L'Osteria della Corte — Restaurant in La Spezia

Found this place by chance. Walked in without a reservation wearing shorts and flip flops. Nice gentleman asked Italian, Spanish or English? Took us to the back and down some stairs and voilà … a covered courtyard with white linen and a crowd of fancy dressed people.

My friend and I sat at a small table in the middle and took it all in. It was well staffed with professional wait staff, the menu was small but exceptional. No fluff. Each dish carefully curated. The wine list was massive. 100’s of varietals from around the world with a special focus on Italian fine wines.

We ordered - first and second course each. The presentation was fantastic, the tastes perfect. The extra pizzazz with fancy and unique plates was a bonus. The waitstaff was attentive, which is often not the case in Italy. The timing was perfect. This isn’t a fast food joint. It’s a “take your time and enjoy” establishment. Well done!

After the meal the owner came and asked if we enjoyed. The bill paid, I noticed it was very reasonably priced around $50 per person. Outstanding!

On the way out the owner asked where we were from. He asked if I’d like to see his wine cellar. This is quite an honor. And here I am in shorts and flip flops, the least dressed patron.

I looked around at the 100’s of bottles. I figured he was the owner so I asked. Yes, he and his wife started the joint 20 years ago. His wife is the chef. I had commented prior that I thought the chef had to be a women. Sure enough!

This was an exceptional gourmand experience. I was too full to finish the plates but I sure tried.

I highly recommend this fine establishment to anyone visiting La Spezia or Cinque Terre. You won’t be disappointed. Will even give you the five star gourmet experience wearing shorts and flip flops. Serious bang for the buck. I am not easily impressed, but this one...

I had scallops, prawn gazpacho and the duck. Also had a taste of other dishes ordered on the table such as the pesto gnocchi, the octopus and egg tomato. The scallops and prawn gazpacho were great, nicely seasoned, cooked to perfection and very fresh but the others I had/tried were not as great. The duck was overcooked/dry and came pretty cold - I loved the port sauce and the liver but the meat itself was not as satisfying. The octopus was also overcooked and not greatly seasoned to my liking. Pretty much same impression of other primi and secondi plates on the table. The red wine they recommended from the Ligurian region was great!!! Not usually a fan of blends but this was just nice. I also had a cocktail in the beginning - the twist of bloody marry but did not like it at all. The deserts were pretty nice. I had the pistachio semmifreddo - it was very fresh and nice. I also tried the tiramisu, the tiramisu had a twist but overall it was too sweet for my liking. The plating of the food was great but the service was either great at some points or very poor at some points. For example they were thoughtful enough to split shared meals into two portions but the cocktail glasses were on the table until the very end or there were sone hickups here and there on food/drinks ordered. Didnt understand why some food had to be frozen even if caught fresh on the day. Overall, not a 5 but a good experience therefore a mid-high 4 - would recommend for a...

Atmosphere The place is super nice. There is an inside and an outside area in the backyard (about twice as big as the inside). The place looks super authentic with a lot of old stone elements. The main inside area has a window which allows a view into the kitchen which ist pretty amazing!

Food The food is absolutely amazing!!! Great to look at, as it is garnished/presented in a super fancy/appealing way. Both the quality as well as the taste were really great. Fresh, well prepared. And in amazingly creative ways! See for yourself (Pictures!)

Service The service was also absolutely outstanding. A Bit of a mistery how they did that, as the restaurant was pretty full when we were there. The service was fast and super friendly + they explained all the details of the food served + answered any questions that came up.

Value The prices are absolutely fair considering what you get for it. We had an absolutely marvellous evening and really enjoyed ourselves. We had two starters and two main courses, a bottle of wine and water + a shared dessert plate. All that for about 130 Euros.

All in all: an amazing place to visit and highly recommend!!! (It's not for no reason they were also featured in all the foodie...