Antica Piove — Restaurant in Piove di Sacco

I used to travel and eat out a lot, and also write reviews. Then came three kids and a different phase in life - which meant review writing got seriously lower priority. However this evening was such a disappointment that the reviewer in me decided to come out of retirement. It’s probably also the first time I make the hard decision of giving a restaurant a rating of one star.

We still eat out relatively frequently and visit the top restaurants in Piove di Sacco and surroundings relatively often. We went to Antica Piove about a year ago and had an excellent evening. Our expectations were thus relatively high this time. We chose the place for a special occasion, taking the extended family out for dinner.

Unfortunately a number of things went wrong… We were seated in a corner for ourselves next to the entrance. This seemed good at first as it provided space for our kids to play as well as privacy for our group. Unfortunately we soon were to realize that the aircondition didn’t reach this corner of the restaurant. Outside it was 27 degrees and very high humidity, but we still had to go out several times to refresh ourselves. We mentioned this to the staff but didn’t really get any reaction at all.

We did make our order slightly complicated with a mix of antipasti, primi and secondi, thus we understand it can be challenging for the restaurant to remember what to serve to whom and when. However, the result was the complete chaos. “Nonna” (my mother in law) got her antipasto and primo at the same time and had finished both dishes about one hour before “Nonno” (my father in law) got his first dish. Our kids got their dishes early on (small plus there), but it was very plain and potatoes way too salty. The rest of us got dishes now and then, but basically no one ate at the same time. This combined with the heat (and frequent laps around the block to cool down the kids and get fresh air) meant that we were all scattered around and didn’t eat together at all… after 2 hours waiting and getting dishes served as-hoc we decided to cancel the rest of the meal and pay, but (unfortunately) the last few mains arrived as I was approaching the counter so we decided to finish those before leaving…

The food was average at best. Meat ok, but not exceptional, sides same. Vegetarian very, very plain without flavor (stay away). We complained about the bigoli because they were undercooked. I’m always made fun of because I like my pasta al-dente, but these were rock hard - even for me. We sent them back, waited 70 minutes, got a new batch and they were just as hard. Completely uneatable. One of the staff indicated we might be wrong and ‘explained’ pasta should be all dente, then said he should taste them, but never came back to comment afterwards. At least they took those of the bill…

We ended up spending 180 euros for 5 adults and 3 kids. We would have spent at least the double if it was not because we aborted the dinner half way through. No dessert, no coffee, no digestivo and only one bottle of wine as we were in no mood to enjoy anymore. (The place has a decent wine selection, with a number of the top producers from Veneto and neighboring regions, so there is some potential to build on).

Our last hope was that the restaurant acknowledged that it had been a though evening, and gave us an excuse, a free drink, a small discount or something. But no, nothing. We were left paying in full (except the bigoli..) for an evening which was a complete waste of time and money. It’s though to run a restaurant and mistakes are bound to happen - but this was simply to much for one evening, and combined with no sign of regret from the restaurant is simply unacceptable and leave you with a feeling that they do not care and do not want to improve.

Piove and the surrounding areas need good restaurants to fend off McDonalds and other low quality food chains and the sad diminishing of food (and service) culture that is even happening in Italy, but this I’m afraid...

Unfortunately after my second visit I have to lower my overall score from 5 to 3.

Most food was delicious and surprisingly reasonably priced considering the quality of both ingredients and of the presentations.

But.

Portions are generally small, so it's quite easy for most people to go through a multi courses meal (antipasto + main pasta + meat + vegetables + dessert) without much difficulty. As their menu is full of interesting options, I liked this aspect as it gave me a chance to try a bit of everything.

The atmosphere is very nice and it gives the appearance that a lot of care has been put into everything.

And plates are nicely presented... But the service is extremely disorganized.

The first time we went a waitress made a big mistake with our orders and so 2 at the table had to wait over 90 minutes without food before the restaurant realized what was happening. Once they noticed what happened they immediately apologized and tried to make up for it. As the place was new, I decided to leave the benefit of doubt and consider a normal faux pas as they had to find their new rhythm with a staff who was probably all new for the restaurant.

1 year later though, things got possibly worse.

When we arrived at the restaurant they had no sign of our reservation. We had to show a record of a phone call to clear any doubt.

I ordered a large steak, always a risk as it's so hard but also so easy to mess up. My steaks arrived almost cold, without enough seasoning. I wasn't brought immediately salt but I had to ask for it. The meat itself was not particularly tasty, even after I added plenty of salt.

One of our guests joined our table late but we had mentioned that to the staff and emailed extra care was put into their course. The guest had to wait for their pasta for so long that having known that they would have not ordered the course. When I let a waitress notice the delay, the pasta materialized almost instantaneously.

A real shame as these mistakes ruin a meal that otherwise, with few exceptions (like unfortunately my steak), would have been super as some ingredients are...

Ho cenato recentemente nel ristorante antica piove con un collega di lavoro. Il ristorante si presenta con una cucina ricercata ed estremamente attenta alla presentazione dei piatti. Infatti entrando si ha subito modo di trovarsi di fronte alla cucina e vedere i cuochi all'opera. Ammetto, una bella presentazione del ristorante. Personalmente sono molto più orientato alle osterie più "da mamma pina", mi dà più idea di semplicità e piatti più abbondanti. Quindi, nonostante l'effetto molto positivo di quella vista, il timore del "qui vado via con la fame e mi danno una pettinata" aleggiava in me. Classico esempio di pregiudizio errato. Il menu era davvero perfetto. Bilanciato, con non troppa scelta ma davvero di qualitá. Bella la selezione di carni, molto corretta la possibilità di avere un range di spesa proporzionato. Io con una tartare di manzo ed un porcellino cotto alla perfezione ho speso sui 45 euro. Incluso dessert (anche questo delizioso e piacevole alla vista). Location molto carina, se non fosse stato per una famigliola molto maleducata sarebbe stata anche silenziosa e più piacevole. Personale in giusto numero (ho contato 4 camerieri) ed estremamente cordiale. Parcheggio... Non ha parcheggio privato, ma nei dintorni qualche area di parcheggio c'è. Se avrò la...