Osteria Pastella — Restaurant in Florence

TL;DR - get the truffle pasta in the grana padano wheel (like everyone else is raving about)

I found out that this place had a truffle pasta made in a cheese wheel, so I definitely wanted to check it out while in Florence. I made a reservation 2 weeks ahead, and the only time available was 9:15 PM (it was a Wednesday). We happened to be in the neighborhood at around 8:30, so we decided to check if they had any availability to seat us earlier, and they were able to give us a table about 15 minutes later. There's a line for people with reservations, and without, and for without, there was a steady stream of people waiting. Even when we left the restaurant at almost 10, there was still a line and Google says it closes at 10:30!

The restaurant is kind of touristy. You could tell everyone else also somehow found out about this place on social media. Everyone is getting that truffle pasta. However, it is not a tourist trap. The food is actually good.

For drinks, I had a Tuscan cola, which was so good. It's less sweet than a Coke and tastes more natural, if that's even possible/makes sense. I even tried looking for it afterwards at Italian grocery stores with no success. For an appetizer, we had the smoked pork shoulder with roasted mushrooms and porcini mushroom mayonnaise. The pork was so tender and I loved it with the chanterelle mushrooms.

For mains, we had the lasagne with beef, veal and pork ragù, goat truffle cheese and herbs olive oil, and the flambé tagliatelle with fresh truffle in Grana Padano cheese wheel. The lasagna was good but I didn't love it - probably because of the goat cheese (which I didn't realize had goat cheese until we got the dish), but I did like the sauce. The truffle pasta was amazing because they put on a whole show for you. They will cart the giant cheese wheel to whichever table orders it, and toss/flambé the pasta right before your eyes, so make sure you have your phone ready. They give you a generous amount of truffle. This dish is meant to be shared because eating the whole thing is kind of heavy because it's so rich.

For dessert, we went with the Osteria Tiramisu, which is kind of like a deconstructed tiramisu, and the Chocolate Cake (fior di latte ice cream, pears and caramel). I preferred the tiramisu because the chocolate cake was too sweet for me. But I loved the fior di latte ice cream. I probably would have been happier just getting a few scoops of that but I wanted to try something less basic. If dessert isn't really your thing (it normally isn't mine), I would say you are better off skipping it and heading to the gelateria instead. To finish off the meal, they give you limoncello shots on the house.

Service is impeccable. It is so efficient and they have a very well-oiled machine. Even though it was a packed house, we were in and out within an hour, more or less. Their ordering system is done through an iPad. When we ordered our drinks, someone else brought them to our table as soon as the waitress walked away. We were confused and amazed at the same time at how quickly we got our drinks. They also clear out old dishes quickly, but I never once felt rushed, and that is key to great service.

Don't let the late reservation times deter you from checking this place out. You could also try my method of arriving earlier and hope something is available. But even if it's not, the whole dining experience is...

I chose the 5 star rating, although I don’t believe in perfection and there were some small mistakes or imperfections here and there.

Here is the whole story: We discovered this gem a little too late to make a reservation during our stay. However, seeing as we stayed right across the street, we decided to show up 30 minutes before they opened to hopefully get a table without a reservation. There were about 12 people in front of us in the non-reservation line, and no one in the reservation line yet. Right before they opened, a lot of people started showing up and they didn’t know which line was for people with reservations and people without reservations. Luckily, the staff got ahold of the situation right as they opened, but I feel like there should have been more coordination from before they opened due to the humongous lines that were building up. Being a family of 5, we had to wait just over an hour and 30 minutes to get a table, but we also got wine while waiting.

When we sat down we got served with quite fresh bread and some kind of fried potato balls, and both were very good. Two of us ordered the tagliatelle with fresh parmagiano reggiano, newly bruléed from a cheese wheel. Due to our table’s position, the trolley with the parmesan wheel would most likely obstruct an important walkway in the restaurant, and therefore the dishes were prepared a couple of table lengths away. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a heads up that the dishes being prepared were to be ours, so we weren’t laser eyed focused. Although I was hoping it would be prepared tableside instead of expecting it, I would at least appreciate it being mentioned that our dishes were the ones being made. Luckily the dishes were very good, fresh and with high quality truffles.

We also ordered two plates with tortellis filled with duck, which were amazing and high quality.

For dessert we had their take on a tiramisu, peach gelato and chocolate mousse. The take on a tiramisu was just outstanding. It hit all the notes, and I would strongly recommend it.

The food is on the very slightly more expensive side for its portions, but it’s justified due to how fresh it was and the quality.

As for the service, everything was quite decent. It was a little bit too fast paced for me, which kind of matched the vibe in the restaurant. The interior was okay, but I would appreciate some more roomy lights that would bring the interior more life.

Overall, I would say get a reservation a good amount of days beforehand and come here, because the food was amazing and the parmesan wheel was a...

Where do I begin. So before we got in we firstly had to wait 1.5 hours which is fair enough because we were unable to reserve a table due to there poorly operated systems. But what wasnt fair whilst we waiting we were getting dirty looks from the staff, overheard them complaining, and felt a feeling of judgement from them all. Then got in, and yes the atmosphere was nice and busy, but the staff seemed inattentive, and straight up bored. We then got seated, this was when my blood boiled. We were sharing a table with 2 other people right at the back of the restaurant where the staff all hang out and polish cutlery. The worst table possible which was also to top if all off, it was filthy. Opening up the menu we were greated by high prices which are expected in a nice establishment, but at first it didn't warrant it, and it certainly didn't get better. We then ordered their famous flambé tagliatelle, which came out and made infront of us. But the member of staff who made it couldn't look more bored and when we tried it, for 28 euros, it sure was underwhelming. We tried 3 times to get someone to take our order but to no avile due to the slow service. I then thought it was really lacking basic taste so wanted to add salt and pepper, but then their moldy and dirty salt shaker decided to break as soon as I twisted it. It then went all over my meal. Luckily the one nice member of staff who was a lovely young girl who did her best to resolve the situation. But sadly it took them almost 20 mins to get another made and by that time my partner had finished so I was eating alone. The pasta was good but certainly over priced for what it was. If you put a microwaved pasta next to it I wouldn't be able to tell the difference (coming from someone who has worked high up in catering all their lives). The wine selection was good but once again for the wines on offer, too expensive. To sum this all up, poor slow and rude staff, poor food, and too expensive, sat on a table with random people, waited wayy to long, faulty and dirty utensils and...