La Frittura del Golfo — Restaurant in Cetara

🇬🇧 A tourist trap ! Avoid at all costs !! 🇮🇹 Una trappola per turisti ! Da evitare assolutamente ! 🇫🇷 Une arnaque touristique à éviter !

After three weeks of road-tripping through Italy , from Turin to Bari via Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, and countless charming villages , this was easily our worst meal.

I fancied a burger and saw one on the menu. Big mistake. €15 for what they call a “burger” . No bun, no tomato, no sauce… just a greasy patty tossed on a plate, with a sad handful of frozen fries. Since when is a hamburger not a sandwich?! Regardless of the country, a burger without a bun is not a burger. The meat was low quality, full of gristle, probably frozen. Barely edible.

My wife was hoping to try local anchovy-based dishes, but they were all “unavailable” that night, which is odd in a fishing village known for anchovies. She ended up settling for one of their “land specialities”: penne with tomato sauce for €10. She got overcooked pasta, supermarket quality at best, and a bland canned tomato sauce. No salt, no olive oil, just a limp basil leaf.

And to top it off, the service wasn’t quick, even though the restaurant had just opened and we were the only ones there. Special mention to the older waitress with an obviously enhanced chest, who strutted around like the self-proclaimed queen of the place, looking people up and down with a smug air, but doing little else than posing.

Bottom line: poor food, overpriced, snobbish service. A classic tourist scam. Avoid.

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Dopo tre settimane di viaggio in auto attraverso l’Italia , da Torino a Bari passando per Venezia, Bologna, Firenze, Roma, Napoli e tantissimi borghi splendidi , questa è stata senza dubbio la nostra peggiore esperienza gastronomica.

Avevo voglia di un hamburger, e c’era sul menu. Pessima scelta. 15€ per quello che chiamano “hamburger” . Senza pane, senza pomodoro, senza salsa… solo una polpetta unta e stopposa su un piatto, con qualche patatina surgelata. Ma da quando un hamburger non è più un panino?! In Italia o altrove, senza bun non è un burger. La carne era piena di nervi, probabilmente congelata. Impossibile da gustare.

Mia moglie voleva provare qualche piatto a base di alici, ma non avevano più nulla, fatto piuttosto strano in un borgo marinaro famoso proprio per le alici. Ha quindi scelto una “specialità di terra”: penne al pomodoro per 10€. Quello che ha ricevuto erano penne stracotte, pasta industriale e una salsina da barattolo senza sapore. Niente olio, niente sale, solo una foglia di basilico appassita.

E ciliegina sulla torta: il servizio non era per niente rapido, nonostante il locale fosse appena stato aperto e completamente vuoto. In particolare una cameriera più anziana, con un seno rifatto ben en évidence, che si pavoneggiava in sala come una “regina del teatrino”, guardando i clienti dall’alto in bas sans muovere un dito per servirli.

In sintesi: cucina scarsa, prezzi esagerati, servizio arrogante. Una vera truffa per turisti....

After we arrived and got our menus we had to wait 30min while trying to seek attention from the servers, one of them was standing and looking at us for almost the full duration without even trying to help.

When we had waited we could finally order drinks and food, the wine came out quite fast but then we had to wait 45min for one fried squid and one ravioli that should take maximum 10-15min, we would understand if it was hectic but it was almost empty (some people that came after us had gotten their food and eaten before we got our).

When we finally got the food after contemplating leaving it was soft calamares without any sides for 16€ and one of the most tastes raviolis any of us had tried.

My girlfriend tried to give the personnel some feedback about our tasteless experience but only got the answer "corona you can't taste" like we had lost our taste buds. Sadly the worst restaurant experience in both...

Cetara is a lovely little town. We stayed four nights and never had a bad meal. Seafood is tasty and fresh in pretty much every restaurant here. And this place here is no exception.

Located on the main drag in Cetara it's easy to find and has a nice atmosphere...especially in the evening. In summer most people take a table outside...and so did we. Our dog was welcome as well.

We ordered a bottle of White Wine for 11 Euros and two mains: a squid and potatoe stew and the famous mixed frittura (fried seafood and fish). The stew was really something different. The ingredients seem simple, but all is made fresh and the broth/sauce rich and flavorful. It's more than meets the eye. A great choice. The fried seafood was also a good choice. Fresh, hot and crispy calamari, shrimp and anchovies. Service was friendly and prices fair. Another good choice to have dinner in this...