Casarella — Restaurant in Sartène

I will preface this review by saying I almost never leave a negative review, unless it is truly warranted. Unfortunately, this restaurant was unexpectedly super disappointing. Let me start by pointing out that if you’re French, then this rating likely does not apply, and I’ll explain why. We have lived in Europe for 3 years and traveled to dozens of cities, including every corner of France, and never before have we experienced such horrendous, prejudiced service.

My wife and I were very excited to have dinner here on our first night in Corsica based on excellent Google reviews and a charming atmosphere. We had a reservation at 1930 and ordered our meals shortly after being seated. The outdoor terrace quickly filled up and after two rounds of wine, we realized several tables, who had been seated quite a bit after us, had gotten their meals before us. We politely asked our server about our order and were assured it was coming - about 5 minutes later, we finally received our appetizer. More than 20 minutes after this, we again asked our waiter about our meal, as at this point, over 10 parties had been both seated and served before us, including the table of 3 next to ours, many of whom had ordered the same dishes as us. Upon questioning where our food was, over an hour after we ordered it, our server then became exasperated about the fact that we were again asking about our meal. We had been very patiently waiting up until then. I will underscore the fact that we would not have been remotely upset, had there not been preferential service to every other French-speaking table before us, and had the staff not responded to us so poorly.

I will say, the food itself was good; we got the artichoke cream appetizer, the Pesto pasta & squid/chorioz linguine - everything we had hoped for from this meal. We had planned for dessert and would have gladly stayed to enjoy ourselves longer but we had such a bad taste from the entire meal that we quickly asked for our bill (which took another 20 minutes). I did notice that an extra glass of wine was charged to our bill (which lines up with many other reviews)- but had I bothered to question the extra 5€, we’d probably still be there waiting for our bill.

Non-French speaker (especially Americans or Asians) - AVOID THIS PLACE if you want proper treatment ! There are countless other restaurants in this beautiful city to choose from who would be happy for...

One of the top-rated restaurants in Bonifacio according to Google reviews, so we definitely wanted to try it, but it was a huge disappointment. When we arrived at the place, we were told that out of the two tables on the street, one would be available in 45 minutes. We came back after 45 minutes, and they asked for another 5 minutes for our table to be ready. After another 5 minutes, they directed us to the crowded back terrace. We waited about 10 minutes for anyone to come and give us a menu, and then another 10 minutes to place our order. The appetizers and drinks arrived quickly, and the food was good, but then nothing for 50 minutes. Every guest who arrived after us had already received their food when we had to repeat our order. After another 10 minutes, we asked for the bill, and they promised our main course in 1 minute, which turned into 5, but by then, we had already paid for what we had...

Charming setting in a lovely courtyard, although we were seated indoors. The atmosphere was pleasant and the staff were friendly. It's definitely recommended to book in advance, as the place is quite popular.

Based on the glowing reviews, we expected top-notch Italian cuisine, but it turned out to be rather average. The vongole portion was just enough, but not particularly memorable. The pasta wasn’t fresh, and overall the food was rather underseasoned. We missed the bold flavours typically associated with Italian cooking. The daily special, a meat dish, was nicely presented but quite small, with little sauce and hardly any vegetables.

All things considered, it felt expensive for what we got. We decided to skip dessert.

In short: a pleasant location, but the food didn’t quite live up to...