Ammalia Restaurant and Lounge — Restaurant in Florence

It's been a little over two weeks since I'd had the misfortune of eating at Ammalia. It was our first night in Florence and my companion wanted to eat someplace nice. The apartment hotel that we were staying at recommended several restaurants. Interestingly, despite its extremely close proximity, Ammalia was not among those recommendations. However, due to difficulty getting reservations at the recommended restaurants, we decided to see if Ammalia had availability. We had no trouble getting a reservation. We showed up at our assigned time and were very impressed with how nice the restaurant looked inside. The prices were expensive, but we were willing to pay for good quality. What we received was anything but. Although it may be difficult to tell from the photograph, my grilled salmon was only slightly cooked on the outside and was completely raw and cold on the inside. When I say raw, I literally mean uncooked. When I say cold, I literally mean refrigerator cold. I took one bite and spit it out. I told my companion about the condition of my food. However, my companion assured me that this must be the way that the salmon is intended to be, and that a nice, fancy, expensive restaurant like this wouldn't serve me anything that was improperly cooked; that surely the recipe called for the salmon to be cooked in this exact manner and that this must be how well-off, sophisticated people in Florence eat their salmon. Knowing nothing about Florence cuisine, and having eaten sushi on several occasions, I simply accepted that my companion must be right. So, rather than get up and seek out my server, I ate the food. Upon completion of our meals, the server did come over and ask how everything was. I stated that it was different and explained that my salmon was raw and cold on the inside. Based on the server's reaction, I then asked if this is how the salmon is meant to be cooked. The server's exact reply was, "No, of course not! I'll tell the kitchen." The server then followed up with, "but you must have liked it since you ate it." I found this follow-up to be uncalled for, since there appeared to be the implication that I was trying to get out of paying for my meal. I made no such attempt. We paid in full. Interestingly, my companion admitted to me that he didn't like the chicken dish that he'd selected and that the side of mashed potatoes that he'd ordered was far too salty for him. I already knew the mashed potatoes were too salty. I'd had some with my salmon. But, my companion, who never leaves behind unfinished mashed potatoes, barely ate the mashed potatoes at Ammalia. As I'd learned over the course of my trip to Italy, contrary to popular misconceptions, food in Italy isn't typically overly-seasoned. If anything, it's mild. Except at Ammalia, where the mashed potatoes were too salty for my companion, who was brought up on Southern U.S.A. food. For those unfamiliar with Southern U.S.A. food, it's known for being generous with salt. In conclusion, although within this experience there are lessons to be learned about self-advocacy and not having misplaced faith in a restaurant on the sole basis of high prices, the biggest lesson here is to avoid Ammalia. Further research has led me to understand the very real risk of food poisoning or parasite contagion that was present. Imagine if I had ended up staying in a hospital for the remainder of my vacation. Imagine if it was you. There's plenty of good food in Italy. So, please, if you're a tourist and aren't sure where to eat in Florence, my suggestion is to eat anywhere...

Ammalia Restaurant! What a dream! I can’t stress enough how this restaurant is a MUST!

It feels as though Ammalia’s more than just a restaurant but an experience. Carefully curated to seduce and awaken your soul.

We had the uovo poche su pane nero (poached egg on black bread with cream cheese and truffle) which set the bar for the rest of our meals. After this dish, I’m convinced I’ve never had truffle before because WOW! Reading the description you might think it’s just a cool idea and it won’t justify the cost but once the yolk breaks and dances with the bread and the truffle you’ll understand that Ammalia’s isn’t just some pretentious food joint. Everything is made with intent.

For my main dish, I had the filet mignon. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of some raspberry gelee with modest strings of what seems like crème fraîche framing the steak. That one Friends episode where Rachel made lady fingers with shepherds pie came to mind but I took a stab at it and gave it a swipe. It’s definitely new and familiar all at the same time. It’s reminiscent of Bordelaise sauce but with a kiss of cool cream it’s like a different sensation. It worked and I absolutely loved it!

The other entree we ordered was a special which is grilled tuna steak with pommes puree. Coulda been a bad idea but for some reason it just made sense! They charred the tuna and served it like long and large slices of beef medallions. They put teriyaki sauce on the side. I only had one bite because my boyfriend inhaled the plate before I can come for a second bite lol

For dessert we had the Zuppamisú and the crème brûlée. I love that we had table side presentation. They blow-torched the sugar crust at our table. The custard was just ahhhmazing! Most crème brûlées I’ve had were heavier on the cream and only a tinge of egg but this one was quite the opposite and I loooove the eggy custard!

Cristina, in particular, was an absolute delight. Being an American in Europe it’s always been weird when waitstaff aren’t vivacious and friendly like back home. Cristina seems like she genuinely was happy to be there and got us super excited about our selections. What made our dining experience a whole vibe is the quality of the service. She was extremely knowledgeable and broke down the cooking process of certain dishes to us, was readily able to answer questions, offer suggestions, and gave us space when we needed it.

If a critical review is solicited and absolutely necessary, I guess the only knit-picky thing I’d say is that the music selection doesn’t match the vibe of the restaurant. But other than that, all of it was spectacular!

When traveling, I try not to double-back because I wanna explore more places but we’ll definitely and unashamedly be coming...

Please read this review until the end. There is no doubt the atmosphere, the food and service are very good. We had a party of 4, and 3 of us were very satisfied with the level of taste. However, this place loses stars because of how our night ended.

The owner, seems very passionate about his creations and visits your table personally. He explains his menu and offers some suggestions. It was very appreciated and helpful. He also feels he’s so confident in his ability to provide the “best” meals, that he stated, “if we don’t like it, he’ll pay for the meal himself” The bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was very tasty. Our salad and mozzarella was delicious. The fresh pastas dishes were amazing. However, my daughter ordered the seafood dish with the Octopus and the potatoes and it was inedible. The amount of Saffron was extremely overwhelming and the octopus was so tough on one end, she couldn’t even cut it.

Before checking out, we decided to bring it to the owners attention “only” because he seemed so passionate and cared so much about his creations, we thought he should know for future reference.

Not only did he not come to our table to discuss it, he flat out ignored us as we were leaving the restaurant.

He has a beautiful establishment, but maybe this is the reason the restaurant looked empty?

I would have come back the next day for another meal if he had just given us a moment of his time, but since he didn’t, he gets a lower star rating and our money won’t be spent there again.

In response to the owner: We didn’t know our 4th person had an issue with the food until the end. She felt badly about saying something so she didn’t speak up at first. When we learned it was not good, that is when we thought it would be a good idea to bring awareness. We weren’t expecting any discount and I was fully prepared to pay the entire bill. We just thought he would want to know about the dish for future reference. It was lack of response that...