Osteria al Casale — Restaurant in Matera

Worst experience we have ever had at a restaurant. Do not book dinner here - staff are extremely rude.

We had booked a table for dinner over email - originally for 8pm, which we then moved to 8.45pm and which was confirmed to be fine by staff over email, several days before the dinner date.

When we arrived, it took a very very long time to be served and then when we were finally served the staff were incredibly rude to us. They talked in annoyed tones to us, saying we had missed our reservation. I explained how we had actually moved it (and the restaurant had confirmed this) but they were incredibly rude, denied all responsibility and did not once apologise. They said it would be 20 minutes before a table could become available outside (which is where everyone was sitting as it was a nice summer evening, inside was empty) and that we would come back then and be seated.

We came back around 20 minutes later, and this time staff seemed to be purposely avoiding eye contact with us and it took around 5 minutes waiting at the door before anyone acknowledged us. They asked us to wait inside as no table was ready yet.

We explained how we were frustrated at this, given we had a booking which they did not keep, then they told us to come back for a table which clearly was not going to be ready for quite some time. The most awful thing however was the treatment by the staff. Not once did anyone apologise, and they were immensely rude, and kept saying it was ‘not their problem’ and getting quite loud and angry at us.

If they had apologised and offered us a drink while we waited we may have been fine with the fact they didn’t honour our reservation, but instead they were rude and we cannot recommend this spot at all.

In addition - the restaurant is on the side of a road and so the outside seating was not as nice as we expected in any case. It also seemed to be mostly American tourists from one tour together dining there so perhaps also not the authentic vibe we wanted. There are many other nicer restaurants in Matera which I would recommend...

Incredible meal, one of the best I had in Italy. This was one of those meals that made me appreciate food, and what is possible when chefs take their craft seriously. Everything was delicious. I ordered the pasta with codfish and lamb with potatoes. The pasta was amazing and among the best I've had in Italy, the lamb perfectly tender and mouthwateringly delicious, the potatoes crisped on the edges to give that tasty crunch. Even the mixed salad and bread + olive oil were delicious. The olive oil in particular was very high quality. I spent a year in Italy and this was one of the best meals I had here. Great service, cool setting in a cave, and very reasonable prices. Can't recommend this place enough, and I'd recommend it to anyone...

Meraviglioso! ✨ Wonderful meal at this quaint osteria built into one of the hillside caves. Elegant setting, gentle lounge music and excellent service from the whole team, they were all so professional and attentive.

Great menu and wine list with lots of local wines. Being the burrata lover I am had to order the local burrata (fresh and oozy) and was so surprised when it came served inside a focaccia bread bowl, fun!

For mains we chose pasta dishes and they were delicious - nice presentation on a rectangular plate and generous portion 🍝 the truffle ravioli was divine! Good selection of desserts as well, the tiramisu very tasty.

From a Madrid / London POV great value for money for this type of setting and quality...