Ristorante Sotto l'Arco — Restaurant in Bologna

I had high hopes for Sotto l'Arco based on user reviews and it being in the Michelin guide. However, the restaurant fell way short of the standards I anticipated.

Things began with an OK pre starter that was meant to reassemble a full day's eating. Breakfast through to dinner. The highlight was the final element, which was a meat bon bon wrapped in cabbage, served in a broth. The broth had a real depth of flavour and the bon bon was tasty.

The 1st course was a take on scampi. Overall it was OK, but the raw prawn lacked flavour and was lost in the mouse.

The 2nd course was octopus and was the best dish of the night. The octopus was cooked beautifully and the accompanying sauce was packed full of flavour. If all the dishes were of this standard, it would have been a great meal.

The 3rd course was pork and although it was tasty, it was served luke warm and had a few too many fat slices that were a bit too slimey.

From here the meal went downhill fast. We were then served bean broth with lobster. The bean broth did not taste good. It resembled an under seasoned vegetable puree. The lobster was completely lost and my wife had prawn in hers, which makes me think they ran out of lobster and used prawn instead. The nut foam was unnecessary, as was the black tea. Both elements could not make the bean broth taste good. This dish was so confused and lacked any flavour.

I was still optimistic at this point. However, the next dish was another failure. Frog risotto. The risotto was OK with a subtle garlic flavour. However, there were bones and gristle in the risotto that we had to pick out.

The final savoury dish was pigeon with liquorice. The pigeon was cooked well. However, the liquorice cream overpowered the whole dish and left an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

The pre dessert brought back some much needed nice flavour. Pumpkin pana cotta with amaretto caramel. Delicious.

The dessert was a bit flat. Some good elements, some not so good elements. I also found it strange that my wife was served a different dessert. Was the restaurant just making it up as it went along and using up leftovers. Her dessert was, unfortunately, far worse than mine. Pasta filled with ricotta, served in a strawberry jue. The pasta was slimey and the sauce quickly scrambled when mixed with the ricotto, so the dish resembled a child's food experiment gone horribly wrong.

Overall, the octopus and pre dessert didn't make up for an underwhelming, confused and flavour lacking 7 course tasting menu.

My wife did not eat 2 courses as they were that bad and made the waiter aware of this at the time. The waiter informed us that the chef is trying out some new dishes so I can only assume we were served experimental dishes. However, this is unacceptable. A tasting menu should be tasty regardless of the ingredients used, whether they are unusual or more commonly available. More upfront work was required to ensure dishes served to paying customers meet the standards the restaurant wants to achieve.

I really wanted to like the restaurant after travelling out of the city but it sadly let me down. I'm confused as to what went wrong. Was it because we were the only customers on a Tuesday night or because the chef was experimenting with a new menu. I'll never know. I've eaten at Michelin starred and guided restaurants all over the world and this restaurant falls way short of the standards I'd expect. Based on the food I was served, this restaurant should not be in the Michelin guide, who I have contacted and will be investigating.

Based on my experience, I would avoid this restaurant and enjoy another one of Bologna's great establishments, of which...

This was unfortunately the worst tasting menu experience we have ever had. My husband booked this for my birthday on a special trip to Bologna. We had the 7 course tasting menu, and there was no menu, it stated it was chefs choice. We have had many tasting menus in the past so knew we were not fussy. We were asked if we had any dietary requirements we said we didn't (because we don't). Out of 7 courses, I managed to enjoy 1. My husband ate the food but was bitterly disappointed. I didn't eat 2 courses and told the waitress I didn't like them. One dish I couldn't eat as it was frogs in a risotto with bones we had to pick out, and the second was a pigeon dish with liquorice which was so overpowering I couldn't eat the meat. Our waitress was in her first few shifts, and she tried really hard. I spoke to her and said I would only pay for 5 courses as I couldn't eat 2 of them due to them being so poor. The manager came over and proceeded to argue with me over this, stating I ordered the 7 courses. I explained I understood this but having only eaten 5 courses and only enjoyed 1 I felt it was only fair I paid for 5. I explained that frogs were not common on a tasting menu and it isn't usual to have a blind menu. This feels like the chef just picks and uses whatever is leftover. This would coincide with the very random assortment of dishes and flavours. We ended the meal with two different puddings, one of which was a very chewy pasta dish. Why two people on the same 7 course tasting menu would have different deserts is confusing. We will be writing to Michelin Guide as this was by far the worst experience we have ever had and the worst meal and tasting menu experience we have ever had. We would not recommend it to anyone. The manager wouldn't listen to me when I explained my disappointment. My husband had to jump in to have my point heard. When the manager left, I was in tears as I was so upset with how disappointed I was at our night but also how I'd been spoken to. Why my husband should have to speak for me and retiroate the same point I made for it to be taken seriously just made an already disappointing evening the worst...

This restaurant is a hidden gem on the outskirts of Bologna. It is a fine dining experience from the set up, the food and the service. The chef even came out to greet the guests, it was really lovely. You can tell a lot of thought and consideration has gone into the menu and the complimentary courses at the beginning and end. It is a fine dining experience without the fine dining pricetag. The only thing that is a little odd is the location, it looks out on to beautiful gardens but the highway into Bologna is just to the right! I would let that stop you visiting and...