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2014-03-19
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A friend wanted to take the two of us out, returning a favor, and we decided to try out Lupa. We made a tablemap reservation a few days in advance, for a Sunday night, but would probably not have needed it as the restaurant was almost completely empty when we arrived and did not fill up while we were there. In addition to our table, there were only two or three more occupied.Before settling on what we’d eat, the waitress asked about our drinks selection; as we wanted wine, we were not ready to d
Before settling on what we’d eat, the waitress asked about our drinks selection; as we wanted wine, we were not ready to decide, and told her, but after she went away, her colleague came around asking the same thing. When we actually asked for a wine recommendation, there was no useful answer, nothing beyond very basic recommendations.
We shared two starters—Parmigiana and octopus carpaccio—and three main dishes. The octopus carpaccio was great, very tangy with the orange zest and lime dressing (and the caramelized tomatoes!) on very thin slices of octopus, though all of us found the Parmigiana to cheesy and lacking in actual eggplant flavor. For our main course, we shared a seafood risotto, which was perhaps the best of all the dishes—slightly soupy, extremely flavorful, with plenty of fresh seafood, and with the rice having just the right texture. Wonderful. We also shared an almond crusted sea bream, which was nicely cooked but not too special (though the soufflé that accompanied it was really nice, and the sauce was good, too), and the saltimbocca. This was the worst dish of the night, the meat being somewhat dry, terribly arranged (schnitzel-sized, not rolled up, no noticeable sage), and overall very boring. The stuffed mushroom that came with it was quite nice, though.
While the staff was attentive with refilling our glasses, they completely lost all interest after our main course. They did ask us about dessert, and brought the tiramisu that we ordered (good stuff; recommended), but no question about coffee or liqueur, and I had to get up and tell them we wanted the bill because they were too busy polishing the cutlery to even look our way.
Overall, the experience was quite mediocre—we had had high hopes for really great food, yet what we got was merely average and by no means exciting. Add to that service that was also unconvincing, and a bathroom in terrible shape (think overflowing waste bins). With such a mediocre experience, we will make sure not to come back.
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