Marina Corta Pasta & Co — Restaurant in Lipari

Awful experience. We wanted to give 2 stars, but our bad experience ended so sadly that I have to give 1. Long story short: poorly tasting fish, extremely overpriced, poor service, lack of attention to the customer - and we got charged for a dish we didn’t have.. stay with me if you want to know why.

My boyfriend and I (who both grew up in Italy) started our meal with a “fresh” fish appetizer and a pasta with Gamberi di Mazara and squid. If I buy fish at the supermarket in Milan, I’ll get something that has super better taste. The pasta was almost cold, which led me thinking that was pre-cooked, maybe for another customer - this is sad cause the taste seemed nice. Then we got a fish similar to tuna and a fish soup. The fish had no taste, had no side and the sauce they paired was too sweet (see picture). The soup itself wasn’t bad but the fish and shellfish was chewy and, again, had no taste. The soup got served with no spoon, no plate for the shells, no bread.

In the end, we didn’t eat the “tuna”, and one of the staff members insisted on making us taste something different, tuna with pistacchio. We firstly accepted the offer, but after a second thought decided to cancel right after, and asked for the bill. When we received the final bill, we noticed that they charged the extra tuna with pistacchio (see receipt attached). We pointed out the mistake and they removed it, which could have been a honest mistake. The problem is that even if we actually had this pistacchio tuna, they shouldn’t have charged it cause they were the ones offering to “swap” our order with another one.

Enough said, I highly hope this review this lead the host to do...

During our visit to this restaurant, we decided to try what was enthusiastically recommended by the waitress as a typical house specialty: Spaghettone con gambero rosso e cicoria. It was introduced as the chef’s signature dish, promising a flavorful experience with red prawns and a hint of bitterness from chicory.

Unfortunately, the reality fell far short of the promise.

The dish was surprisingly bland and lacked depth. An overwhelming amount of greens overshadowed everything else, making it feel more like a rushed, improvised vegetarian plate than a carefully crafted dish. The most disappointing part, however, was the supposed highlight: the prawns. Rather than the rich, meaty red prawns we were expecting, we were served shrimp heads as decoration, with no actual prawn meat. Instead, a few tiny frozen shrimp floated sadly among the pasta.

At 22 euros per plate, the value for money was highly questionable: a small portion, low-quality ingredients, and no real enjoyment. A real letdown, especially for a dish promoted so confidently as a specialty

Ps I informed the service staff, about this , and staff was friendly and professional, and in no way responsible for this disappointing...

We had a relatively short stop here while on an Aeolian Islands tour. I had scouted this place beforehand and was very curious about the pistachio crusted tuna. I also know the swordfish is excellent in this region so I also ordered the caponata. Both were out of this world. The caponata was incredible. The mix of regional flavours was like a trip through history. The eggplant, tomatoes, raisins and spices were almost shocking as Sicilian food has such a wide range of influences. The tuna was also very good- but under seasoned. It could have used a little salt to pull the flavors forward but one experiences the local customs and this wasn't a part of the tradition. The pistachio crust was very crispy and flavorful but I'm pretty sure some shells made it into the crust. The service was excellent despite the fact that communication was a bit of a challenge in English but this didn't take anything away from the experience. I needed a one hour walk to burn it off and feel better as the portions were generous. Make sure you try this place if you are...