Officina del Mare — Restaurant in La Spezia

Highly recommend!!! Before we went here for dinner, I read all of the reviews. Not going to lie, the negative reviews and the owner’s responses piqued my curiosity. It was great pre-dinner entertainment.

We went for dinner as a group of three. The staff were knowledgeable and attentive. The atmosphere was pleasant. The local wine selection was fun to try and overall enjoyable. We went with a local, balanced white that nicely complimented the dishes we ordered. The recommendations were excellent.

The food was delicious and the portion size was exactly what someone would typically expect for appetizers and first course (which is what we ordered). They presented us with a salted cod croquette as an amuse bouche. We shared a tuna tartare and the grilled octopus (sorry we had demolished this amazing dish before I took a photo). I despise olives and greatly appreciate that the chef was willing to put them on the side. We then shared the shrimp risotto, the shellfish spaghetti and the lobster linguine (photo is after we portioned this out between 3 people). Lastly we shared the tiramisu and chocolate cake.

I am a bit of a food snob, and frankly rarely leave restaurant reviews because they often would not be positive and unless really necessary, I see no need to be unkind. But Officina del Mare deserves an excellent review. The food and portions were well worth the money for the price point. The grilled octopus was hands down our favorite. Really, really delicious. The lobster dish came highly recommended and frankly it was too salty (seemed over reduced). That being said, every dish left the table empty.

The deserts were really delicious. We dug in and had mostly destroyed them by the time I remembered to snap a photo. I had to swat hands away from the chocolate lava cake for a photo, but it was too late. They should upsell the chocolate lava cake. The menu description does not do it justice!

Really a wonderful dinner. Thank you to the staff...

Not happy at all. It took more than ONE hour from order to starter. From starter to main dish again at least 20 minutes. Portion sizes are very small. Service was confused, was struggling to bring the correct meals to other dishes. Bad price-performance ratio.

Due to the intransigence in the owner's response, I'm changing my rating to 1 star. It is not at all acceptable to wait 1 hour for the starter. The restaurant was no longer full at 9:30 p.m.! We were simply forgotten. Portion sizes are not defined solely by the amount of fish or seafood on the plate. Instead of going straight to the Google ratings after work, perhaps the service should be questioned first. When it comes to fine cuisine, dealing with criticism constructively and taking countermeasures should be a matter of course. ...

A parte la gentilezza del cameriere il resto da dimenticare. A partire dall' entrée offerta, una pallina fritta intrisa di olio e senza nessun sapore individuabile a seguire lo spaghetto allo scoglio: pasta senza sale che galleggiava in una crema marroncina il cui unico sapore individuabile era quello del pepe. Abbiamo disdetto i secondi e siamo andati altrove. 30 euro per un' acqua e uno spaghetto pessimo, il peggiore mai mangiato, eppure di locali ne ho abbiamo provati tanti e mai mi sono alzata a metà cena.Prezzi ridicoli per la qualità del cibo offerto. Diffidate! Aggiunta dopo risposta del proprietario che oltre a non saper cucinare, inventa mentendo: davanti alla porta del dehors ho detto al mio compagno" sono veramente esaurita, stavo aspettando che si aprisse da sola come l'altra, devo mangiare", non ci siamo assolutamente lamentati per il freddo, anzi, parlavamo della nostra veranda e di installare delle resistenze come quelle x usarla anche in inverno , altra bugia, ho chiesto se si potevano evitare le cozze, non le vongole, ma altrimenti avrei scelto un altro piatto senza problema, quindi non credo che questo possa essere una colpa. Tutte queste incomprensioni o invenzioni forse dovute al fatto che il vostro gentile cameriere non capisce bene l'italiano. E poi si , mio marito ha mangiato lo spaghetto da 19 euro con tanto di bocca arsa dalla quantita' di pepe, perché non avevamo praticamente pranzato ed eravamo sfiniti. Avendola pagata l'avrei mangiata anche io cmq, mangio anche il cibo della mensa scolastica se ho fame, ma la sua pasta era peggio. E poi non ho mai detto di essere abituata a locali di livello! Altra distorsione della realtà, ma a "locali semplici dove si mangia il mare non il pepe". Da voi apparenza e prezzi alti e basta. Le consiglio il locale " Da Puin" sopra Levanto, a Pignano. Un po' fuori mano ma sono talmente cortesi e eccellenti che sono certa le offrirebbero qualche lezione, sia di cucina vera che di educazione. Sono felice comunque di essere riuscita a evitare la pessima esperienza ad altri già la...