Daní Maison — Restaurant in Ischia

Without a doubt the most overrated, disappointing dining experience of my life. Let's start with the singular positive: beautiful gardens in a serene location where you can enjoy an aperitivo outdoors before dinner. As for every other aspect of our dining experience, in the spirit of brevity, here's our list of "opportunities for improvement": 1) the indoor dining area felt like you were in a hospital waiting room with a handful of other concerned patients/family members - all facing each other and under obscenely bright lighting - 4 tables inside, 2 in the kitchen - anything but a romantic dining experience 2) we ordered the degustation menu- probably about 50 total small plates were served to us - at a certain point we had 18 plates on our table for 2 at once - no dish in particular was memorable because everything got lost in the "chaotic circus" of dishes .. the dessert felt like the chef stocked-up at a Dollar Store and not a single bite of the 30+ desserts was anything to write home about 3) we ordered the pairing menu along with our degustation - the "sommelier" (I would bet you a flying pony that she was not an accredited sommelier, as she didn't EVEN TELL US WHAT THE FIRST GLASS WE WERE SERVED WAS - let alone any kind of explanation whatsoever for ANY of the other glasses, the absolute minimum is to say "this is a glass of Duval Leroy Champagne.. ". With every other glass, she only showed us the bottle, told us the name of what it was and poured 4) speaking of pours - in a previous life I worked in hospitality, I've had the privilege of enjoying fine dining experiences all over the world as does my fiance - I can tell you with absolute certainty that not a single glass we were served was the correct pour of 5oz - I would say we were getting a consistent 3-3.5oz.. when you are paying by the glass, for instance the 200 euros we paid for "4 glasses" of Dom Perignon we had for our aperitivo, you really expect a correct pour. Moving on. 5) because of the frenzie of 50+ dishes, we CONSTANTLY had staff swarming ALL around us - we couldn't carry a conversation, they were passing from behind us, around us, in front of us - not a moment's rest without someone fluttering in front of you. Not to mention that the room felt like you were in a small confined closet with a few other strangers - no one said more than a few words to each other- the environment lacked completely in intimacy. 6) the staff was extremely young, which is fine - but hands were shaking as cutlery was replaced, dishes were set down - the atmosphere felt extremely tense, anything but relaxed. Also, our waiter, sweet as he was and really I don't blame him - this is a question of proper training and etiquette at a 2 star Michelin restaurant - he made a number of inappropriate jokes - one in particular was after setting 8 plates in front of me and explaining each one he gave me a pop quiz "bet you don't even remember what this one even is!" - hilariously, inappropriate, not to mention the fact that he directed most of his attention towards me which also annoyed my fiance. 7) on at least 3 separate occasions we were "reminded" to move our chairs further away from EACH OTHER. To be clear, we are both grown adults and we will sit at the distance from each other that we so desire - not to mention that we'd just gotten engaged and given the lack of intimacy in the room we wanted a chance to speak to one another without feeling like the whole room could hear our every whisper. 8) Back to the wine pairing: one of the reds we were served was cold, not "chilled from the wine cellar", but COLD 9) the music was sad/sleepy. 10) My #1 complaint with this restaurant is not with the restaurant itself but with Michelin - DEAR MICHELIN: my fiance and I have always trusted Michelin emphatically - what a disastrous disappointment. Not to mention our bill for this dining nightmare was ~1200 euros. Literally 250 euros over what we paid for the UNBELIEVABLE and very much well-deserved experience at Osteria...

Skip it. There is much better food and much better dining experiences on Ischia. We went for dinner on our last night in Ischia while on our honeymoon. When we arrived, we rang the doorbell to be let in and someone squawked at us through a speaker for a few minutes about not having our name for the reservation. Our hotel had made the reservation so they didn’t have the name (really? You have two Michelin stars and the person who answered the phone to take a reservation didn’t think to ask the hotel for the guest name? Please.). Finally someone arrived to the door and figured out that we were the 8pm reservation. For context here, we were the only 8pm reservation. Standing at the doorway like unwanted visitors was not a great way to start the dinner. We did the tasting menu which came from the kitchen hard and fast. Some of my plates were taken before I had set my fork down from the last bite. I’ve never been so rushed in a restaurant. The food was painfully under seasoned. For the amount of money we were paying for this, we felt like we should enjoy the food. We finally asked for some salt. Once we did that, all of our food came with salt dumped all over it. Even a “salted surprise” came from the chef. It was so salty it was hardly edible and the chef stood in the doorway staring at us like he had for most of the meal. We felt a little attacked and certainly unwelcome. I’d never go back and I’m shocked they have the rating they do. The service staff was very good but they all spent a lot of time standing around staring at us or milling around us so that the whole experience was nearly impossible to enjoy. Terribly contrived experience, soulless food, rude...

It is so hard to begin this beautiful review and the experience at this most amazing restaurant. I have been to over the top restaurants and there is no comparison. The USA has nothing over this beautifully designed and managed restaurant. First off I was trying for months to make reservations to attend this experience with no regard. Lucky for me I was fortunate enough to have someone that knows the owner/operator invite us for dinner and sit at one of the two tables inside the kitchen and watch the "Art of Preparation". This is not just a restaurant it is an extremely beautiful presentation of all of the courses. Upon entrance you are brought into the garden that is more than my secret garden and enjoy your welcome glass of sparkling refreshment. Once inside it is mind blowing and so welcoming. The Owner was gracious and spent time with us. It did help that my husband speaks fluent Italian, so maybe that was our ticket. Expensive, not in my book. You will not be disappointed. It is a must when visiting the Island of...