Milano in Galway - not their finest hour.

I have now seen it all! A supposedly Italian restaurant that can't produce a bowl of plain pasta for a child!

My family and I went to Milano restaurant in Galway last week while on holiday there. After being left waiting for approx 10 minutes for a table in a half empty restaurant, because it looked like the staff were more interested in getting their tasks done than in what was happening to us.

Eventually a very gruff waitress showed us to a table, threw some menus down and took an order for a bottle of water.

When she came back we asked for a bowl of plain pasta for our young daughter to be told we that couldn't be done. No explanation, no apology , just a shrug.

When we pointed out that it was supposed to be an Italian restaurant and said we couldn't stay if we couldn't get plain pasta we got another shrug and a "Fine" from the waitress who then simply walked away to another table.

As I waited to pay almost €5 for the privilege of a half drunk bottle of still water other staff gave half hearted excuses including the appetizing explanation that "all of our pastas already have sauce on them. We can't cook any more.". I paid for the water and we left.

I don't know where to start on what was wrong with all of this.

Firstly there was the waitress's attitude which was basically "take it or leave it".

Then there was the complete lack of any sense of apology as two very hungry, disappointed and confused kids had to put their coats back on and leave.

Then there was the charging for a bottle of water despite not being able to provide a meal to go with it.

Then there was the comment that we could complain on the website if we wanted to, the subtext being the staff couldn't care less.

Then there was the admission that a Milanos doesn't actually provide fresh food at all! Maybe we had a lucky escape on that front.

Ironically they say on their website that "What sets our restaurants apart is our people". You can say that again! Rude, gruff, disinterested with a "couldn't care less" attitude.

Needless to say we'll be giving Milano a very wide berth from now on.

BTW we went around the corner to Fat Freddys and had a lovely meal, including plain pasta, obviously cooked on site and served with a smile. They even gave the kids colouring books and crayons to use while they were there.