i attended a celebratory dinner at caraffa, and i have some mixed feelings about it.
firstly, the positives: the extensive wine list and knowledgeable staff. there seems to be quite a few meals of the day which is always nice to see. i had a starting dish with absolutely delicious clams with a chili, wine and tomato sauce. the carpaccio was also quite good, with delicious and fresh meat. the desserts are also lovely - both the pana cotta and the crème brûlée were of a perfect consistency. a live pianist performed which helped lift the ambience.
there were, however, quite a few cons. the restaurant feels dingy and out of date. there seem to be too few servers for the amount of tables, slowing down service considerably. the main course i had was a total let-down. the ravioli had an extraordinarily bland meat filling that was vastly under-seasoned, and had a badly balanced cream and parmesan sauce. there was nothing to break the cloying creaminess, leaving me feeling rather nauseous afterwards. luckily, the kingklip my boyfriend ordered was better.
the dinginess of theatmosphereand the main i had at caraffa left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. the positive aspects of the establishment redeem it somewhat, but for the price asked, i doubt i will be hurrying back.