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I really don't understand why so many people hate this restaurant. I've come here often with my husband and friends many times over the course of 3 years and we have never had a problem with neither service nor food. Our experience has always been very pleasant and even when we arrive with a large group unannounced, the staff have always been extremely friendly (which lets me breathe a sigh of relief since most establishments have atrocious service here) and accommodating to our picky needs.
Now, I'm not saying it is perfect which is why I rated a 4/5, (the lights are much too dim for me, I absolutely hate the bread basket, etc.) but I have always liked the food, the service has always been fine for us and price-wise, in this ridiculously expensive city of Almaty, I think is not bad at all. In fact in my experience, it is cheaper than many other restaurant who serve much, much worse quality of food.
I don't know if I have always been lucky when I go there and get the nice waiters and good cooks, but our friends also come here often and always had a pleasant experience... Which is why we always come here. :) It's not like we are completely ignorant in service and food, either. I'm from the states and lived in various countries including those in Asia and Europe, and my husband even used to live and work in Italy where he worked at a five star hotel. I myself worked as a cook in a five star hotel so I would say we are not that oblivious.
I suppose the major complaint of other people is the service and the food not being 'Italian'. It's a helluvalot more 'Italian' than a lot of other places. If we are going to complain about authenticity, I have 99.7% never had a 'authentic' experience in the food industry here in Almaty... And there is almost no new restaurant for me to experience. Most places end up piling their menus with every food they can list across the globe which ends up with the food being a jumbled mess. This place keeps it simple, and although their menu is a bit larger than what I'd like, its fairly consistent.
Bottom line, my husband enjoys this place, his sister enjoys this place, his friends enjoy this place and most importantly, I enjoy this place :)