For every amazing restaurant one visits in a region, there’s one you wish you would have skipped. Don’t get me wrong, a solid 4 stars on TripAdvisor is usually not too bad, but this rating is far too generous to not call out and heed you to avoid the tourist trap of Il Tartfuo.
Offering a wide dining space and sweet outdoor seating, the space “invites you to immerse in the Italian culture.” The decor has the rustic vibes of a village where you know grandma is making tortellini. The checkered table and extensive wine list offer a really compelling spot to sit and enjoy. That’s exactly what drew us to the spot when looking for an early dinner in Coimbra, Portugal. A second, and really the main, reason- every other restaurant was closed until 7:30 so take this into account when planning when you want to eat!
So, how could things go so wrong when you’ve entered such a beautiful setting? Let’s start with our appetizer, the Tuna Salad. There is no possible way to explain my face when this “salad” came to the table. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the Starry Night is the one that would capture how I felt. Hoping for a salad that I could push the tuna to the side to have something green to go with my pasta, this was essentially a plate of mayonnaise, accompanied with some veggies and tuna.
The ingredients were: salad, onion, tomatoes, olives, tuna, and an entire bottle of mayonnaise. I know when we have a tuna salad, we are used to having a mixture with some mayo to form the tuna. This was far beyond that. Used as a dressing, and not stated on the menu, I felt like I had been tricked (not to be dramatic). Absolutely awful and the worst “salad” I think I have had in my life.
Were the ingredients fresh? Is the tuna flaky? Are the textures coming together just right? You could not possibly answer this, all you could see, smell, and taste, was mayonnaise. 0 stars.
We were considering a platter for 2 that had 2 pastas to sample but when the image of the cheese wheel popped up on the menu, everything was thrown out the window. I would officially center my meal around this. Homemade spaghetti twirled and swirled in a cheese dome, topped with more cheese and served with just a sprinkle of garnish- what could go wrong???
I wish someone would tell me how it is possible that this did just that, the dish went wrong. The taste was terrible. The cheese almost having a mayonnaise quality itself (or was the salad’s still not escaping me?), there was nothing authentic about this pasta. Immediately I noted the plate was over served, which is not a good sign when getting house made pasta as portions are handmade and supposed to be in smaller batches. Then the cheese sauce having a soup-like consistency, and not staying to the noodles was the next sign that this wasn’t going to taste like some of the raclette I’ve had dreams about before.
It certainly did not. Bland, plain, without seasoning, and without a true flavor to put it to, I felt like I was eating microwaved day old pasta from any TGI Friday or Olive Garden. Nothing wrong with that, but not meeting the expectation here. I’ll give this one 1 star because at least it didn’t actually come covered in mayonnaise.
0 for 2, our only hope left was the Bisteca alla Griglia, grilled beef. There are a few types on the menu and we went with the mushroom and Parmesan cheese one. I guess there is a pattern of having a protein smothered in a flavorful sauce when we visit a restaurant that just doesn’t sit right come to save the day. This dish saved the meal from complete disaster thanks to earthy sauce and melting cheese on top.
The meat was tender enough, with a healthy serving to share (very important for this plate since I was struggling to consume my orders above). The sauce was nice and thick, a texture that was able to absorb in the meat so we could really enjoy it. Also delicious scooped up with the bread ordered for the table. I don’t have too many amazing things to say about this dish but contrary to the above, there’s also nothing terrible. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it but then again, I would not recommend coming here at all.
That’s the unfortunate truth with deciding on the go and going too long without grabbing a snack, hungry eyes can lead to a tourist trap style decision. But that is just all a part of the fun of exploring, I suppose!
