La Scarpetta Hostaria — Restaurant in Lecce

This restaurant looks lovely and is busy which gives it atmosphere. The good news ends there. The fish carpaccio with white chocolate sounded intriguing. Oddly tepid slices of fish arrived, scattered with pieces of white chocolate. There's a reason you don't see fish and chocolate on menus. They don't go. The tartar of prawns was better but not great. Monkfish with cabbage cream and almonds was overcooked and the flaked almonds were scattered straight out of the packet, adding nothing to the dish. Octopus with zucchini again overcooked, the zucchini clearly cooked long before and heated up a bit. Creme catalan with cherries was OK but accompanied by cold and damp shortbread biscuits. The whole plate had been made up earlier and refrigerated. Staff seemed uninterested in the guests and did a lot of walking up and down ignoring people. They were unconcerned about whether we liked the food. The men were messing around with drinks at the back of the restaurant and filming themselves and drinking. The visible kitchen showed little signs of activity, perhaps because many dishes were pre-prepared and heated up. A disappointing experience...

This restaurant is… fine. Quite tired decor, atmosphere not particularly relaxing, food nothing special. Would not go back and would recommend finding somewhere else.

I will start with the positives: good service, friendly waiters. extensive and reasonably priced wine list (in Italy, what a surprise).

Now the less positives: the portions are reasonable, but overall the food is average. Flavours a bit dull despite the combinations of ingredients looking interesting on the menu. the tiramisu was lumpy, the biscuit possibly not soaked long enough. Unappetising, disappointing end to the meal. cats that don’t belong to the restaurant but “the neighbours” (ie strays) running riot, begging at tables for food and causing horrendous noise by running over the plastic roof cover. very brightly lit outdoor area, plastic chairs and the roof structure don’t make for a romantic, relaxed...

Title: An uncomfortable experience despite the kind approach

On May 11th, we went to La Scarpetta Hostaria in Lecce for dinner. At first, the staff was kind and attentive, but as the evening went on, several things happened that left us with a very negative impression. Every dish we ordered had a mistake — and the main course was served incorrectly twice.

What stood out most was that they never asked or offered us the choice between variations, especially with the main dish. Later, the owner came to our table and, in a slightly irritated tone, told us we had ordered it wrong — that we said pasta, not rice. However, I later reviewed the online menu, which is perfectly clear and in the same order as what we saw that night. We ordered exactly what was listed.

Looking back, I wonder if these mistakes were not just coincidences, but a subtle form of discrimination, hidden behind superficial friendliness. Maybe I’m wrong, and it was just a lack of professionalism or experience. But either way, it was disappointing.

I hope this place improves — both in service and in genuine respect for its customers. I still wish them the best.

— YG

Italy

Titolo: Un’esperienza spiacevole nonostante la cortesia iniziale

L’11 maggio siamo andati a cena da La Scarpetta Hostaria a Lecce. All’inizio, il personale è stato gentile e attento, ma nel corso della serata sono accadute diverse cose che ci hanno lasciato un’impressione molto negativa. Ogni piatto che abbiamo ordinato è arrivato con degli errori — e il piatto principale è stato sbagliato due volte.

La cosa più sorprendente è che non ci è mai stata offerta una scelta o chiesto quale variante desiderassimo, soprattutto per il piatto principale. Più tardi, il proprietario si è avvicinato al nostro tavolo e, con un tono leggermente infastidito, ci ha detto che avevamo ordinato in modo sbagliato — che avevamo detto “pasta” invece di “riso”. Tuttavia, ho controllato successivamente il menù online, che è chiaro e ben organizzato, ed è identico a quello visto quella sera. Abbiamo ordinato esattamente ciò che era indicato.

Ripensandoci, mi chiedo se questi errori non siano stati semplici coincidenze, ma una forma sottile di discriminazione, nascosta dietro a una cortesia superficiale. Forse mi sbaglio, forse è stata solo mancanza di professionalità o esperienza. In ogni caso, è stato deludente.

Spero che questo ristorante migliori — sia nel servizio che nel rispetto sincero verso i clienti. Comunque, auguro...