Quelli dell'Acciughetta — Restaurant in Genoa

I went to this restaurant encouraged by my friend, an original Genoese, who heard a lot of good comments about the place, and who joked to me that we need to lower our expectations as Genoese people often are not objective in their opinions about restaurants - sometimes is enough that it is new and posh. Unfortunately, he was right. The restaurant in itself makes a very good impression: well located, cozy, nice and elegant interior, beautiful ceramics the food is served, and very nice lightening in the evening. The menu sounds encouraging and very interesting, is based on local products with a tendency to cosmopolitan fusion. We will not discuss taste as this is very individual - some people like more or less spicy, etc., but sometimes the taste can be overfancy, overcontrived and this is the first problem of this restaurant. We think that the chef is looking for inspirations in many other cuisines what we find as an advantage (creativity is important), but we have an impression that he/she has been lost in those experiments. Falafel di gamberi// tzatziki// melitzanosalata - great idea to make falafel of prawns, but tzatziki sauce is so intensive in taste that killed the delicacy of this meat. Tartare di tonno alalunga fatto in casa// latte di cocco// guacamole// chips di carasau - guacamole without any character, just delicate avocado which didn't emphasize the taste of tuna fish which is delicate as well, so summarizing it was completely bland. Tortelli ripieni di ricotta affumicata di pecora e cipollotto// salsa d’arancia rossa - an interesting idea, but in the sauce I felt only lemon and a lot of sugar, it was too sweet for ricotta cheese and killed the smoked flavour. The pastry might be a bit thicker, but maybe this is only my preference. Spaghetti aglio// olio// peperoncino affumicato// gambero rosso*//limone - that was really good: well balanced, full of fragrance, delicious. We drunk a local wine Resureo by U Matta' which is a very interesting and balanced in taste, it is developing with time. We finished this wine at home, 3 hours after opening and it was very interesting. The second weak point of this restaurant is lack of personnel. It was Saturday night, there were 51 guests and only three waitresses - definitely not enough. I want to stress the fact that Girls did their best, they worked very well and very hard, but someone who is responsible for work organization in the restaurant should immediately take some management course - in peak hours there is worth to hire one or two more personnel, and make one responsible for controlling bills, payments and general needs of clients. We spent 30 minutes (!!!) waiting for a bill and possibility of doing the payment. Summarizing: there is a huge room for introducing improvements, because right now we are fully convinced that there are better...

Very disappointing experience, given the very good reviews of this restaurant. Service was very perfunctory and disinterested on the whole, no engagement whatsoever. The food was mediocre to say the least, while one main course was enjoyable (hence the two stars), unfortunately the other was very disappointing and was not as described. The menu stated it was accompanied by a yoghurt sauce. Fish was dry and overcooked, the yoghurt sauce not in evidence. When asked if there was a problem, was informed that they had forgotten the sauce and was asked if it was now required?! Most reputable restaurants would have not charged for this course, or at the very least have offered a discount, but not on this occasion. Would therefore...

Une cuisine inventive et originale. Ici tout est bien fait sans exhubérance mais avec finesse. Entrée : Un thon cru et poivron vert grillé, sur un jus de pasteque et tomates très frais. Des cervettes grillées sur une sauce aux amandes (on dirait du poid chiche en plus doux), avec une tapenade noire pour saisir la bouchée. et une tranche de melon pour rafraichir. Pasta : Des mandili enormes avec un pesto servi avec générosité, Des raviolis fourrés aux oignons grillés et à la ricotta fumée baignant dans une sauce à l'orange à peine acidulée. Secondi : Un canard à la cuisson parfaite et une sauce de jus de cuisson qu'on voudrait indifiniment saucer. Accompagné de fenouil d'orange et d'un Tacos légèrement relevé pour rappeler qu'ici c'est quand même l'originalité qu'on recherche à chaque préparation. Un espadon presque snacké mais tendre et divinement bien préparé. Et comme on est gourmand : le très généreux gateau à la pêche et à la noisette sur une creme glacé à l'Amaretto. On se croirait dans le 11ème à Paris l'exotisme italien en plus. Côté vin une belle carte de vins natures (surtout italien). Attention aucune déviance ici. On prend plutôt les vins au verre pour en gouter plusieurs. Côté service c'est super agréable et tout en douceur. Avec beaucoup de bienveillance on s'adapte à notre rythme. On nous conseille avec justesse que ce soit dans la carte ou dans les vins. On parle anglais, français (woow j'ai jamais entendu parler un étranger avec un accent aussi peu prononcé !!) et on passe à l'italien avec le sommelier avec qui on pourrait discuter vins natures pendant toute la soirée. Même si ce n'est peut être pas le restaurant que je conseillerais avec des enfants, nos deux filles (9 et 12 ans) étant déjà bien grandes, aucun problème, la cuisine propose même de s'adapter pour préparer quelque chose de simple. Mais ce serait un sacrilège de ne pas former leur jeune palet à une si belle cuisine. On a adoré. côté prix : 173 euros à quattre avec 4 verres de vins. Pour le travail et la créativité que ça représente c'est un excellent rapport...