Osteria Pepenero — Restaurant in Portoferraio

Last minute booking - no problems, although it may have been earlier as the owner(?) said they'd been booked out for previous 5 days. He told us as he carried some bolle to the kitchen team at the end of service.

Although we were sitting inside and "alone", everyone made a point of keeping us entertained and wanting for nothing. Excellent service everyone, including one of the kitchen team who my wife mistakenly asked for the bill - he didn't blink and the bill duly arrived. By the way, inside is very pleasantly decked out and comfortable.

The menu is eclectic with plenty of choice of interesting sounding dishes. We only wanted a light dinner and went with the maccheroni with seafood and sausage - possibly a strange sounding mix but Lyn said it was delicious. I had the slow roasted pork belly with patatas which was also very good. But first we were given an amuse bouche of carrot soup (I think) with a little surprise of house-cured fish. Very tasty. Great bread as well.

The wine list is extensive. We chose an Alto Adige blend of pinot nero and Zweigelt. Very good match.

Good food, good wine prepared by a team that obviously enjoy...

Firstly, nice setting with mostly great staff, very friendly explaining the dishes. The food is a different story starter, shrimp in a Bao bun , 1 shrimp cut in half inside the bao bun for €25 with a tepid soup, followed by a main course of mackerel which was dry, and no flavour. I chose swordfish which was ok but raw in the middle, When I mentioned this to a waiter, they said that was how it should be cooked I was not asked if I wanted it cooking anymore or an alternative dish.

When the bill came, we were not charged for the swordfish which must mean something in my opinion, great bottle of wine, in my opinion I’m not that of the different restaurant down the they have experimented around with the flavours of food and not quite got it right.

I have had a lot better in Elba at other restaurants this was overpriced, and in my opinion I think that Chef is...

We went for the 10 course menu at 120 euros each. Highlights included tuna tartare with foie gras, spider crab parcels and a rich pennette. A couple of the dishes were very adventurous indeed, including a meaty salt and pepper dessert which was very well received!

However, a couple of dishes fell a little short for us; the first dish (some sort of white fish in tomato sauce) felt a little underseasoned and rubbery. There was also one dish called “Il Benessi” which seemed to comprise of a snotty undercooked egg in a bowl.

The staff were wonderful from start to finish, the home cooked bread and petit fours were delicious and the drink suggestions were spot on. Many thanks for a...