Palatina is a depressing place. I am doing the owners a favour here by telling the truth. This restaurant stinks.
Although we had booked, we were greeted by a sour faced man demanding of us (with all the friendliness of a man losing in life),...if we had booked.
Though we had indeed booked - our table was not ready. We waited in this cramped restaurant for a table to be cleared. One, bang up against the bar, was then offered. Seeing one, by the window (obviously preferable), I asked for that to be cleared. It was, and we sat down to the pungent smell of industrial alcohol from the waiter's spray disinfectant. Not really what you want filling your nostrils just before you eat.
Menus were brought - and plenty of time was given to choose - in fact too much time. We had to hail the seemingly deaf waiter and waitress several times before they noticed the couple waving by the window.
The food arrived. You don't need a novelisation so here's a summary: - the complementary bread came in a miserly portion - as did the oil and vinegar dip. The prawns tasted like they were straight out of the freezer - the caesar salad was bland, and the calamari oily. My son (whom) I was dining with said his Margarita was "okay." And my Napoli tasted of nothing at all but anchovies.
All this in an ugly cramped building, lined with ugly breeze-bold themed wallpaper. Only when we were actually walking out were we acknowledge as even having been there. Not once did anyone come over to the table to say - how are things - do you want to order another glass of wine - nothing. If utterly ignored is unfriendly - this is an unfriendly restaurant.
In summary -- this restaurant fails on every level in which a restaurant can fail. Avoid.More
