Donna Rachele — Restaurant in Capri

We specifically went to this restaurant after seeing the wildly divided reviews- we felt we needed to get to the bottom of this.

The lower ratings are primarily speaking about the price- this is Capri, the rent will be expensive, and the living costs for staff too. It is like going to London and giving a poor review of a pub with a £5 pint.

For starters we request a selection of cheeses and some calamari. We were cheeky and asked for small portions so we didn't have to pay for two whole starters. However they just brought us the cheese platter starter and the seafood starters - which is fair as that's the menu, but they could have been clearer about this. Both were absolutely incredible. The cheeses were an excellent representation of Italian traditional cheeses with a cute Greek twist in the form of a honey dipping jar in the middle. The seafood starter was a cornucopia of lightly battered seafoods, that seemed fresh and not over cooked. With a slice of lemon and some cheese I stole off my wife's plate it was an utterly delightful way to kick of the Donna Rachele experience.

However, this is why we knocked off one star- we had had quite a chat with the waiter about how we weren't very hungry so had been hoping for a smaller sharing dish for starter- it was definitely off-menu however it did mean we were surprised by the bill as starters were about €18 each- again very standard pricing for the area. We don't feel this reduces our experience to less than 4 stars however, and we think the waiter was just really making an effort to listen to us speak in partial (bad) Italian and mainly English, and there was just a breakdown in communication.

For main courses my wife had a courgette flower pasta with meat removed, and I had the swordfish pasta. The courgette flower pasta was beautiful, cooked perfectly and my wife had been very much looking forward to it as it is rare to see courgette flowers on menu in the rest of Europe. She added some leftover cheese from the generous starter to the dish and said it worked perfectly. The swordfish was in cubes on top of wide strips of freshly made pasta (similar to lasagna sheets). The swordfish was beautifully cooked - tender but not flaky, and nicely seasoned. The star of the show was the pasta though, for large strips it was outrageously evenly cooked and had the most amazing texture and flavour. It was in a fresh tomato sauce which had a sweetness like most tomato sauces of this region. We were both extremely satisfied and polished off our mains comfortably without feeling like we needed more.

In terms of location, it's brilliant- very close to main square but also off the beaten track. We requested the upstairs balcony table which was a true oasis from the business of Capri. They requested our green pass (UK NHS pass) so we were reassured the only other indoor customers were covid free.

For wine, my wife's favourite is a local falanghina, which paired well with our meal.

Timings were also perfect- we weren't left waiting too long, nor felt rushed.

Ultimately, this is a brilliant Capri restaurant with good food, wine, and service- expect to pay more than in Naples/Sorrento, but that is true of any other restaurant in the area- if you're looking to save money then do feel free to travel 20/30 mins from centre. Do, however be hesitant to mess with the menu too much here- the staffs English is very good but maybe not perfect, and we all...

I don’t usually write reviews unless the experience is really bad, and this was bad.

The 16 euro caprise salad was just 4 slices of tomato and 4 slices of cheese that tasted like rubber. So I’m guessing that 2 euros per slice of tomato?

Then the pasta came and both were undercooked. The seafood one had sand inside and chipped my fiancés teeth. I heard an audible “crunch” sound.

So we tried to send the pasta back saying that the pasta is full of sand. Mr waiter played the no English card and pretended that he didn’t understand the word “sand”. I had to show him a picture of the desert on google. Eventually he agreed to take back the seafood and we asked for the margarita pizza instead, because you couldn’t possibly mess up pizza right ? Well we thought that about pasta too but I guess there is a first time for everything.

When the bill came we expected to pay for the margarita instead of the seafood pasta. And of course it’s the seafood pasta on the bill. Remember the lovely 16 euro tomato slices ? It’s 18 euro now. I confronted him and he asked if I want to check the menu again. So I called his bluff and said yeah let’s check. And what do you know, was not 18. So he agreed to take the 2 euro off the bill. But refused to put Margartita instead of seafood pasta.

So yeah. Not a good experience.

Edit:

In response to the owners response. We didn’t put any extra oil and vinegar because they were not provided on the table. They only came with the salad and were taken away after the salad was finished. The only Parmesan was the spoonful that was put on by the server. We would have suffered the bad taste if there wasn’t sand...

The worst dining experience in Capri. I question whether these people even know how to cook. We ordered a spaghetti carbonara, a lemon prawn pasta and a pizza - the cream sauce in the carbonara had split and my lemon prawns pasta came with prawns that were clearly past their best days. The heads of the prawns were black, the prawns themselves had white spots all over them and the dish had a very unpleasant fishy smell. Needless to say, the dish was sent back. I ordered nothing else from this restaurant and waited for my son to finish his oily, stodgie pasta. The pizza was below average - nothing special. Our bill came to 45 euro (without the prawns pasta) and I gave a 50 euro note. Waited 15 minutes for the change which never came, clearly they thought this rubbish meal still deserved a tip. I've tipped well all over Europe but was not willing to tip sub par food and service but clearly had to because I didn't want to end my night with an empty stomach and an argument. So, if you're looking for a restaurant there better choices. Steer clear...