Looking elegant and stylish after a revamp, veteran Ristorante Bologna is hoping to make a comeback on the dining scene. However, our dining experience showed us that there are small but noticeable areas in which the restaurant has not quite got its act together. For instance, it was only after our food orders were taken that we were offered drinks. We were not offered the wine list. Our server offered to bring us the drinks list, but returned with the wrong menu. The bread in the bread basket was also stale. After this rather regretful start to the meal, we hoped the food would be good. And for the most part it was. Our mozzarella salad starters were delicious but our mains were a mixed lot. While the rump of lamb was excellent—tender, juicy and done just right—the mushroom risotto with asparagus and duck was bland, more stodge than flavor. Throughout our meal, our main server seemed inexperienced, which was a shame because we could tell that in general the standard of service here was high. On to dessert, we ordered roasted plums with honey yoghurt ice cream and a warm chocolate and cherry pudding. Both were very good—the plums and ice cream complemented each other well and came on a delicious biscotti, while the pudding was moist, chocolatey and not too sweet. This would have been a four-star review had the restaurant not dropped the ball so many times.
