Prima.

An overly simplistic interior design, mediocre food and a novice waitstaff dampened what was promised by a colleague to be an excellent lunchtime experience. While rumored to be an en vogue new nighttime drinking spot, Prima's quality as an enjoyable Italian restaurant is disappointing at best. Located on the beautiful Plaza de las Cibeles in the Roma neighborhood, Prima's small windows give patrons only a distant glimpse of the plaza and the dining tables are located in the dark back half of the restaurant.

Upon arriving, we were surprised to find the place absolutely hostless. Even Vips has someone at the entrance to greet patrons and lead them to their table. A waiter finally ran up from the back and seated us against the far wall. As we zigzagged our way through an interesting array of low cushion seats and tables--a testament to the place's chic side--we noted a very long, attractive and well-stocked bar.

Simple wooden tables dotted Prima's dining room and the drab concrete floor failed to lift the appeal of the pea-green walls. This possible attempt at a slick minimalist design came up empty. The back wall was covered with a pixilated mural of vegetable ingredients for Italian dishes and an occasional farm animal was thrown in the mix.

After two requests for a waiter and about a seven-minute wait, we finally got some service. For starters we ordered a panini forcaccia de proscutti, the ensalada verde Prima and a pizza proscuitti. The panini was a fairly tasteless Italian sandwich with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes, while the ensalada was an interesting choice of greenery that felt a bit too much like eating leaves. The salad would have been more palatable if instead of oil, a sweet dressing had been poured on top to mask the taste of the bitter lettuce.

The pizza, which proved to be the brightest spot of the meal, was a delicious but small (eight pieces) thin-crust dish topped with mozzarella cheese, mustard leaves, trufa oil and purple onions. At 95 pesos, though, it was quite expensive for its size, but admittedly we ordered the most expensive one on the list. For our main dishes, we ordered a pair of entrees, came de res braseada and filete esmedregal.

While waiting for the entrees, we watched the waiters rush to and fro, often bumping into each other, in an entertaining display of unprofessionalism and disorganization. In our case, we were attended by at least three waiters during our meal, which sounds lavish but was quite bothersome. How many people must you stop from carrying away something before you're finished?

The carne de res braseada was similar to a pot roast, described by the person who ate it as "dry, overcooked and tasteless" and was accompanied by something similar to watery grits and the same bitter salad. By contrast, the filete esmedregal was a delightful grilled chunk of fish uniquely topped with nuts and raisins.

Unfortunately for us, an uplifting dining experience was not on Prima's menu, but expensive drinks--rumored to be excellent--were, so if a late night on the town is in order, it might be worth keeping this trendy joint in mind.