Ristorante Pizzeria Da Leopoldo Ischia — Restaurant in Forio

The food in Ischia has been outstanding and I have put on many extra kilos with joy!

When we went to Ristorante Leopoldo one evening, near our Airb&b, we weren't expecting to have such a delicious and memorable meal.

As an ex chef, I feel I can recognise a great restaurant, and although we were one of only 2 tables (it was off season), the staff made us feel incredibly welcome and it didn't feel weird at all. In fact it felt romantic and private, as we dined and watched the sunset with an amazing view.

This was by far the best meal we had here on Ischia and maybe the best meal I have had in a while. Our waiter Maurizio was a seasoned pro and made the experience even better, thank you!

I had the beef tartare with mango salsa, followed by the scampi spaghetti, and then the rabbit. My girlfriend had the grilled octopus, and we finished with the tiramisu.

I think she was a bit jealous of my attention as I proceeded to fall in love with the 'coniglio all'ischitana' (rabbit) and devoured every last piece I could. Wow... Just wow!!! Congratulations to the chef!!

It was fantastic value, a beautiful decor and location, a chef that really knows how to cook, and staff that make the experience even more memorable.

I can't recommend this restaurant enough and if we were staying another day I would go back and do it all again....

Warmly greeted by the waiting staff who sat us at a beautiful table outside on the balcony. 5 star service throughout and warm welcome.

Unfortunately, things started to go down hill fast when we got our olive oil for the bread. It was a very light colour and tasted as if it had gone off. Definitely a cheap variant of the wonderful olive quality oils you can get in the country..

One of the waiters came along with sachets of Balsamic vinegar which expired in 2023 and insisted this was a great balsamic.

Our waiter introduced the catch of the day and reccomended fish tartare. Sadly the dish was presented as large chunks of raw fish, not really seasoned and in a bowl - I would have been happy as a cat. However not as a person in a resturant expecting a bit more "visual presentation".

I lost my appetite after this. The same waiter genuinely wanted me to be happy and enjoy my food so he took it back to the kitchen again. Second time around - chef's had added mayonnaise and dry onions ontop. Still with the same layout.

We had arrived before a wedding party of 12, I will give the kitchen that.

5 star service and beautiful atmosphere. 2 star food experience. Sadly we will not...

The food was very good, it is worth 5 stars

But when we arrived 20.00 and wanted to sit outside, they told us it was all full / reserved.

As we had not reserved we took a table for two inside. We were the only people inside, and ut was about 50+ inside seats. It was 5 tables empty outside. When we left 21.40 it was still 4 tables empty outside. 3 tables had been empty the entire time we had been at the restaurant. We were still alone inside.

My guess is, as we were only 2 persons they wanted to "save" 3 tables for 4 persons outside. Instead they lost our desserts, coffe and grappa.

We left and took dolce/desert, espresso and grappa 5 minutes away by the village square instead. Very nice environment there, instead of sitting all alone inside a restaurant with 50 empty inside seats and 16 empty...