Osteria Da Fortunata - Brera — Restaurant in Milan

Lets start with the food. Amazingly well prepared by a staff that knows its way around traditional pasta’s and how to prepare them perfectly. Not only could you taste the freshness of the ingredients, but the way they are compiled: they compliment each other in such I refining way that it makes your tastebuds crave the food again. (Un)fortunately, the portions are plenty so you won’t have any room left to fill your stomach even more (but you’ll definitely want to).

About the atmosphere/ambiance: I cannot emphasise how relaxing the whole scene was. Everything about it was what you’d expect from a traditional Italian restaurant. Oh I forgot: the restaurant is famous for making the pasta by hand. You can even see how the women are making the paste through a window, which made the experience only more memorable and tasteful. I regret that I wasn’t able to go back again to this place, but I will most certainly come back for it. The only downside to this amazing place it’s that it’s so popular that there is a line outside. However, the staff work quickly and know how to navigate the traffic.

Which brings me to the last and most amazing part of this experience, because it was definitely an experience: the staff. Because the staff is definitely a reason to come back to this place. Our waiter Giuseppe made the experience even more wonderful by guiding us through the menu and the choices we have. He gave us recommendations and shared stories and anecdotes and experiences from his life, while keeping the conversation light and breezy. Ofcourse when you go out to eat, the most important thing is the food, but at this place the experience enriches the food and vice versa. Giuseppe made that experience even richer with his service and treatment. I hope he reads this and knows how much I appreciate the effort he put in to providing us with the best service I’ve ever had (I’ve experienced that in multiple places in Milan, but Giuseppe stand out). If anyone ask for him and maybe show him this review, I’m sure it will make him happy. Giuseppe if you’re reading this: Thankyou so much Khoya. Tu sei mi fratello 💚.

Btw this was not generated by AI but by my passion and gratefulness that stems from this experience. Thankyou for taking the time to read this, I...

Several days ago, I visited this restaurant that came highly recommended with numerous positive reviews on Google. The restaurant’s reputation seemed promising, and I was prepared to wait the 20+ minutes in line, hoping for an exceptional dining experience. Unfortunately, my visit turned out to be quite disappointing.

First, the pasta was extremely hard, almost undercooked, the seasoning was overwhelmingly salty, and the beef in pasta was overcooked and dry. It was difficult to enjoy the meal due to these issues. Additionally, the restaurant was very crowded, and the presence of flies buzzing around only added to the discomfort.

The restaurant prides itself on handmade pasta, which I do appreciate. However, handmade does not automatically equate to delicious. The quality of the cooking technique and seasoning is equally important. It's worth noting that the restaurant has a habit of responding defensively to negative reviews, insisting that criticizing their handmade pasta is an insult to their hard work.

I believe that genuine customer feedback should be valued and used for improvement, rather than dismissed as disrespectful. After all, customers are simply sharing their honest experiences in hopes of enjoying a better meal next time. Nobody wants to wait in line for a long time only to be disappointed by the food and environment. This restaurant has significant potential, but it needs to work on improving both its culinary execution and overall dining atmosphere.

In conclusion, while I respect the effort put into making handmade pasta, the actual dining experience left much to be desired. I hope the restaurant takes constructive feedback seriously and makes necessary improvements for the sake of...

The restaurant does not deserve nor appreciate the amount of customers it is getting. The food is not bad but is very poorly executed. They are severely understaffed despite the high foot traffic leading to a very poor dining experience. Others have commented on the rampant mosquitos, and on the wall you can see dead bodies of mosquitos smeared all over. It’s quite disgusting and a food safety hazard.

The only redeeming quality about the food is that the pasta is handmade and cooked al dente. But being in Italy I should honestly expect this of all restaurants that I go to. We ordered the carbonara and the beef ragú fettucine. The carbonara sauce was patchy compared to the thickness of the pasta and from the photo you can see the sauce is coated quite unevenly. The sauce also became scrambled-eggs like towards the end. With a simple dish like this charged at $18, I think perfect execution should be expected.

The beef ragú had no depth of flavor and chunky vegetables inside. It felt like it was either watered down too much or not cooked for long enough for the ragú to develop a deeper color and flavor. Overall the quality of the food has a very homemade feel. Not homemade by grandma who puts a lot of time and effort in preparing a meal for their grandchildren, but an amateur cooking for themselves on the weekend.

Because they were so understaffed, they serve patrons in batches. Even if there were 5-6 open tables, they still wouldn’t seat the customers which became very frustrating. You can expect minimal interaction with the staff, and I would have voice all of my concerns if I received a “how was your meal” anytime during my meal. Instead I had to wait 15 minutes to get the check because I couldn’t...