Cuculia — Restaurant in Florence

Wow, wow, wow!! What a fantastic ristorante find in Florence. On your trip, we went to several Michelin restaurants, and Cuculia Ristorante blew them all out of the water, and they are not a Michelin-rated restaurant. Anyway. to the review. We called and made a reservation prior. They were very accommodating. We got to the restaurant, which is off the main road. We walked in, gave our names, and were led to our table (which had a view of the kitchen) and offered water, etc. Very pleasant, and you could tell she was passionate about the restaurant. At around 10 to 15 minutes after taking in the fantastic atmosphere, we were served three complimentary hors d'oeuvres to start the experience. They were a showcase of what was to come, and the chef did not disappoint. Wow. Please see the picture below. We then received our appetizers. I ordered the Octopus and avocados in a rap, ceviche style. The presentation was impressive, and the combination of flavors was outstanding, which was the theme throughout the dining experience. After 10 mins of finishing the appetizer, we received our first courses. The tortellini with the pork and prawns was unbelievable! The combination of flavors with the demi-glace sauce was incredible. It is hard to describe how the flavor manifested itself in my mouth. Pork and prawn should not taste this way, but they did, and I was in food heaven. Sara received the cod wrapped in a pasta shell with bacon. Again a great variety of flavors. Both dishes were beautiful and so satisfying, I could not wait to get the next dish. Like any good restaurant, they let us think about the dish we just ate for ten to fifteen minutes. Next came the lamb. It had been slow-cooked; however, it was a perfect color and very juicy and flavorful. It also came with baked eggplant with buffalo mozzarella and two sauces that rounded out the flavors, giving a unique but dainty taste. I loved this. Well done again.

It was now time to move to desert and cheese. Sara ordered the chocolate mousse. Sara loves chocolate and is very particular about it. Well, the mouse was to die for and got to taste it—a chocolate dream. I had the cheese selection—five different kinds of cheese. One jumped out at me. It was soft cheese with a chocolate powder coating. Amazing. I closed my eyes when I ate it . Yummy. Please note that we went out for dinner and lunch every day over three weeks and traveled around Italy, France, and UK. Anyway. If you were thinking about going for dinner at a favorable price, look no further than Cuculia Ristorante. The chef is Oliver Betancourt. His wife, our server Roberta and our other server...

Pros: All the food was great the tomato/strawberry dish was a nice (complimentary) add on lemon sorbet dessert was incredible

Cons: service was both slow and rushed

I'm not sure if the number on the Google Maps page is the right one. I called ahead to get a reservation for two, but when I showed up they said they didn't have any reservations, thankfully they had a table for two empty, so we took a seat and ordered some wine. They brought us this strawberry/tomato dish with charcoal, it was quite good, different from anything we've tasted before.

The ambiance of the restaurant was quite nice, they had th perfect amount of light, and the two seater tables had great romantic lighting. We came here on our 2.5 year anniversary, and it was the perfect level of fancy. All the food was quite delicious and varied. The risotto used coconut milk so it tasted tropical. The tortelli had mint in it that gave it an extra something that took it from great to excellent.

The service was a bit strange in that it took them a long time to bring us our check after we were done, but throughout the experience one of the waiters seemed very rushed. We were trying to ask him about some of the dishes and he was constantly looking around as if he had other priorities to get to. The restaurant wasn't even that full, and it made us feel like we were holding him up. At the end my girlfriend wanted to gush about the risotto to him and he sort of brushed it off with a laugh and kept walking, left a somewhat sour taste in my mouth.

Overall, however, this place is excellent for the price. We had two dishes, two glasses of wine, bread, and dessert for €61, would highly recommend!

As we were getting ready to leave, I get a call from the original number that I placed the reservation with, it said Cuculia Ristorante. I picked up but the voice was too muffled to hear anything. Nobody in the restaurant seemed to be on the phone so it must be some other...

Cuculia came up in a vegan search on Google, and for us it was better than vegan as the small but perfectly formed menu contained a choice of fully vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous dishes. You really don't need to read further, book it! But if you want more convincing, read on. First impressions were very good. The venue itself is furnished in a tasteful and comfortable way. Our waiter spoke very good English (not that this is essential in any way, we love to try and practice our Italian, but it helps!) and gave us menus in English and we began to realise we had really fallen on our feet. There was home made tofu and seitan, beetroot buttons with gorgonzola hearts, ravioli made with chestnut flour.. honestly the descriptions just made you want to choose one of everything! And the prices were in line with the majority of other restaurants where you would be offered much less interesting piatte. Our waiter was attentive, helpful and engaging and obviously knew the food and wine very well. We made our choices and were thrilled to be presented with what I think would normally be referred to as an 'amuse bouche', although this one was rather larger than usual. We were each presented with a shallow bowl in which floated a cloud like island in a sea of pea and mint, with a pea and mint granita beach all surrounded by a purple potato glow. It was beautiful to look at, vegan, so we could all enjoy it, and totally delicious. We savoured every mouthfull and couldn't wait for the rest of our meal. Maybe you are waiting for a 'but'? I am delighted to say there isn't one. The prima and secondi matched the 'island' in taste, presentation and imagination, and the dolce balanced the meal perfectly. We are only in Firenze for one more night but are seriously considering going again tonight to try some of the other dishes! The chef is truly gifted. Amazing, wonderful,...