Ristorante Crotto dei Platani — Restaurant in Brienno

Wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. Average food (at most) but service was shocking. We arrived at 7:25 and along other guests weren’t allowed inside as their opening time is 7:30. This was a little odd as guests at least can be seated in these 5 minutes, they don’t need to served immediately. But ok fine.

Then we were escorted to our table as soon as we were allowed to enter the premises. I told the waiter that we are only 2 people but the table is for 4, only trying to let him know. His was angry for some reason and he told me “this is the table I was told to give you, table 54”. So I said I don’t know the table numbers I’m merely letting you know just in case so he responded in a very agitated way that he is going to check. Then a different waiter comes and says that we need to move for a table for 2 people pointing at the worst table they had at the back of the terrace by the staff exit. I said I’d rather take the current 4 people table as I don’t want to sit by staff station where they pick up items for serving or the exit where we will be passed by constantly. This waiter wasn’t pleased that I refused and then he suggested a nicer table for 2 so we moved, to the second suggested option.

Third waiter came to give us the menus and he was more friendly. After we looked at the menu we ask for help and waited no 2 came, who I could tell wasn’t my fan. The way he conversed with me and answered some questions I asked about the menu, I could feel his annoyance. I asked if they can make any pasta they have but just with truffle and butter (something there is no problem with in Italy, normally you can ask for cream sauce or tomato sauce, not an issue) but he got even more annoyed and said no, I requested that he checks with the chef. Also just to add for fuller picture, to those reading that they have risotto with truffle on the menu, so they do have the truffle that can be shaved on the pasta instead. He goes away and just never comes back so eventually I see him speaking to waiter no 3 and clearly he was talking about my request as he kept saying “pasta” “truffle” and word “no”. He never came back, waiter no 3 comes to take the order so I ask him what happened and he tells me that they can’t make pasta with truffle. We ordered food and by then I asked multiple times for someone to take our drink order, it took 40 mins for The sommelier to come. Food wasn’t great, only nice dish was tagliatelle with porchini mushrooms but nothing to write back home about. We didn’t like the starter which we said wasn’t good and it was barely touched, in the end it was included in the bill, I had no energy to fight over €30 but may be should have. By then was spoiled evening completely mostly caused by terrible treatment and very basic food.

We shared a cab back to our hotel with another couple who had dinner there and they also said it was pretty terrible and it was their anniversary.

Upon arrival we fed this back to the consierge at villa deste to not recommend this place to anyone.

Go to Harry’s bar, nice food and...

Extremely Disappointing Dining Experience

My recent visit to the restaurant was nothing short of a disaster. From the moment we walked in, it was clear that the service was rushed and disorganized. The staff seemed to be in a hurry from the start, and it showed throughout the entire evening.

Firstly, the courses were served in such a hurried manner that we barely had a chance to enjoy them. It felt as if they were trying to get us in and out of there as quickly as possible. To make matters worse, they couldn't even pour the wine properly, leaving us to pour our own wine multiple times during the meal. It's quite disappointing to pay for a dining experience and have to serve ourselves.

Even the timing of the courses was a complete mess. Some of us received starters while others were served their main courses simultaneously. One poor diner was left eating their main course all alone while the rest of us had finished our meals. It was a truly awkward and uncomfortable situation.

The lack of a proper drinks menu was surprising. They had nothing to offer except for wine, and there wasn't even a qualified barman or sommelier present to help with wine selections or answer any questions. This made the overall experience feel incomplete and amateurish.

Adding insult to injury, the waiters' attitude towards us was nothing short of disrespectful. They seemed disinterested and inattentive, as if they didn't care about our dining experience at all. To top it off, wine was constantly spilled on us due to their careless pouring.

What's worse, when we complained about the whole ordeal, the only resolution offered was to remove the cost of the missed meal from the bill. No genuine apologies or attempts to rectify the situation were made, making us feel like our concerns were dismissed and unimportant.

As for the food, it was a letdown as well. Everything tasted bland, and the lamb was severely overcooked. It's disheartening to pay for a meal that lacks flavor and proper cooking.

To add to our disappointment, the wine glasses were in poor condition, with chips and cracks that made the experience even more unpleasant.

Overall, I cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone. The rushed service, lack of professionalism, disrespectful staff, and subpar food and drinks make it a place to avoid at all costs. Save your money and choose a different dining option for a more enjoyable and...

My fiancé and I dined her last night (8th August at 8pm) The hosts did their best to get us a table outside when I called and emailed the same day. For this I was very grateful as the terrace was beautiful and right on the lake.

I give the Ambience 5 stars because the view is spectacular and the decor inside and out is lit up beautifully with fairy lights.

Food 4 stars because it was slightly overpriced for what it was, it was really tasty though and to be fair, everywhere is expensive in lake Como so I can’t blame them for this.

Service 2 stars because our waiter was quite rude. The hostesses were very friendly and helpful and if they had have served us instead of our waiter we would have given a 5 star review. First of all he was rushing us to order our food before we’d even ordered our drinks. He said ‘I need the menu ma’am’ when we had sat down for barely 5 minutes and asked for the wine list. This seemed to irritate him and when we got it he didn’t know about wines and got another server to tell me about the wines. This was fine but there are ways of saying you don’t know something more politely. Also if you are short on menus, that’s not our fault, most people browse the menu for at least 5-10 minutes before ordering and I really don’t think we were being particularly slow to order, as I mentioned, we were only in our seats for 5 minutes max when he said he needed the menu. I’m assuming he thought the bigger table near us were more important and needed the menu more urgently than us.

Then when the wine server brought us the wine we’d chosen, the rude waiter stood there looking irritated and asking us ‘are you ready?’ while the wine server was in the middle of pouring and making sure we liked the wine. Completely unprofessional! He also took a long time to take our dessert order but I didn’t mind that as much because he was serving another big table. I’ve worked in hospitality and so has my partner, we would never speak to customers like this or make them feel rushed. In a place as fancy as this you expect 5 star service and we did receive excellent service from most of the staff here but not our waiter. The hostess even ordered us a taxi back to Argegno which was much...