Where do I begin? Let's talk about the ambience. To call this place rustic would probably capture…read moreit best, it's really probably more like a cafeteria or a school room at a very old school. Tables perhaps a bit close together, not terribly comfortable. Loud, busy.
As far as the service, it was our impression that our waiter was the only person serving the 30 or so tables in their dining room. Suffice it to say the service was not fast and not good. Inexplicably, every time we ordered a Coke we were asked if we wanted a Coke Zero. If I wanted a Coke Zero I would have said the words Coke Zero. Even when I asked for another Coke, he again asked "Coke Zero?" It took next to forever to get the check, and forever to get a cappuccino. At one point I took it upon myself to point the waiter to a table behind us that had been desperately attempting to get his attention. This was all not good.
As to the food. First, our fault for not knowing what tataki meant. We did not expect to receive salmon that was seared on the outside and raw on the inside. So that one is on us, although we also think the meal came tepid at best. The lamb on couscous was dry and tough. The pork cheek stew was actually pretty good if a bit gluey. The calamari was good. The sushi as they called it was average. What they called the tiramisu was more like a pudding with some liqueur and chocolate on the top, and a little bit of breadish stuff in the bottom. Not my idea of tiramisu, and probably not yours either. So we could not get too excited about these various dishes.
But what was particularly frustrating and bizarre was that two people sitting across from us ordered food that looked absolutely delicious. So we got to sit there wondering why we didn't order what they ordered. They ordered a large beef dish with potatoes which is on the menu, and we think they ordered a large octopus meal although we are not sure. Everything they had looked better than anything we had. So it may be that we somehow just picked the wrong items.
So it was a strangely frustrating meal. This place has good reviews and we expected good tasting food. Unfortunately it did not work out that way, and the ambience and service were negative contributing factors. I can't entirely write this place off, only because the food other diners received actually looked very good. But I don't think I would go there again.