Osteria Monacelle — Restaurant in Ostuni

Very good cuisine, BUT the service spoilt it all. My son and I and a family of four found this culinary jewel. I had ordered food for my son and myself. The waiter had been rushing and pressing us to order all the while, unfriendly. As the rabbit had been off, i had ordered lamb for my son, pork leg for myself. As our friends had another, second order for lamb, this got confused and my son remained without food. The waiter insisted on his version that he was right all along not bringing the rabbit. One lady chef helped out and brought pasta and potatoes to bridge the gap ( thank you very much for your initiative !) while i shared the pork with my son and the kitchen rushed to prepare the second lamb, which took another 20 minutes. Too late in the evening, cranky kids and my son had to finish his food alone as it got late. The second order for a water bottle had been ignored by the same waiter (did he feel guilty or was he angry?). In the end we didn’t have to pay for the emergency ration of food which had been offered but no other concessions for a spoilt evening. We are used to being offered a grappa, coffee or free coperto for consolation. None of that which come along as a denial. Humiliation anyways. Should you not shy from similar experiences we still like to recommend this venue for its cuisine. However, might happen that you would encounter a similar experience: some basic rules of diligence and hospitality may not...

The food was very good (except the paccheri with zucchini was missing a key ingredient - basil - which was listed on the menu and appeared in photos of the dish in other reviews). The house wine was so-so (not "buonissimo" as the waiter claimed). The service was difficult; the owners/staff were more concerned with serving locals and friends than other patrons (tourists) as evidenced by the fact that friends of the owners were served 3 - 4 courses before we were served 1 of 3 courses. When we tried to learn more about the house wine and other ingredients or order something else from our waiter, we were simply ignored. My recommendation is to find another restaurant that is actually interested in connecting with patrons - one that offers a warm reception, takes time to explain things/answer questions from people truly interested in the cuisine, and is capable of attentive service to all paying customers, not just...

For the record this is my first review ever, just felt like i have to :(

Find this place by searching on google “best orecchiette Ostuni” this was number 1, called to reserve a table and once we arrived they had a new location, a roof top what was nice but not the authentic look i was promised. Once there we ordered a bottle of wine (17€) and the pasta orecchiette (14€), I was only disappointed in the pasta, really dry and bitter not even close to a good pasta what i was expecting! And the food arrived before the wine and had to wait for it. Than after maybe 2 minutes they came with the wrong bottle that was already open and served to orhers. Don’t see why this place came highly recommended, if you ask me! For the record this is my first review ever.

( personally, there is way better italian food at home in Belgium)

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