AM Bistrot — Restaurant in Orta San Giulio

Ok, so this needs a complete review to understand how much is missing, from the small details to the fundamentals.

We arrived on time and we’re harshly welcomed buy a women who showed us to an elevator the staff used that smelled of sweat. When entering the bistro on the terrace the waitress just pointed at three free tables and let us pick for our selfs.

Ok so far. But then the waiting began. 30 minutes until we got a glass of water. 45 minutes until dry bread was served (probably from the hotel’s breakfast since it was dry and tasteless - still we had to pay 8€ for it). After 1 hour we finally got our wine. With no help of course from the waitress - her recommendation of wine was this: “you should drink white wine to the gnocchi”. Ok, can you recommend one? “No”. But you have one paired to the tasting menu? “I don’t know which it is.” Jesus, then we gave up trying to get recommendations.

Maybe we shouldn’t have pointed out that one of our water glasses was dirty, because that resulted in a high sigh from the waitress and after that we have to serve ourselves with water and wine.

The wine bottle came in an ice bucket with ice and water - thank you! - but no small towel so every time we lifted the bottle we were dripping water all over the table. They took no notice and didn’t understand when we asked for a towel or serviette.

So the food? Does that make up for the lack of service? Oh no! The gnocchi mussels had four canned mussels on top and the saffron rice was dry, under seasoned and actually just a pile of yellow rice with a tasteless green sauce.

The secondi I had to send back to the kitchen. The veal was lovely, hard to fail with, but the potato mousse was so salty my tastebuds retracted into defence mode.

The squid was just squid in tomato sauce with a little taste from the freezer served with toasted bread - probably also from the breakfast buffet.

They removed the veal from the bill but still we paid 65€ for two primi and one secondi. 45€ for an ok wine. And not to forget: 8€ for old bread and 4€ for water.

I visit a lot of restaurants around Europe and this I cannot recommend. There’s better tourist restaurants on the same street with kind and service minded staff, and fresh pasta for half the price. Nice view from the...

I visited this Michelin restaurant on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2024, but the experience was utterly disappointing and far from Michelin standards. Seating Arrangement: We were seated at a table that felt very cheap, with just a tablecloth draped over it, and the table itself seemed so fragile it might collapse under slight pressure. Furthermore, one of my friends was seated with her back to a cabinet, and if she leaned back even a little, she would hit the cabinet handle. This reflects a significant issue with how seating arrangements are managed. Environment: We were placed next to a family with young children. I am not suggesting that restaurants should refuse families with kids, but the two children were running around freely and coughing while doing so. This not only ruined the dining atmosphere but also resulted in me falling ill with a fever for three days. This greatly affected the overall dining experience. Service: After finishing our bread, the table was covered in crumbs, but the staff did not clean it up promptly. Even when they saw us cleaning it ourselves, they did nothing. When we explicitly asked for help, one of the servers came over and ended up spilling crumbs on my friend. This was incredibly shocking and showed a severe lack of staff training. Additionally, I don’t want to go into too much detail, but the personal hygiene of the staff needs significant improvement. Food: The most disappointing aspect of the experience was the food. It did not reflect the quality expected of a Michelin-starred restaurant. I have tried many Michelin restaurants, but I have never been so dissatisfied with the food. While I believe the chef put some thought into the dishes, the flavors were unbalanced and entirely forgettable. The most disappointing dish was the steak: a tiny portion with terrible seasoning. It tasted like flavorless boiled beef, which was almost nauseating.

Overall, as the last meal of 2024, this was undoubtedly one of the most disappointing dining experiences...

I recently dined at our 70th Michelin-starred restaurant within the past seven years.

The tableware and plates were simply amazing and added a touch of elegance to the dining experience. However, I found the interior of the restaurant to be a bit too simple for such a prestigious establishment.

One aspect of the restaurant that I found to be questionable was their policy of allowing guests to bring their dogs, even big ones. As much as I love dogs, I don't think it's appropriate for them to be in a restaurant setting inside.

We opted for the classic tasting menu, and overall, the food was good. The bread and butter, in particular, were outstanding. However, I found the portions to be too small for a tasting menu.

While the service was adequate, I did feel that there was a lack of attention paid to our table. Considering the restaurant's reputation, I expected a bit more in terms of attentiveness...