FLORENTINO

The food we had here was alright, felt like the flavours and seasoning weren’t as potent on the night we visited. However it was an unreal dining experience in terms of the quality of service we got here. Excellent team working the floor provided us with great insight on the dishes and made our stay here much more enjoyable. Bread was phenomenal tho.

Look out for hidden cost: Came here for my husband’s birthday dinner last night. The service was amazing, the waiters were really attentive but the food was hit and miss. The scallop dish was my favourite. One of the pasta dishes and the goat were good but not a wow factor to justify what they are charging. The other pasta dish we ordered came in a broth and honestly it was not that great. Plus it wasn’t what we ordered but we let it go because it seems like the waiter who took our order was still in training. The reason I am giving it a three star is because at the end of the night, we were really shocked that we got charged for still water. It was never mentioned from the start that we will get charged by the bottle. They never asked us if we want to open a new bottle when we finished one. Would have been nice to be told about it - felt a little cheated by that. I would have gladly drank tap water, and spend the money on another plate of scallops.

Seriously Overpriced and slightly devious with their serving. If you don't have an endless amount of money, this isn't the restaurant for you. The restaurant is beautiful and a silver-service experience. The staff are all well presented and pretty attentive, but the way they present options to you, ends up feeling devious, as they present things on trolleys, but don't tell you which part of the menu it is, so you can understand the cost. Eg. trolley with cheese on it and I asked if could have a very small taster, as my husband doesn't eat cheese and I didn't want a plate full, but they brought big slabs of 2 cheeses with accompaniments, then charged $50. I said at the time that I didn't want that much and the waiter just laughed. The wine ended up being a disappointment. The Sommelier came and asked what sort of wine we'd like and we had a big discussion about the types of red wine we like and stupidly let him pick one, but the one we ended up with, wasn't overly tasty. When I commented about it, he did a big long story about how another type of wine would have changed the taste of the meal. He also ended up giving us a wine that was above the price range we'd discussed, which might have been fine, if the wine was actually good, but instead didn't fulfill our requirements. The meal was nice, but very overpriced! We would recommend the Veal cutlet, but unless you're a big eater, it's worth sharing, which we luckily did. They act like anyone going there should be able to afford the earth! This was definitely the most expensive meal my husband and I have ever had! And didn't feel that it was worth the amount we were charged. Note, the dining experience is very drawn out, so be aware that it will be an all night event. The wait between meals is huge - 80 minutes between the main and dessert. We were very shocked. A minimum of 40 minutes between everything else. It's nice not to be rushed, but the wait was far too long and trying to get the staffs attention to ask for the next meal, wasn't easy. We arrived at 6.30pm and weren't finished till 10.45pm (and we're not slow eaters). I've given an overall rating of 2 stars, because I didn't want to be mean, but to be honest, the price was such a shock, that it ruined our holiday and the actual dining experience. I guess it will be a Once in a Lifetime visit. Such a shame to have our holiday end on that note.

Grossi Florentino, Upstairs We went there to celebrate a friend's 80th birthday...We enjoyed Napier's murals although they are poorly lit. A slice of bread was served to each guest but was not renewed. I hadn’t finished mine when my bread plate was taken away which I discovered later when eating the cheese, when I needed it. We took the $210 formula highly recommended by the service, which is a deceptive tasting menu. One of us had: Quail Terrine. Foie gras, couldn’t find the foie gras. The terrine was very rustic and unsophisticated. Then came the lentils, clam and red pepper dish. The lentils have the promising name of Beluga which sounds nice but the dish was terrible. We had the very strong impression that the red pepper and the calamari were out of a tin!!!!!! After lentils there was a dish of chickpeas with clams. It sounds good but was tasteless and mean (3 tiny clams on top). Also suspect the chickpeas to be out of a can. Then a lone overcooked shrimp (the poor thing). What followed were 2 lobster ravioli, the sauce was nice but the ravioli had been kept warm on the stove for too long and the bottoms were hard. We thought 2 raviolis to be very ungenerous. A risotto with marrow followed; stodgy, reheated, vinegary and scanty on the marrow which was not cooked and cold. Now for the main dish: Wagyu. We were not asked how we would like it cooked. We all got medium rare, which for most of us was overcooked. We ordered cheese outside of this menu which is served with crackers... no bread. Dessert was good. In order not to taint the atmosphere, we preferred not to comment during the meal. My general impression is that the food was very « country kitchen » with no sophistication. There were very little « noble » ingredients and a succession of dishes fit for growing teenagers: lentils then chickpeas then risotto, all designed to fill you up. I can’t help wondering if the owners have put the chef on a very low tight budget. I can’t say much good about Grossi Florentino. Will never recommend it and never return. Until the chef goes or the owner changes