Il Regolo — Restaurant in Olbia

My colleagues and our wives were looking for a decent seafood restaurant near our hotel, the Hotel Marana. I found Il Regolo rated #1 on TripAdvisor, but couldn't find it on Google or Google Maps. We saw how highly rated it was on TripAdvisor and headed down the beach to check it out based on viewing their website pictures and the satellite pic on Google Maps. Boy are we glad we went to the trouble.

Their website says they are open 09:30am-11:30pm, but they do close during the siesta - opening for dinner at 9:00pm. We spoke to the owner at 8:15pm about dinner and were told to come back at 9:00pm and they would have a table for six waiting for us. When we came back, they had a beautiful inside table overlooking the beach saved and our waiter immediately welcomed us and got us started on a Sardinian red by the bottle - it was delicious and we eventually ordered two more. He recommended a seafood appetizer, but we were all interested in cured meat and formaggia. On his suggestion, we accepted a selection of local ingredients and received two surfboard-sized platters of meats, cheeses, olives and fruit sauces as garnish. It was all ludicrously good.

I was the only one of us to order primi piatti and had a grilled octopus and potato plate that was very good. Our secondi piatti selections were three grilled pork entrees, two gnocci and sausage entrees and one spicy rigatoni entree. Each were so good that we were pushing samples on each other saying "you HAVE to try this". One of our group that isn't a wine drinker was ordering Gray Goose vodka and tonics that came in heavy American pours with a ton of ice - which got nods of admiration from all of us. I saw how good they looked and had one as a nightcap. We were all incredibly satisfied with our meals and didn't think we left enough room for dessert, but our waiter brought out - unannounced - a ricotta cheese and honey desert for the table. The bill was not cheap, but was an incredible value for the experience we had.

I can't rave enough how awesome this meal and our total experience at Il Regolo was. I don't give five-star reviews. I give Il Regolo five stars. It really was that good. We are definitely going back before we leave...

A scam & catastrophy

It didn’t start good. We where ignored at the table for the first half an hour, though we asked if we could atleast order the drinks. With that as an input we should have left. Finally the waitress arrived and explained the menu verbally. No printed menus where available. No prices, no english. With that as an input we should have left. Though, we where starving so we ordered Vongole. When the meals finally arrived they were extremely small, only 3 clams opened - the rest without clams or unopened- and with tracks of sand that crushed in our mouths. An insult to the Italian cousine. We should have left. So we asked for the bill. They wanted to charge us 10 euro/person for services. Anyone who has been in the area knows that they normaly charge 2-4 euro/person. A scam! When we pointed this out they became aggressive. We finally left! Big warning -...

Me and my partner went there for a couple of cappuccinos. Upon ordering one more cappuccino, I assume the manager, was gossiping to his colleagues about “how long we were taking to finish them “ in Italian not realising my boyfriend was Italian as we were speaking English the whole time. Bare in mind we were there for a maximum of 15 minutes and the bar was completely empty. Perhaps work on the customer service or at least be aware of your surroundings before you have a gossip? It’s not nice to have someone making comments about you especially when you’re trying to have a relaxing drink near the beach. Do not recommend. There is a place nearby where the staff is lovely and the price...