The famous Italian restaurant of Mar Mikhael has landed in Metn with a big location at Zero4. Special pizzas and Italian specialties served in a casual ambiance the Italian trattoria way.
I’m a fan of what Tavolina cooks; delicious pizzas, pasta cooked al dente and hard textured risotto. Warm lights, red-colored placemats, wooden tables, high ceiling with lights pending from it, an open kitchen preparing a pizza after the other and a floor covered with damier tiles.
Pizza to start: a bit undercooked, the pizza is chewier than expected. Beautifully rounded and loaded with premium ingredients, the pizza is surely good but can be better.
The spaghetti is outstanding!!! Cooked al dente, the feeling of it under the teeth is awesome. With a sauce that’s acidic and fresh, every bite is memorable and invites you to finish the plate. I loved the homemade tomato sauce, the chunks of eggplant and the burrata cheese felt in every bite. The minced meat spaghetti ragout is a must try, juicy and watery while being intense.
Yummy! Excellent truffle risotto with burrata cheese served in a Staub cast-iron casserole. Just perfect! Every ingredient is balanced and equilibrated. Cooked al dente, press the risotto under your teeth, feel its firmness, smell the truffles and enjoy the molten burrata. Bravo!
The bad:
- Service is heavy, lacks happiness and welcoming. The vibes around the restaurant make you want to run away. At least train these kids coming from the village “how to serve in a restaurant”; it’s not their fault.
- The manager needs a different outfit to hide his belly, other than the super tight shirt, baggy jeans and gold cross. Walking around the restaurant with a hand in the pocket is disrespectful and unprofessional.
- Why serve the plates with a spoon inside! Please! It’s the social media era!!!! Spoons shouldn’t spoil the decor of plates for a better photo.
- Every plate was delivered by a waiter; isn’t one assigned to a specific table?
I enjoyed the food, not the service and not the noisy vibes.
