Agli Amici Rovinj — Restaurant in Grad Rovinj

I recently dined at Agli Amici with a group of four, and while the experience had its highlights, it ultimately fell short of expectations, especially for a 2-star Michelin establishment.

Starting with the positives, the waiter who prepared our cocktails did a fantastic job. Not only did they craft the drinks right in front of us, but they also demonstrated a deep knowledge of mixology, which added a special touch to the evening. Additionally, the waiter who served our food took the time to explain each dish in detail, enhancing our appreciation of the meal. The staff was very professional and polite.

Unfortunately, the overall experience didn’t live up to the price tag. The sommelier, while pleasant, lacked the expertise we anticipated, particularly when it came to guiding us through the wine selection. Given the prestige of the restaurant, we expected more refined service in this area.

The biggest drawback, however, was the value for money. The cost was exorbitant, especially considering that I’ve had more impressive and gourmet experiences at other 2-star Michelin restaurants. While the food was good, it didn’t justify the steep prices we paid for the tasting menu, wine, and additional drinks. We ended up paying close to €1000. Let me emphaisize that price is not an issue if justifiable.

Despite being informed in advance that one guest was vegetarian, they still served her food containing animal-derived gelatin. Their solution? A dismissive suggestion to simply scrape it off with a fork. As for my dietary restriction—no crustaceans, also communicated beforehand—they displayed equal brilliance by proposing I settle for… a cucumber instead of lobster tail.

In summary, while there were some enjoyable aspects, Agli Amici didn’t deliver the exceptional experience we were hoping for, making it hard to recommend given...

We tend to not do a lot of tasting menu dinners but we loved our experience at Agli Amici last night. They start you out with snacks and a cocktail on the terrace before moving you to your table for dinner which made for a special evening. The food was delicious and loved the idea of the three tasting menus based upon chef favorites and local ingredients. We ordered the Istra menu and boy did it not disappoint. The dishes were all beautiful but more importantly delicious and unique. We were fortunate that the chef sent a gift of a favorite dish from the chef favorite menu (one we had FOMO on when the table next to us got it).

They have a very nice wine list (tried a local Posip white and then our favorite Barolo from Cannubi). The service was very attentive but also very friendly and warm. I am not a fan when fine dining service is cold and impersonal and Agli Amici’s team was far from that. We felt the entire team worked together to make for a great evening. Highly recommend and can’t wait to try their original...

Do your bank account a favor and AVOID this place.

This restaurant should not have a Michelin star. The service was terrible, not coordinated and just inconsiderate. We were four people at the table, two of which did not speak Croatian - some of the waiters were presenting the food/wine pairing in Croatian without any English explanation, even though they were aware of the fact that we were not locals.

The food is nothing impressive, for example we got some gnocchi that was okay, but again, nothing to blow your mind.

The wine pairing was horribly presented, no proper explanation of the wines. They even poured the last drops of the wine in one of our glasses (red desert wine) which resulted in the glass containing the sediment from the bottle. The last "wine" was actually an apple cider, which just tasted bad.

The cocktails and the desert were good, but this should not be the best part of a Michelin...