Esoticum — Restaurant in Genoa

The restaurant is in a narrow street, near the boulevard and the new aquarium in Genua. Reception is friendly, service is attentive throughout the evening, but clearly not 100% professional. The menu offers some nice descriptions, conveniently in a lot of different languages. We shared a fish carpaccio dish, which looked great and tasted nice. The main courses were squid risotto, with a creamy (milk, Italian cooks would never do this!) sauce and some shrimps. The taste was a bit flat, but most importantly: the dish was served on a cold plate and cooled down within minutes which ruined the taste. The second main course was the classic Genua dish of pasta with green pesto, beans and potato. This was also somewhat flat and, no exception, too cold. Dessert was a good mousse of passion fruit, nicely served. The price of about €110 for two persons with water and some wine seemed fair. There is still a lot to learn for Esoticum: use warm plates, create more depth in taste, turn down the background music (it was really too loud), and stay a bit closer to the...

Worst dining experience we’ve ever had in Italy.

We ordered burrata with shrimp, but what arrived was plain burrata with a handful of supermarket salad, carrot, and green beans — completely tasteless and thrown together without care.

The main course was even worse: pasta with tuna tartare and shrimp tartare. It was inedible. The fish smelled bad, the sauce looked awful, and the dish was simply not safe to eat. We refused it.

When the bill came, those dishes were still included. After arguing, the owner “negotiated” a reduced price, which we felt forced to pay just to get out of the situation.

To make matters worse, sitting outside meant enduring the foul smell coming from a nearby sink.

Horrible from start to finish. Avoid this place...

I want to preface my review by mentioning that it felt like something was wrong at the restaurant when we visited it. It was never confirmed, but it felt like some key staff were not there (e.g. the main chef).

It took 45 minutes for us to get our starters. While they were quite tasty, I'm not sure that they were worth their full price. My fiancée's main course (gamberi soup) was OK, but my primo (pasta with gamberi tartar) was the second worst pasta that I have had in Italy. Completely tasteless and overcooked. I ended up eating less than a third.

In the end, we got a 50% discount without asking for it. Even with the discount, I felt that the food was overpriced.

The staff were very friendly, but the...