Il Rifugio dei Naviganti - Ristorante di Pesce a Ponza — Restaurant in Ponza

I think this place is a tourist trap. Really recommend to stay away and avoid this place.

The service was very slow (took forever to order the food even though there were only 3 tables occupied). The staff has been nice to us (we are Italian).

The food is OK but nothing special considering a very high price, probably one of the highest on the island (and not in line with the overall food quality and amenities - the bathroom looks like an airport toilet). Portions are small for the price you pay.

They charge over €40 for a soup, that you can easily find below €20 just few steps away in other restaurants. When we confronted them about this, the waiter justified it by saying that it was served with a bread case (it’s just bread).

General speaking, they present the food very nicely with good looking decorations and plates, however, it felt like it was done only to increase prices.

Even the service fee is very high and the water price that goes for 5€/liter...

The fish is overpriced, twice the price. 80€ for a grilled fish with potatoes that you can find at half price (same fish) next door.

The classic “fritto misto” (fried seafood) let us down as well. 1 piece of octopus, very little seafood, mostly fried vegetables, still charging a high price for it (for the same price you usually get twice the size).

Ravioli were ok but only 4 pieces.

What really ruined our dinner has been receiving our bill, almost 300€ for 2 people (American people, this is a lot in Italy!!). Why so much? They had a Lobster Pasta on the menu for 20€, the waiter came and very proudly showed the lobster to us. At the end, 1 Pasta Dish ended up costing us 190€. You cannot pay 190€ for a pasta, it is just not correct.

But again, it was not written down on the menu and we received no notice what so ever from the waiters.

Really I hope they will reconsider all their attitude and way of...

A nice-looking seaside restaurant with dreadful food and slap-dash service. We were warmly greeted, our order taken, the wine delivered and then…we waited and waited, trying not to drink our bottle of wine before any food showed up. As we waited we watched the chef and two waiters visit the table of young women next to us and have a nice chat, bring them food and desserts…very nice. Us, not so much attention. I finally attracted the waiter as we neared an hour of wondering what happened to our lunch. When asked he got that wild deer-in-headlights look and I knew he hadn’t put our order in at all. He assured us that it was on the way. 15 minutes later our seafood pasta arrived with lukewarm pasta and stone cold mussels (that had also some long time ago been overcooked and were sad shriveled brown lumps). This was too much. To wait so long for crappy food!? I complained and asked them to make us some fresh pasta. So we waited again. They finally came back about 20 minutes later with lukewarm pasta and cold mussels that looked very familiar. By now we were starving so we ate some anyway. If they “re-do” a dish and it is no better than the first time they obviously have zero clue what decent food is. Our second course when it arrived had two large decomposing prawns that stank, and soggy greasy potato cubes. This was absolutely inedible and we didn’t even try. It smelled like food poisoning on a plate. Possibly my worst restaurant meal ever. They offered a limoncello that never arrived and the full bill. We had to ask for a reduction. It took hours to get the smell of rotting prawns out of my nostrils. I regret having to write this but it was disgusting and they need to get their...

On July 10, 2023, my whole family went to the Il Rifugio dei Naviganti restaurant on Ponza Island. While the restaurant is in a beautiful place by the sea, we had some problems with the food and service. First, it was hard to order our meals. Some meals on the menu were not available because we came during the day. Also, the people who worked there didn't speak much English, so we had to use Google Translate to communicate, which was not very helpful. One big issue was when we tried to order lobster from their aquarium. The price on the menu was confusing: "/H." We later figured out that "/H" meant the price for 100 grams of lobster. When we expressed our concern about the seemingly high cost, the waiter hurried to the kitchen and returned with the sizzling lobster on a pan, delivering an emotional explanation that our order couldn't be cancelled as they were already in the process of preparing it. We reassured him, and the order remained in place, after which we continued to wait for our dishes to be prepared. It made us feel like they were trying to trick tourists.

Not having an English menu in a tourist spot is a big problem, and the meals didn't seem worth the price we paid.

In the end, we can't recommend this restaurant because of the problems with the meals, the language issue, and the overall...