Gourmet Restaurant Stüva — Restaurant in Ischgl

We had dinner in Stüva recently and whilst we had a pleasant evening with nice food and wine, expectations were not fully met. The restaurant has won many awards, is one of eight restaurants in Austria that are awarded 19 points (5 toques) at Gault Millau - I’ve visited most; Michelin currently only rates Austrian restaurants in Salzburg and Vienna. I’ve been in Stüva before in December 2015 and March 2016.

As to the dining experience, it was a relatively quiet evening in Stüva with less than six guests. We opted for a full seven course menu. The amuse bouches were very nice, the second one, char with gentian foam, is a classic of chef Benjamin Parth. Next were the starters: goose liver with passion fruit and pepper was very nice, but the passion fruit overpowered the goose liver. The next starter, a prawn with chutney and curry was excellent, but the curry was too salty for our taste buds (this is a recurring criticism of the otherwise excellent sauces). Next was our fish dish, halibut with lobster and caviar, again excellent product quality, but too much salt. In swapped order (as agreed before) came our last starter: sole with truffle - clearly the best dish of the meal, albeit also here the sauce a bit salty (that every sauce is presented as foam does not help either). Next was our meat dish (the only meat option of the menu: poularde with yuzu, morel and asparagus. The morel was an inedible salt sponge, asparagus and the sauce were far too salty too. The dish was returned to the kitchen and at second try, the morel was tasteless, asparagus and the sauce were still far too salty. The meat was OK, but not of comparable quality to the seafood of courses before. Next was a fine selection of cheeses from Bernard Antony. These were followed by a very nice pre-dessert with strawberry, rhubarb and vanilla. The desserts were unremarkable: a small cake with saffron and apple and a chocolate that tasted only of chocolate, overpowering the pistachio and lime that were only visible but could not be tasted. All in all, the meal was nice (except for the meat course).

Service was friendly and personal, certainly a big plus. Criticism regarding saltiness was handled well and (I agree) to a certain extent is a matter of personal preference. The wine list is great and has an excellent selection of Austrian and international wines. Price of the menu (without drinks) was 243 EUR (including 9 EUR cover charge). A wine pairing is available (and was served at a table next ours, it did look appealing and well chosen for the dishes). We opted for a glass of house champagne (25 EUR each), a bottle of Austrian Chardonnay (Velich Darscho 2009, 111 EUR), a glass of Pinot Noir (Fritsch, “P” 2019) and a small bottle of Kracher Nr. 4 Zwischen den Seen Muskat Ottonel TBA...

Disappointing, non-hygienic, pompous and overpriced. 4 people with food poisoning, dirty silverware, condescending server, sneaky pricing and boring food - this is a quick summary of our experience. I gave two stars out of respect to the hotel, and the Festive Atmosphere that was created in front. Purely for the restaurant, it will be one star. This is definitely NOT a Michelin star level place. It was not difficult to make reservation. We had large group with kids. Hotel told us about chefs 7 course wine pairing tasting menu for adults and separate menu for the kids. First Surprise was dirty and greasy silverware. They did not have food for children and they ordered their food from the next door. Kids ordered five steaks, and all of them were cold, chewy and tasteless. We were surprised that kids did not want to eat them but once we tried them, we agreed. Foie Gras pate was very good. It went very well with Riesling, which we loved. Picture is included below. That was the only positive thing from the evening. The rest of the dishes were seafood and one chicken. No meat. The chef is a fan of frothy base, making most of the dishes taste and look pretty much the same. There was no presentation of food either. We had to constantly ask what we’re eating because it was not really clear. One of the dishes was served on a spoon, which was placed straight on the table right after it was wiped with a rag. That was a bit gross, and definitely not hygienic. I would expect at least a clean napkin, or a small plate, knowing that the spoon most likely wind in the mouth. If I were to guess, that would be a potential source for food poisoning we experienced. Fortunately, most of unfortunates were doctors and had antibiotics available. It took about 2 days. Sommelier was pleasant and funny but somehow he forgot to tell us that Champagne in the beginning and the drinks afterwards were not included. Because we had a tasting Event, and there were no menus, would expect any extras to be presented. The cost of menu was about €300 per adult and €73 per child. In addition to that, they charged us €300 for champagne and €20 per after drink with total about €450 per adult. I would like to mention one more thing. The waitress was wearing a white glove on one hand, which is fine, except I saw her coughing into it in the back galley. Also every time she served food and lean over, her hair would end up on your face, not just close, but actually on your face. I think wearing ponytail would be preferable and definitely more hygienic.

You may agree or disagree with our perception of food or pricing. However, until they figure out their hygiene, this place should not be...

We arrived in Ischgl from NYC to ski and celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday, and after looking around at restaurant options decided this one looked interesting and unique enough for a celebratory dinner. We have eaten at many top restaurants around the world, so maybe our expectations were too high, but we thought the meal was just ok. The service was great and the atmosphere is high-end and a bit stuffy even which is fine. However, the food is expensive for what it is and the focus seems to be primarily on presentation vs. taste.

We could honestly say out of the multiple dishes we tried, only the pigeon pie was somewhat memorable in taste and had a good balance of flavors. The chocolate cake dessert was good too. The rest of the dishes, however, lacked in flavor and seemed to have an abundance of truffles to cover it up. Literally half of the dishes we had tasted like truffle, which doesn’t seem very creative given what we’ve read about the chef and the restaurant.

I also didn’t love the offers of drinks before the meal via a cart of options and no mention of prices. When you’re offering a drink that costs 20+ euro each, cost should be mentioned. This is especially confusing given that several small dishes are served at the same time as complimentary amuse bouches.

All in all, we had a nice time but felt the meal wasn’t worth the just under 300 euro price tag for 2 people (5 dishes, 2 drinks and an average...