Delfino — Restaurant in Portofino

We are coming back here for over 10 years now, never bothered to look at reviews (as it was enough to look at the location and fall in love with the place),so i was quite shocked to see 2 stars.

Listen, I get it, yes, with a top location like this, it is pretty easy to appear as a tourist trap, and yes, after a long season (they are working pretty much non-stop from march to october here) of serving the some of the worst "instagram" guests and -with all due respect- completely dumb out of place, no class americans and completely cheap, complaint-maniac brits...yes the staff can appear a bit tired and not overly charming. it is all true. and yes the prices are high, but to leave the bad review because the prices are high, its like saying that it is expensive to park right in the front of the Casino de Monte-Carlo...yea, you better believe it is)

All in all, the location will give you the best of the best, the creme de la creme , the center of the center feel to this amazing place, and yes, since it is obviously a playground to millionair yacht owners, you can prepare for higher prices (anything from 60 to a 150 euro per person, depending on your dish and if you drink wine, etc). And yes, the waiters (who by the way are serving this place for decades, and are very real classic italians) prefer that you know some basics about continental european (and more specifically , italian) restaurant ethiquettes and save them from some stupid questions and yes, they wont react well if you are being difficult. Yes, I understand that normally it is not your job to win a waiter over, it is normally the other way around. I get it. It is however, due to the history and location and all that, a bit different here, so do yourself a favour, and yes, do try to win them over a bit. They will 100% appreciate you if you order like an italian, to the point, without any non-sense and special request, if you are not being cheap (asking for tap-water or double checking the price of certain items). Just be courteous with some fun, charming attitude. you will stand out and you will have a good time. They sense this type of behaviour and appreciate it. Oh and for crying out loud, please dress up. Make an effort. Your football jerseys, ill-fitted jeans, new balance shoes, whatever you picked up on sale at sports-direct will not make the cut here. its not how much you spend, just please make an effort, and look like someone who belongs to a beautiful stylish and exclusive sea-side resort. It can be done on a budget, that is not a problem, its the effort that counts. If you dress exactly how you would dress at your home town on a Wednesday, and you are not from , I dont know, Ramatuelle, then you best belive it wont make the cut. And rightly so, it is a special place, so dont change them short with what you bring and they wont change your short with what you leave with. (I hope its needless to say, dont cut your pasta with a knife or try to order ketchup right???)

Come here, with a flair that this place deserves, be prepared to pay the extra for sitting court-side , right at the port next to some of Europe's most exclusive mega yachts, dont take yourself too seriously, and you will have a good time. The food is excellent. They can cook here, trust me.

If you think you will be overly critical of the prices, or try to educate the waiters how they should behave, just skip this place. It is not for you, and that is perfecltly OK. It is a relatively expensive and rather pretentious place (in a beautiful Italian way), you have to accept it for what it is and you wont be disappointed. For what it is, it is...

We had a lovely evening tonight. However we felt taken advantage of come time for the bill. There was a “cover charge” which wasn’t a large amount and would be more justified if there was some sort of entertainment like live music or something. Also, we were charged on top of that a “tourist tax” (there is no tax in Italy, we just spent a week with my family on the interior where tourists aren’t taken advantage of so we know the laws and tax situation by now). That “tourist tax” or “tourist fee” as they called it when we googled it and asked about it was an additional $40 on our bill and completely unjustified. Google defined it as legal but something they are trying to get rid of in Italy. As an added bonus, when they brought us the bill they mentioned that tip was not included, just in case we thought that these additional charges were somehow connected to a tip. Also in Italy, tips are not expected but appreciated. We have been lovingly tipping throughout our trip but tonight it all left a very bad taste in our mouths. Not one waiter on our trip so far has mentioned anything about a tip until tonight. For example earlier tonight we had two beverages across the harbor at a restaurant that had a floating dock with tables and heaters, a lovely time with no demanding of a tip- which we of course happily gave, and upon receiving it the entire wait staff (no lie) thanked us in unison. I think it’s expected that as tourists we will pay much more than we should, but this restaurant went the extra mile to squeeze that out of us without being humble and...

BEWARE. The price is going to be more than you think from the menu. We were resigned to paying for the convenience of a table. Most places had no empty tables. However, we were unpleasantly shocked by the addition of the 10 euro Cover Charge and the 12,30 euro Service Fee. We expected to pay 20 euros for a plate of spaghetti bolognese and 25 euros for the insalada di Mar along with 9 euros each for the 3 beers. First, the waiter brought us a 150 euros bill containing items we never ordered. It was not ours. He then passed that bill to the next table. I hope it was truly their bill. When he brought our correct bill, instead of the 72 euros we expected based on the prices listed in the menu, it was 94,30 euros ($105.20 US!l per my card statement !!). We had to ask for the bread after our meal arrived and for the parmesan cheese for the spaghetti. Little things, but at that price, you expect not to be the one asking for proper service. If you go to Portofino, pack a lunch, or get something at the small local mraket, don't expect to sit for a meal. All that being said, the food was tasty, and the service ok, but nowhere near the cost. We have had many good meals in Italy that made us very happy, not here. Sorry, there is no photo of the food. We were not expecting to need them. (edit addition: we came across 4 euro cover charges in more modest restaurants around Italy. Most had no such charge. But the service charge was unique. All in all, we didn't get our...