Osteria La Frasca — Restaurant in Desenzano del Garda

This place could get so much more if it just had some caring and smiling people run it. it's a shame as you can't really teach hospitality, so unless the management change this place will be always so unwelcoming. We were there last Friday with my whole family, hubby and son, mum & dad, father & mother in law. We selected this place as it was sort of midway between where the two families were and because we were looking for some good, rustic food. Unfortunately I should have realised what it was coming when I entered the place, as the gentleman immediately and quite rudely asked me to close the (already very small) jojo (little pram) with my son sleeping in it. We were in a mood of a joy though and we wanted to continue.. We ordered shared starters for everybody and the portions that came after were quite small and it looked like it was more an antipasti for one person. An example was their tagliere of mixed charcuterie were they had probably 4 tiny slices of prosciutto, 4 tiny slices of coppa and 4 salame. When I asked if more was coming, they said I could order some more (bare the price for this was already 25 euro). Food that came later was ok, decent but again in small portion. From what you pay to be honest you would expect either a larger plates or an outstanding taste. Neither of those. The main guy looking after us continued in his terrible host mood later on, rushing us on making orders ("as the kitchen could close" although we were way ahead of the closing time) and so on. Ultimately a table next to us was served a special liquor after meal and when we asked about it and if we could try some the person reply that we couldn't not have it as we were from afar and just local people could taste it! The bill as expected was outrageous expensive for some prosciutto and pasta, with no discount, nothing offered and service charged also for my two years old son!. Trust me, this is not at all what you would expect from an Italian trattoria and you should look somewhere else to find better food with people who are actually happy for you to try their dishes...

This was a big disappointment. It’s a shame, because some things were really good. Ordered a sharing platter of meats and the gnocchi basket and tempura veg, all excellent, except the sauce with the veg, which tasted like curry powder, balsamic and mayo... two glasses of house white - good, but very small measures. Main of lake fish - tasty but tiny portions. Pudding, my husband had tiramisu which was good. I had semifreddo which was inedible. The real let down was the service. We asked for small plates to share starters (as they were served on chopping boards) and were abruptly told that the table was too small, before being brought some smaller plates - bizarre. I complained about the semifreddo being rock solid and was told it was meant to be like that and to wait for it to melt because it’s a type of ice cream. I told the waitress that I knew exactly what it should be and that this was not it, at which point she walked off. To be fair, they didn’t charge us for it in the end. It’s a hard one to call, because it should be a good place to eat, even if portions are a bit mean, providing the semifreddo was a genuine mistake. However, the service is just not friendly and relaxing. We sort of felt that they wished we...

Wir wollten zum Abschluss unseres Urlaubs in ein traditionelles italienisches Restaurant einkehren um dort gemütlich zu Abend zu essen.

Es war zwar nicht der sonnigste Tag, dennoch wurde der Tag von dem Essen in diesem Restaurant erhellt. Eine wirkliche Perle der italienischen Küche.

Der Service war erste Klasse. Wir sind auf gut Glück in das Lokal gegangen und haben gehofft einen Tisch zu erwischen. Unser Mut wurde belohnt und wir bekamen einen gemütlichen Tisch, trotz eines nassen Hundes, den wir dabei hatten. Im laufe des Abends wurde ihm sogar feinster Italienischer Schinken auf einem kleinen Teller serviert, was mir wirklich sehr positiv aufgefallen ist.

Wir hatten sowohl vegetarische als auch Gerichte mit Fleisch, die alle durchweg gelungen waren.

Wir starteten mit Ziegen-Ricotta gefüllten Zucchini Blüten auf einem hervorragenden Hummus mit Brot, dass alleinstehend schon eine Mahlzeit wert gewesen wäre. Gefolgt von ein net traditionellen Bolognese tagliatelle und Roman gnoccis mit einer Salbeisauce. Zum Abschluss aßen wir noch ein hausgemachtes Tiramisu, dass ähnlich der deutschen Interpretation gemacht war.

Das Tiramisu war überdurchschnittlich cremig und überzeuge sehr mit seiner Kaffee-Amaretto getränkten Biscuits. Die Käse-Gnoccis mit Salbeisauce schmeckten mindestens so gut wie sie aussahen. Anfänglich sah es danach aus, als würden diese niemals satt machen, doch da irrten wir uns gewaltig. Die Komposition der verschiedenen Komponenten wirkte sehr durchdacht und auf einander abgeschmeckt. Die Tagliatelle war wohl die beste Bolognese meines Lebens. Butterweich mit einer würzig-cremigen milde des Parmesans schmeckten in Kombination atemberaubend! Und zum Abschluss der Anfang. Wir entscheiden uns für die Zucchini-Blüten, da uns bekannt war, dass dies eine italienische Spezialität sein soll. Und was soll ich sagen? Sie waren das Highlight des Abends. Wir rechneten mit einem leichten, fast salatähnlichem Gericht, bekamen aber etwas komplett konträres. Ein Gericht, dass sowohl Leichtigkeit als auch Schwere ausstrahlt, bekommt man nicht an jeder Ecke.

Wir kamen ohne Erwartungen und gingen glücklich, satt und mit einer neu entdeckten Liebe zur...