Puntulina Restaurant, Rovinj — Restaurant in Grad Rovinj

We booked a table at a high-end restaurant with a beautiful view (Romantic table) 10 days in advance and changed the reservation two days before due to bad weather as they would cancel the reservation. Unfortunately, what followed was shockingly unprofessional, and I cannot explain how I was looking forward to getting back to this place.

We arrived five minutes early and waited five minutes, only to be seated on the stairs because our table wasn’t ready. There we waited an additional 15 minutes. Meanwhile, guests who arrived about ten minutes after us were also seated on the stairs, but they were quickly given a table while no one even looked at us.

At the same time, we saw staff moving other diners from their tables because reservations had been planned for those tables – clearly poorly organized, since we were still waiting 15 minutes past our reservation time. The couple seated next to us was the first to get a table, and when another table closer to the sea became available, they simply moved there.

We approached the hostess and asked why guests who arrived after us were seated before us and we asked for our initial table. The explanation was that those guests had been waiting elsewhere and technically had earlier reservations – even though we had already waited 15 minutes. Even if this were true, the way waiting is organized is extremely unprofessional: guests first wait in one spot, then another ?, while tables are assigned randomly. Did they wait for half an hour for their table?? Why do you offer reservations?

The situation became more complicated when those same guests moved to a table closer to the sea that was meant for us (the second table) After explaining the issue to the staff, they offered us other tables by the sea that would be available later that evening, completely missing the point and not even being sorry, no empathy towards the customer at all, no smiles or emotion on their faces either (local staff-not the waiters). The problem was never the table itself, but the complete disorganization and poor service. What I just saw were blank faces with no expression who are barely managing their workload.

The food was good, and our initial server was extremely kind and tried to save the situation. Later, we were taken over by another server who barely approached our table, and we had to call for dessert ourselves.

I have worked for many years with clients, and this is not how the issues are handled. I was here a year ago, left a 5-star review, and had a completely different, much better experience. I rarely leave negative reviews for restaurants, but for an establishment of this caliber, such disorganization is unacceptable. Rovinj has many other excellent places to eat with far better service, believe me.

My review from the last year: very delicious food, a beautiful view, and excellent service. Thanks to the waiter for all his...

We went to Puntulina on short notice on our first night in Rovinj, no reservation - but got a table with only 10 minutes waiting (on some cushions on rocks were we could order a drink). Due to good reviews and social media, we were looking very much forward to it. The scenery and the location itself is quite stunning which is why they are charging high prices and go toward the upper tier crowd in Rovinj.

Yet the most important thing and a big BUT:

The food was just….dull - a Puntulina Pasta (Huge Macaronis with Seafood and Tomato) for 25 Euro and a Truffle Tagliatelle for 27 Euro. This is 52 Euros for two pasta dishes and the chef was somehow missing any spices / flavor. They served a small appetizer beforehand with anchovies on bread which had no taste at all. We also had a 9 euro Virgin Mojito that had no taste whatsoever - very disappointing in total - except the refreshing Karlovac beer on a hot evening.

This is just unacceptable. Especially, if you are in a Mediterranean country were you are expecting „power“ from the food and especially if you are charging those prices in Croatia compared to other good quality incumbents around old town and along the harbor.

For 52 euros alone you can have a very decent dinner with drinks in other locations along the harbor and even save a few bucks.

Let me be clear: All ingredients were fresh (thus 2 stars) but all the food we had was just dull AND expensive. this just overshadowed the cool location and therefore, we unfortunately won’t return to Puntulina and won’t recommend it to anyone.

P.S.: Tables were not stable and thus quite a shaky affair during the dinner - thus only 4 stars for Ambiente. Service was quite friendly but seemed not very experienced in serving in higher tier restaurants (thus 3 stars).

These details matter if you go for higher prices and charge 7 Euro for a still...

I am shocked to have to write this review based on all the positive ratings, but we had an absolutely unsettling and awful meal here. We are seafood eaters and know when something should not taste fishy, so the fact that the octopus salad tasted rancid was the first bad sign. We could barely swallow one bite. I ordered the seafood pasta, which nearly made me gag when it arrived - discoloured, boiled pieces that looked like rubber; the scallop I bit into was offputting and the shrimps had fecal casings still intact.. absolutely unacceptable for a location that boasts a Michelin affiliation on their door. My husband’s steak, which he requested as medium, arrived nearly blue - he was immediately turned off by this as well. Service was also weird energy.. we were told it would first take a while to prep our mains since we didn’t order a starter, then when my husband 2 min later asked for the octopus salad after all, we were told “ok, I need to tell them to stop prepping” - so which is it? Very confusing and we would not have even ordered the salad if not for the first comment. We were tended to by 2 separate servers and the woman later offered us new dishes, which we did not have the stomach for, but then she did not think to comp us for the awful meals, rather taking off the 20 kuna “cover charge” (for bread and oil) which is laughable. The bread was stale and store-bought without a doubt. At this point we asked for the steak to be removed from our bill at the very least as it was not properly served; we were told “you should have asked for that before the bill was printed” but we should not have had to ask for this in the first place. We never complain at restaurants but this experience has left us stumped (and still ill a day later). Only redeeming quality is the...