L’Osteria — Restaurant in Baveno

I am Italian and have good standard for food. We had a Caprese Salad: the mozzarella should have been ‘bufala’ but it was normal one. We asked to have a Mozzarella di Bufala and they brought the same! In addition, the mozzarella was old (you can tell as it was somewhat dry). The Entrecôte was ok but the potatos were “old” as well, as it they were cooked the day before (they were not firm, “mushy”). The fish (Serena’s) was too salty. The location is right in front of the street and lake so quite convenient. The personnel was kind, though we had to wait quite a while for the main course.

The reply from the restaurant is - to say the least - rude and unprofessional. Being Italian (one does not need to however) I know very well the difference between a fresh mozzarella, and a normal one and a buffala mozzarella.

Your restaurant should learn from the reviews to improve the quality. It is reviews that help...

Wow, wow, wow...... And wow We're in a honeymoon tour, we noticed it in the reservation, we arrived on a table full of flowers. We tried seven dishes in total, they all were very good. Quantity could have been a bit bigger but we are facing a ratio price / quality that is quite fair. Details in the flavors, presentation, quality of product... The fried beef, quite a common dish, was the best I ever had. Lasagna were excellent. They have homemade chips with some dishes... And the limoncello is awesome. To finish, the service was exceptional, we didn't wait, they were all smiley, we could even adjust the time between dishes and tell them when to send the next plate... Best of our tour so...

Food and service were decent, but my wife and I just returned from a light dinner after traveling all day to Baveno from Basel and wanted to go somewhere quick and near our hotel. NOWHERE on the menu or posted anywhere do they disclose the 5 Euro per person service charge. For our modest two entrees and wine dinner of 35 Euro, it came to 45 with the noted service charge, an unvoluntary 'tip' in excess of 30%. Sorry, that's fraud when not disclosed. Go elsewhere, there are many comparable restaurants nearby that disclose their much lower service we...