Ristorante Ciak — Restaurant in Monterosso al Mare

It's interesting to read all of the reviews about this place and to compare them to our experience. It was a hit on some levels and a miss on others. I still gave it five stars, not because they did everything right (because they didn't), but there were a few items that hit it out of the park and they are worth going back for.

What's a true pity is that some of the staff indeed seems disinterested in their jobs, but they warmed up when we began to interact with them about the menu and the wines. That said, the owner (an older, elegant Italian woman) was extremely charming and the staff seems more like a bunch of young, hard edged fishermen (kinda like the "lost boys' from Peter Pan got a little older and weren't so happy about it) who decided to become waiters in a restaurant. There was one clean cut, dark blond gentleman who doesn't like to make eye contact when he talks to you (who at first I wasn't at all fond of for this) but eventually he grew on me. I found that this gruff approach added a little bit of personality to this restaurant in a historic fishing town; perhaps I'm looking for a silver lining, but we honestly couldn't have cared less because we were there to enjoy ourselves and the lost boys weren't going to be in the way of that.

What was most surprising is that they all seemed to be quite attentive to the actual service and maintenance of our table: they removed finished plates without much more than a minute to spare and dialed us up in preparation for the next course quickly.

On to the food...

If you like anchovies, the salted anchovy plate served with bread and butter is a must. The anchovies are dense in flavor and simple and deliciously balanced with saltiness, richness and a quality olive oil. The grilled bread adds to the aroma and flavor, but I'm a bit of a purist with anchovies and prefer a somewhat neutral bread; perhaps not as neutral as the bread there, a likely regional fault due to its somewhat close proximity Tuscany--a place with the most uninteresting and flavor free bread in Italy. My wife and I are completely obsessed with anchovies and these were top, although not cleaned so well; this was one of the many details here that were overlooked. In any case, somehow our experience was memorable in a good way, despite my wife's overcooked mussels that became the size of my pinky nail by the time she got them, which was a terrible waste of a good plate of mussels.

For wine, we had the Vermintino from Colli di Luni "Lunae," which is a sure bet for a solid wine from this area. Sadly, the rest of the list was very uninspiring and could use a good makeover, but this is to be an expected criticism from an importer of fine wine.

It's interesting to read the bad reviews on the seafood pasta because mine was one of the best I can remember having; maybe it was just our luck to get one that was perfect in flavor and consistency that day. (A side note is that my wife and I live in the Amalfi Coast and this is one of the local specialties, as are anchovies, so we've been spoiled with this kind of stuff.)

In the end, my wife and I would go back for sure. We'd keep it simple with two orders of the anchovies (one shared plate between us was a mistake for anchovy freaks) perhaps an order of prosciutto (which we did order and it was also a hit), followed by another crack at having another fantasmic seafood pasta and we'd for sure order the same bottle of wine, or maybe upgrade to that producer's Vermentino Lunae Bosoni "Etichetta Nera," a truly compelling version of this grape.

Cheers from The Source...

10 günlük İtalya tatilimde tek 3 puan verdiğim restoran. Boş masa olmasına rağmen bekleyin deniliyor. Yorgun oluşunuza vermek istiyorum bu tavrınızı. Kibar değiller. Menüsünde zorunlu first or second dishes kısmı var. Madem öyle karşılığında iyi hizmet verseniz ve kibar olsanız kötü bir şey yapmış olmayacaksınız. Bu arada cinque terre bölgesi sanki İtalya’da değil gibi. Milano ve özellikle de floransa’daki sıcakkanlılığı göremiyorsunuz buradaki işletmelerde. Her masaya zeytinyağı bazlamak sirke getirenler bize getirmedi. Bunun dışında gnocchi with pesto sauce 3.5/5, spaghetti with pesto sauce 3/5’ti. Fiyatlara göre hizmet ve lezzet sınıfta kaldı.

EN/ The only restaurant I gave 3 points to during my 10-day Italy vacation. They tell you to wait even though there are empty tables. I want to attribute this attitude to your tiredness. They are not polite. There is a mandatory first or second dishes section on the menu. If you give good service and are polite in return, you will not have done anything wrong. By the way, the Cinque Terre region is not like Italy. You cannot see the friendliness in Milan and especially Florence in the establishments here. Those who bring olive oil and vinegar to every table did not bring it to us. Apart from that, gnocchi with pesto sauce was 3.5/5, spaghetti with pesto sauce was 3/5. Service and taste were not good considering the prices.

IT/ The only restaurant I gave 3 points to during my 10-day Italy vacation. They tell you to wait even though there are empty tables. I want to attribute this attitude to your tiredness. They are not polite. There is a mandatory first or second dishes section on the menu. If you give good service and are polite in return, you will not have done anything wrong. By the way, the Cinque Terre region is not like Italy. You cannot see the friendliness in Milan and especially Florence in the establishments here. Those who bring olive oil and vinegar to every table did not bring it to us. Apart from that, gnocchi with pesto sauce was 3.5/5, spaghetti with pesto sauce was 3/5. Service and taste were not good...

Terrible service, sub par food - not worth it!! SKIP THIS SPOT We should’ve known from the abrupt and cold manner we were met with when we asked for a table for two at dinner (the patio was virtually empty) and the first page of the menu that listed the various “demands” of their customers (“MUST order a first and/or second course for dinner each, not just appetizers, NO separate checks, inform us if you’re in a hurry, we may not be the place for you”)…bread was basically thrown at us onto our table, we were scowled at for asking for bread plates, took forever to place an order (there was only 3 other tables with us outside, it’s not like they were too busy). My Coke Zero was dropped down on the table in the can, I asked for a glass with ice for it, was again met with rude look, then brought me a bowl with ice cubes in it. I ordered spaghetti bolognese, hubby ordered scampi. Our order was clearly forgotten about, the two tables who were seated after us got their meals first, ours took about 45 min to arrive, no acknowledgment nor apology. When our food finally arrived, There was ZERO meat in my bolognese, it was luke warm and hubby had 4 tiny scampi that quite literally came with nothing else on the plate (it was served with a side salad that was a tiny dish of plain lettuce, chopped tomatoes and a side of lemon slices to use as dressing. For $59 euro. Worst service, terrible food. We just spent 5 days in busy, bustling Florence and didn’t have a single bad meal or service. Very disappointing. We are friendly, easy going Canadians, the rudeness we were met with was unsettling and bizarre. I’m sure there’s many other spots in Monterosso that deserve your business,...