Campamac Osteria — Restaurant in Barbaresco

Nestled in an exquisite setting, Osteria Campamac greets guests with the allure of high-end Italian dining. The ambiance is undeniably posh, and the warmly welcoming staff sets an initial tone of hospitality. However, beneath the polished surface, the experience unfolds with noticeable lapses.

Upon being seated, the friendly demeanor of the staff was evident, yet their service lagged. A disconnect between the kitchen and the sommelier became apparent as we waited over an hour for our starters—a simple pasta and fried porcini mushrooms. Requests for the wine list had to be made four times before we could select a bottle, and surprisingly, no aperitifs or beverages other than water were offered during the prolonged wait.

The cuisine, while commendable in parts, struggled to justify its premium pricing. The tajarin with butter and a minimal shaving of white truffle was pleasant but edged on blandness, a modest dish at an immodest €40. The fried porcini mushrooms, priced at €25, were overshadowed by the heavy flavor of the frying oil, masking the mushrooms' natural earthiness. Comparatively, a lunch elsewhere featured tajarin generously adorned with truffle and rich in flavor for just €18. Both dishes at Campamac were specials and significantly pricier than other menu options; a prior mention of their cost would have been considerate, as discovering the steep prices upon billing left an unpleasant aftertaste.

The steak emerged as a highlight—cooked to perfection and flavorful. Yet, it arrived with tiny ramekins with curdled béairnaise and mustard that could have enhanced the dish further.

In a restaurant that positions itself at such a price point, especially in Italy's competitive culinary landscape, one anticipates an experience that captivates both palate and spirit. Regrettably, we departed before concluding our meal, feeling a mix of disappointment and a sense of being underserved.

Osteria Campamac possesses the foundational elements of a remarkable establishment: a stunning interior and a gracious team. To truly embody the high-end dining experience it aspires to offer, there is a need for refinement in both service efficiency and culinary execution. They will need to bring more to the table to align this with the expectations set by its ambiance...

This gonna be a bit of a long review. In short words the food is really amazing but the service was utterly terrible this evening for our little table. Regarding the service where I go into all small details: We didn’t get the bread in the beginning but were told that all get this when we tried to order it with our food - then we did not get any butter and had to ask for that The waiter tried to serve our two cokes to the neighbor table Our wine came after the starter We waited 1 hour - 1 hour and 15 minutes on our main dishes of a steak and fish. Our neighbor table that arrived after us got a pasta, steak and then another pasta in the meantime. We got told the food would be ready very soon and then it came after like 3 minutes. I would suggest you to tell the costumer this 20 minutes before and the food is a bit late. Would have changed everything After waiting a horrendous of time the steak ordered as medium (my girlfriend’s choice) were served as rare. Perfectly seared according to me but not my girlfriend and certainly not what’s we ordered. Luckily we did not have to discuss anything with the waiter about getting a new The new steak was closer to medium but half the steak were rare or medium rare. We did not want to say anything at this point. We were also told about three sauces served with the steak. We got two sauces with the late arrived steak and no bearnaise sauce because they didn’t have anything anymore. However after we complained about this we got 5x the amount of bearnaise as normal and it was delicious. Really good sauce.

I would say it looked like our experience were very uncommon as the other tables seemed to had a great time and so do everyone else regarding the reviews. So hopefully this is just a rare coincidence.

Regarding the food: Absolutely tasteful. The swordfish I tasted as the daily fish were perfectly cooked and the tomatoes with olives underneath the fish is a great combination. The steak is also the best we’ve tasted in Italy after a lot id years in the country. It’s difficult to find a great steak around here. And the bearnaise, the chef did a fantastic job making this in a...

Very nice restaurant located in Barbaresco, all looks good. Restaurant is about 3 years old per 2019. Inside is round 120 seats. Restaurant is nicely decorated with flowers, porcini mushrooms (since its autumn), some white truffles, wine bottles and some huge aging fridges for meat and cheese. Kitchen is splited in two parts, Grill and main kitchen. All behind windows so you can see how they work. We where 5 person and had booking for lunch time. When we arrived hostes took our jackets and showed a table. After about 7 min we got menus and wine list, they where in english language. Menus was nice and easy understandable. Waiter also told us about daily meal. We ordered 2 courses all of us. At first we had a three pastas and a salami plates. For second course we had 3 lambs (from grill) and 2 dishes from main kitchen, all of them with side orders. We also wanted to order a bottle of wine but waiter told us that he cant take a order for wine and we should wait for sommelier. Sommelier arrived to take a order after 10 minutes. So we got a compliment from kitchen before we got any wine. First course arrived in about 10 more minutes what is about 25-30 minutes since we arrived. Pasta was excellent, nice and tasty. We was done with first course fast since we where hungry. And here starts the waiting. Second cours arrived after 70 minutes, so 1 hour and 50 minutes since we arrived. And that was only after we told to waiter that we have no more time since we have an apointment. Food (from grill) arrived for three of us. Two person was still waiting. Side orders was also missing. In the end lunch was destroyed by waiting time and unpropper serving of food. We could not enjoy food any more and had no time for desserts or coffee. Looks like restaurant have a problem in comunication between two kitchens. All in all beautiful restaurant but they have some problems in organisation part in kitchen....