Thomas
Google
Suck the brain. A bold motto - as is the tasting menu. Unfortunately, bold does not mean good in this case.
The menu started off with a small fried triangle that contained burning hot oil to burn your entire mouth. Taste was fish/prawn - alright. Off to a good start.
Next up were raw prawns with an oyster mayonnaise that didn't taste like oyster at all. Actually quite good but more focus on the prawns would've been great.
Next we had to "suck the brain". The question is: Why? Just putting two severed prawn heads on a plate and telling us to suck it is just low effort. There was no special taste, smart modification or even spice on it. Just cooked heads. This is their statement dish and it just doesn't make sense.
The mackerel with tuna was good although the oregano sauce was tasteless and thin.
Then it got worse. Pasta with cocoa sauce, a slimy piece of prawn (intestines?) and a few pieces of lobster. Terrible dish. Unbalanced, way too rich. It is not fun to eat and it tastes outright bad. I get the idea but the execution is just not right. The pasta itself was on point though.
Next up squid. The 100% guarantee of sea-based food didn't matter anymore apparently. Chicken jus and sweetbread. This dish was pure fat and two of us couldn't finish it because it was so rich. Even the mushrooms tasted just like fat. Again, not enjoyable at all.
The fish of the day was more mackerel and it came with sardella and raisins. The sauce tasted like the cocoa sauce from the earlier dish again and didn't harmonize with the fish at all. Bitter, unpleasant.
Then we were served some blueberry(?) sorbet with olive oil and capers. We got no explanation what it is (even though we asked, they just left). The sorbet wasn't sweet and adding the capers made no sense. It was neither good nor enjoyable.
The highlight of the menu was the dessert. Not only because you're finally done with tasting the menu but because it's actually good. Buttery, sweet, smooth with a nice crunch.
The staff was unmotivated, unfriendly and most of all absent. We weren't served any drinks for well over an hour. They just put the plates on our table, read the dish name and left immediately without any explanation of what we were served and what the chef wants us to experience. At least we got more cutlery for every dish than we could ever use (two forks and a knife for the pasta?).
The wine recommendation was a frizzante which was fine.
Overall I recommend staying away from this restaurant and go find another one. Palermo has so much more to offer.
