La Nicchia nel Sasso Osteria Contemporanea — Restaurant in Matera

To start with positive- the waiter was very friendly and kind, pistachio desert and tartar from starter was delicious. The view is stunning. However, it started off with very long waiting times for starters to arrive as well as between courses. It was visible that all guests received a certain plate at exactly the same time and not based on the speed of eating per table. We waited 40 min for one of the courses. Food quality was the biggest downside: scallops were a disaster, 2 out of 3 scallops were overcooked to a point of resembling texture of a rope, plus flavor was absent. The main course 22h smoked pork came with presumably smoked boiled greens. And this was the biggest disaster as the smoking process has clearly been synthetic as all the food smelled and tastes as burnt plastic. We gave it back to the waiter but never heard any resolution. My partner’s beef cheeks were dry and chewy....

It was our best meal in Matera. The food reflected a level of sophistication in terms of taste, imagination, and plating that was impressive, a level above. And the view was magical. We chose one of the tasting menus, and our only complaint was the male server (it's a small restaurant so there were only two servers). First, he inIted throughout the meal to speak English when one of us speaks fluent Italian. Second, he did not present each dish when it arrived at the table; he just dropped it off. With a tasting menu, it's SOP that the server "reminds" each guest if what they will be eating next (it's not like he left the tasting menu at the table for us to follow). When we turned quicky to walk away and we asked him what was this dish, he seemed annoyed as though we were being overly imposing. The food and the service were very much on...

We ordered 2–3 dishes per person and still left hungry - we actually had to eat a proper dinner when we got home. That could have been forgiven if only the dishes delivered a speactural sensory experience. But it was just the other way round.

The tartare was disappointing, more like a soft pudding with the meat barely noticeable beneath the mix. The pasta portions were tiny, and the sauce was a blended mix of unidentifiable ingredients - nothing like any Italian dish I’ve had before. Strangely, it was also quite spicy, which felt out of place. Only the polpo was cooked impeccably, I have to admit.

The snapper was a dry, overcooked slice of fish, drowned in an overpowering tomato sauce.

Service was okaish - not bad, but nothing memorable. The one real highlight was the view, which was genuinely beautiful and the best part of...