Antica Osteria — Restaurant in Lucca

Antica Osteria-Lucca, Italy On our visit to Lucca this past April, we passed by this attractive restaurant several times before stopping to examine the menu. A nice young man met us at the entrance and pointed out the different items and specials they offered that night. We made a reservation for seven o’clock, looking forward to the fabulous menu we had seen. We arrived at seven for our table, and although it was chilly that evening, they were seating everyone outside. Our table was close to one of the outdoor heaters, so it seemed fine. ( It was interesting that I went inside to use the facilities, and the inside seating was empty and huge.) The waiter came over promptly, and we had already decided what we were going to order, having seen the menu earlier. We ordered Wild Boar Bolognese and shrimp tempura for our mains and an assorted tray of appetizers. The appetizers came with what we were told was fresh, house-made bread. The bread was stale, and the appetizers were, quite frankly, terrible. We told the server the bread was stale, and he argued with us, insisting it was fresh. He finally agreed to bring more bread, but it was the same bread now heated. Great! Croutons! The main course arrived, and as you can see by the pictures, the Wild Boar Bolognese was ground with no sauce, maybe some butter, and tasteless. The small portion of Tempura Shrimp was overcooked and greasy, and it definitely came out of a frozen bag. I cannot recommend this restaurant. The food was of poor quality and way overpriced for Lucca. Well, the prosecco was good....

I will have to say that normally I don’t like to complain or leave negative comments about anything or anyone, however I will have to agree with the low ratings of this restaurant. We have been staying in Lucca for about a month visiting and would pass by this restaurant often which looked to have a very nice ambiance especially in the outdoor area ( their ratings weren’t the best but we thought “how bad could it really be?”), however when we decided to try this restaurant this evening unfortunately other than the beautiful surroundings the experience went down hill from there. We did have a very nice young gentleman that waited on us initially who recommended a very nice and tasty appetizer and delightful local white wine but after that the night and meal experience changed for the worst. There was one very attractive lady that seemed to be running the show , but she was extremely rude and unfortunately she was the one who recommended our next round of food which was okay at best and after we were getting close to finishing she was already rushing us to finish and get our check closed out which has never happened to us anywhere in Italy or all of our European travels. Again, I hate to give a negative review, but customer beware trying this place and definitely steer clear of the lady with the pretty eyes as she doesn’t have a pretty heart ! There are plenty of other great places to try in Lucca and one the favorites we found was “Blend”- very good food and...

The place itself is incredibly charming, classy without being pretentious with a great terrace to dine outside. It presents itself as a higher end restaurant.

While on some levels this corresponds to reality, on others it misses the mark.

Food: we started with a trio of finely chopped raw veal with 3 different sauces. Delicious: excellent meat and beautiful balanced sauces , one of them with truffle which did not end up being overpowering.

They tried their hand at the cacio e pepe with red scampi tartare: I was curious. And disappointed: too much pepper and too strong of a cheese (a mix of parmesan and pecorino) forced me to find my own balance in trying to still feel the taste of the scampi. In the end I had 4-5 bytes of pasta with scampi and the rest without as there wasn't enough for the whole dish.

The pork cheek was excellent, very tender. But the mashed potatoes accompanying it had been most likely done with a mixer rather than a siv, which caused it to become a tad grainy.

The most underwhelming part is the service: many people running around who don't talk to one another. We had just finished the starter and a waiter comes to ask if we want the desserts; they brought to our table someone else's food; they counted 4 glasses of wine instead of 2 and put them on the bill. Mistakes happen but this was pure lack of communication.

All in all, a good effort but there's a lot of room for...