I visited this restaurant for dinner on a Saturday night around 22:00, as it was recommended by a…read morelocal person to try some nice octopus pasta. The place was fully packed, but luckily I had to wait for a free table only for 5 minutes. The restaurant is definitely outdated and generally felt "not fresh." Its design is very simple, including very basic tables and uncomfortable chairs. Even the dishware they use to serve food is just basic-looking and boring. So aesthetically, this place did not catch my sympathy, except for a giant octopus figure hanging in the middle of the restaurant. Also, because the restaurant is small, it was very noisy inside.
My waiter was fast and brought me a menu right away; luckily, there is a menu in English available. Unfortunately, the waiter spoke very poor English, so it was hard to communicate with him. Plus, I have to be honest, I did not like his attitude - he was not very friendly and seemed like he really hated doing his job. At the end, it was very hard to catch his attention and ask him to bring the bill; he literally passed by many times and never even looked at me or checked on me once. I spent almost 10 minutes just trying to catch his attention and ask for the bill.
The restaurant's menu is big enough and has a good selection of classic Italian dishes - most of them are seafood. As I mentioned earlier, I was recommended to order octopus pasta, and Spaghetti all'assassina di polpo (Spaghetti all'Assassina with octopus) seemed like a perfect choice for me. Plus, for an extra €2 it was possible to add stracciatella cheese, which of course I did. For a drink, I ordered my favorite Italian iced tea brand - Estathé. Also, right away the waiter brought me a basket of bread (included as coperto - table service), and this bread tasted fresh and nice.
I got my spaghetti within 15 minutes. Besides the unattractive white plate the food was served on, the dish itself looked quite messy. The cook definitely did not take care of its presentation. But the smell from the dish was very nice, which convinced me to try it immediately. Luckily, I was not disappointed in the flavors, but I also did not love them. Spaghetti all'Assassina (spicy, partly dry and partly soft, slightly charred Bari-style pasta) was cooked very well; I maybe wish it were a little less spicy and less charred, because I could taste some burnt flavor. The octopus seemed slightly overcooked too - some of its parts were burned and very dark. This burnt taste definitely lowered my overall impression of the dish, but I still liked it and moderately enjoyed eating it. By the way, stracciatella cheese on this dish is definitely a plus - it brings a nice fresh flavor, so I recommend adding this cheese to Spaghetti all'Assassina, as suggested on the menu. The size of the portion was big and filling, and I appreciated that they were not cheap with the amount of octopus.
Price-wise, this restaurant seemed somewhat reasonable - half of the appetizers, for example, were around €20, which is quite a high price for an appetizer; and many main dishes started from €20 and higher. My Spaghetti all'Assassina with stracciatella cheese was €20, €3 for the iced tea, and €2.50 for table service (bread). In total, I ended up paying €25.50, and I find it slightly overpriced for my overall just satisfactory experience at this place. The business accepts all major credit cards and Apple Pay, by the way.
Can I recommend this restaurant? Honestly, I do not. Nothing about this place left a great or exciting impression on me. But the Spaghetti all'Assassina with octopus is still worth trying at least once, so if you specifically want to try this dish, you can give the restaurant a try. Maybe you will have better luck with the food quality and taste than I did.
