La Bottega dello Speziale — Restaurant in Mantua

Definitely one to avoid. I am not sure how they have 4.5 stars on here.

After we arrived the staff completely ignored us for around 15 minutes. Not because they were busy with customers but because they were busy chatting with each other. We eventually got some service and ordered a pasta dish and a main each.

The pasta dishes took another 30 minutes to arrive except that only 2 of 3 arrived. The other came another 10 minutes later. The sauces were super heavy and rich and there was far too much of them and completely inauthentic.

We then started to wait for the main courses. And waited. And waited. After another 30 minutes we still hadn’t received a main course. I went to ask where they were and they said 2-3 minutes. We had to go in a while so I said they must bring them in that time. They didn’t. So I went in and asked to pay for what we had already received (but not the mains which we hadn’t).

Considering the general quality and service they were lucky I was prepared to pay for anything. But instead they refused to agree to that and threatened to call the police if I didn’t also pay for the food they hadn’t provided! And some massively tattooed guy who was in charge started getting heavy with me.

In the end after another 5 minutes of argument they agreed not to charge for the mains that they hadn’t brought (they still hadn’t produced them).

Quite shockingly bad service and behaviour. And the food we did get...

Excellent home made Pasta, in a calm side road close to the main streets of Mantova. The service is good, and I assume (due to the different Tonics and Gins and ingredients at the counter) that it is an excellent Cocktail Bar as well. The chef knows what he's doing: the sage sauce was not overpowering, but complementing the very specific sweet taste of the Tortelli di Zuca, which are a specialty of Mantova. The Tortelli resemble Ravioli, but the dough is so thin that you can see the filling - a sign if hone-made, excellent pasta. The filling consists of a créme of pumpkin with a relatively sweet mustard base, it is excellent and a dream for vegetarians. The value for money is fair. All in all: Mille Grazie, 5 Stars, I want to return already!

PS: I do enjoy that the portions are, compared to other european restaurants, small - they are not, in fact, but just right and not overflowing the plate. This adds...

We were waiting to be served for an eternity, the young waiter spoke zero English and seemingly did not have the patience to deal with our questions. (We wanted a non-fizzy drink for our 10-y-o, he just said water; in other bars she was offered juice or even fruit juice cocktail) When he brought our cocktails, did not bring snacks with them, even though everybody else got the usual little salty whatevers. We dared not to ask any further so decided not to eat, except my teenager who ordered pasta from a very nice waitress. It came rather quickly and was excellent. It’s a pity that we had a bad taste by the young guy, hardly ever...