Ristorante Giglio — Restaurant in Lucca

Good afternoon - I rarely review anything, but your staff were insistent I do so; and also insistent about us leaving a tip for the staff.

So, please bear in mind you asked for a reference; I did not volunteer one.

We ate at your restaurant in Venice on Saturday 7th May 2022.

Out of five, I would give your restaurant 1 (very bad), based on the following:

The staff are surly to the point of being rude; they are constantly looking around to see what is happening and to see if they can entice anyone to eat in the restaurant.  Hardly any interaction with the customer and, if there is, It is brief and unwelcoming. We felt very uncomfortable during our meal.

The first course of mussels and clams was disastrous - 80% of the shells were empty. Clearly just used shells to make the portion seem larger; disgraceful behaviour. We do expect some empty shells but 5% at most - not 80%.

The second course fared little better - the grilled chicken was so dry as to be almost inedible and the accompanying potatoes a soggy sorry mess.

The Aperol Spritz were the smallest we had anywhere in Venice and relatively tasteless due, I suspect favouring cheap soda water over Prosecco and Aperol

After the meal, the waiter asked, not once but twice, for a tip for the staff. Never going to happen given the above.

I suspect you are now sorry you badgered us for a review? Unfortunately, all the above is true and not exaggerated in any way.

To save you asking the obvious question: "why did we not raise this with staff at the time" I have two reasons:

We were in Venice a short time and certainly did not want to spend any time in unpleasantries which would only sour our trip

The surly, unfriendly, approach of your staff gave me the impression they either would not care or would be overly defensive/aggressive

Having now had to type all this out, I would not wish to waste it so will post on relevant review sites. Perhaps it will inform other visitors to avoid the sub-standard food and service...

I live in Lucca and get bored of so many restaurants serving the same thing all year round. So good to have a restaurant that goes against all the cliches of Tuscan cooking. Or so I first thought. Four of us tried the tasting menu - one of us the vegetarian tasting menu. I must admit, tasting menus have never been my thing but we were told that the whole table was expected to choose either this option or the a la carte. On the plus side, service was good - though the restaurant should pay for a professional looking uniform so the shouty wine waiter doesn’t have to go around with a too tight suit. Also impressed that there was a vegetarian menu as Tuscany barely seems to know what to do with vegetables except to make spelt soup. The tasting menu is well executed if you enjoy this kind of thing. Two points: first, there is barely any recognition of the territory the chef is cooking in - just one example, Tuscany has many wonderful cheeses but this chef chooses to use Comte. Bizarre. I have eaten all over Italy but felt I could have been eating in Switzerland. Second point: this is food for people without teeth. Everything is chopped within an inch of its life. The problem is that all the textures are pretty much the same. That gets really boring. Portion control deserves an award: rarely have I left a restaurant feeling so hungry. Take a magnifying glass along with you if you wish to detect the minuscule sliver of oyster on your plate - it’s under all that not particularly tender parsley. Dessert was no bigger than the amuses-bouches they serve at the beginning of the meal. We were not amused. Even less amusing is the bill. If you enjoy sitting in a rather dated room with other people trying to enjoy the ‘experience’ of someone showing you their technical skills, this restaurant...

We were very disappointed I am afraid. It was OK but (like some other recent reviewers) this just wasn't Michelin-star quality food, service or ambience: did we come on an off night? The service was OK but pretty ignorant and not charming: we felt sorry for the staff who seemed unhappy. Explanations were mumbled and rushed and delivered without understanding, as if learned by rote. The menu promised innovation but it just didn't... We had the tasting menu - supposedly the house virtuoso act. The antipasti started decently - the oyster with so-called "Panzanella" (actually just dried breadcrumbs with some tomato) was nice; the chicken liver pate was too strong though - needed a tad more cream and less alcohol. The tiny pasta course wasn't very good at all (there's al dente and then there is undercooked - which this was). The following farro soup was hearty and good but we can get that the same or better in a lot of trattorie. The best dish was the entremet - though it didn't work as an entremet (cream flavoured with charcoal served with chopped macerated strawberries with olive oil and thyme - a dish familiar to us as a dessert). The lamb "main" was Ok - but only OK - we've had much better elsewhere in Lucca and certainly in the countryside. Pre-dessert was a small biscuit with a citrus cream while the dessert was a disgrace - a stale and burnt choux bun filled with a heavy hazlenut cream that could have been bought for a 4 euros for 6 at a poor supermarket. We'd been meaning to go for a couple of years and never got round to it, but it just wasn't worth it at all. We've learnt our lesson. Lots of better places in Lucca and around - including some truly outstanding ones that are half the price. I only hope that others have a better experience. We won't bother to give it...