Ristorante Da Ciccio — Restaurant in Forio

The food was excellent, but the service is not there yet! When I asked for the wine list, they said that I should scan the QR code printed on the napkin - which I really hate it anyway, taking out my phone at the table, it's bad manners in my opinion!

Well, my phone was out of battery, so no menu for me, then the waitress brought me a bottle of wine without even asking me what I would like to drink, except if red or white! Of course, I asked then for some recommendations, but she only knew that her boss send me that bottle! I kindly asked for the boss to come to our table, so that he can explain why he choosed that specific wine for me without asking - not that it was the most expensive, although it was not even near the bottom of the price list, which I got to see it finally on another phone! Well, in a very patronizing style, he explained me that it's hard to keep a printed wine list updated, since he has inconsistent stock due to the wine providers lack of seriosity, hence the need to have the list online - like in this way one won't have to keep it updated anyway! - and that this wine is very good! I asked why this wine and not another one - I wanted to try a local, Ischian wine, and in order to convince me to pay 8 - 10€ more for one wine, one shoud try to sell it to me first! Anyway, without a word, he changed the bottle with another one, also not giving me a clue why so... I realised that I have nobody to talk with about wine, and I accepted! Probably, in his opinion, an expensive wine it's always better..

Then, trying to edulcorate the situation, the guy pulled out of his chique chemise chest pocket a fancy cigar-like tube with a bar of bottarga, and with theatrical performance he started grating some of that on top of my half eaten linguini scampi plate, making a scene with the believe that I've never seen such thing in my whole life! He even make some prophecies on the effect that that substance will have on me later in the night.. Anyway, I didn't get the joke, neither my wife, my daughter and my companion friends on the table! When I said that I know what bottarga is, he was a little surprised, I guess, probably he expected that his show will have a deeper impact on us, the poor peasants!

On the food, as I mentioned, my dish was impecable (very tasty linguini and 3 little scampi), but on anotherone's choice, the tuna steak was overcooked, even if we specifically asked the "big boss" when placing the order not to cook the tuna steak more than "rear"! When we asked him that, he even bragged that there is no way to eat a tuna steak otherwise than "rear", and if it's delivered "medium-rear" or "well-done", we should refuse it!

Well.. even with the well done tuna, the food was good, but the condescending treatment we got from the head of the restaurant was not cool.. I believe some clients may find this guy charming, with his elegant posture and aura of knowing it all and flashing his little stick of bottarga, but for my taste he patronized a little to much the paying custommers! One might consider himself the chief of an island, but the world is a...

Tl;dr: we had a great experience. Great food, service and location.

We went to Ciccio on an early Tuesday evening upon a recommendation by a local friend. We got there early and were seated right away. We were 4 adults, 1 teen and a 2 1/2 year old. We had a few local appetizers like stuffed zucchini flowers and zuppa di cozze ( mussel soup). And then most of us ordered pizzas as main dish. Pizzas were great. See photos. The stuffed zucchini flowers are a local speciality. They come filled with cheese and sometimes there is also a little bit of prosciutto crudo added. They are briefly fried and served warm. A must try! Especially because it is difficult to find zucchini flowers elsewhere. A total and unexpected very positive surprise was for me the zuppa di cozze. It’s a mussel “soup” but you can compare it a little bit to French moules marinières. We just happened to be a week prior to Ischia in La Baule, a fancy coast town in the Bretagne. We had moules marinieres there and those tasted like nothing. The zuppa di cozze on the orher hand was a dream full of flavor. You should definitely try. We paired our meal with local wine, a white Bianconello from Casa d’Ambra. If in Ischia, try the local wines. They are hard to come by outside Ischia and much more expensive even in Naples. Ischia is a volcanic Island and it has a wide variety of grapes and hence wines to try.

I could leave this review as is but I must tell about how the host went way beyond to help me recover something I left behind. I discovered the next day that I forgot something but the restaurant was closed in the morning and we left for Naples to spend there a few days before heading back home.

Giovanni went all out and managed to get my left behind on a ferry for me to pick up in Naples at the harbor 2 days later! That is dedication. Thank you Giovanni! We will be back.

PS: I recommend making a reservation. We tried going a few days prior at regular dinner hour and the wait was 40 min. The night we were there, it filled up...

A local taxi driver recommended this restaurant and he is a local ! When it’s your 40th wedding anniversary you have to get it right 😄. We were the first to eat at 7pm but it started to fill up around 7:30 and when we left after 9pm there was a good crowd. The owner greeted us and offered to help us choose from the menu. We are not experienced wine drinkers and he recommended the house wine which tasted wonderful. He said why sell you my most expensive wine when you would enjoy my house wine and he was right! We went to order a starter each but he said my wife’s was large enough to share and here again he was so right. We both had pizza and the flavour was amazing. We didn’t have room for a dessert and we felt no pressure in ordering one and opted for a coffee. The owner took time to speak to everyone around us and when I thanked him for making our anniversary so special he insisted we had a glass of limoncello and some chocolates. The menu is excellent and great value for money. Thank you from...