
2-stars: every one of our selections!
Are we slipping? Getting too fancy? Expecting too much from an all-inclusive resort? The rest of our meals here have been top-notch. If we were walk-in patrons not staying at the Sun Palace, we'd be pissed! But as I've said...all other meals at the Resort have been great read more