Da Aristide — Restaurant in Riomaggiore

A family institution that truly lives up to its name. Would recommend!

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Our original dinner plans fell through so we called up Da Aristide last minute - after a local insisted on us going at some point - and we were able to secure a table for when they first opened, @ 7pm.

There are 3 seating areas: downstairs, upstairs and an outside courtyard. We were seated in the upstairs within the actual restaurant. The courtyard was closed due to bad weather.

After being ushered to our table we were given ample time to peruse the menu overflowing with local staples.

Before we jump into the actual food, a negative to note was the crispy waffle not coming through for entree. This is partly on us because we didn’t follow up but still worth divulging.

Minus the waffle, the Mussels soaked in marinara didn’t disappoint! As you can see from the pictures, they come shelled with an aromatic broth at the base (additional lemon to squeeze per your preference). We also got these cute hand towels to cleanse our fishy hands, post feast. When I first saw the word ‘Marinara’, I assumed it was a tomato based dish. However, the surprise was welcomed although i could see how that would throw a few people off upon ordering.

To the main event, the pasta trumped the fish as a stand-alone dish. The tagliolini is plated in a way where the ingredients have their own space. Wafer, Buffalo cream, tuna tartare, pasta. All in their own lanes, thriving. You have the power to toss this magnificent dish to your hearts desire. The fusing of all these individual ingredients really makes for a unique pasta dish. 10/10 would recommend! The [fish dish] tasted great. The fish itself was fresh and salty, the skin providing a resounding crisp to each bite. The vegetables were buttery and well-cooked. Ideally, there would have been more of the pea cream. Whilst the dollop provided was indeed tasty, it wasn’t enough to enjoy on its own. Ultimately, the pea cream was just a garnish and not a real accessory to the meal. Overall, the [fish dish] was a great, healthy choice but unlike the pasta, didn’t carve out its own path as a dish.

Pre-dessert we both order Sciacchetra: a locally produced dessert wine, sweet, liquid gold as some would say here. It came paired with biscotti and we weren’t disappointed as we awaited a caramel pannacotta to share. The caramel pannacotta was plump, and smooth at the touch. The dark richness of the caramel paired with the freshness of cream. Honestly, the caramel itself made us feel things that only Manarola could provide.

Da Aristide is a must visit if you’re in Manarola. We’ve also heard they do a great breakfast, which we will likely try at some point during our stay....

Andréa was our server at Da Artistide, and he delivered the best meal of our entire ten day trip to Italy! We got started with two glasses of chianti, and in the meantime, Andréa recommended each and every course we ordered from the antipasti and primi piatti to secondi and dessert. Every single recommendation was excellent.

My wife and I split the antipasti, burrata pomodorani e pesto ligure (burrata cheese, tomatoes and pesto), and we also split the primi piatti of taglioni neri tonno (black pasta, burrata cream, and tuna tartare). For secondi, I ordered filetto verdure (sesame coated grilled tuna with caramelized red onion) and she ordered grilled seabream with vegetables and a green pea puree. We couldn't put our forks down! Since the evening was so magical, we decided to get desert as well, and the fig cheese cake was a dream. We finished the meal with some decaf espresso when our server surprised us with a lemoncello with a single cube of ice. All of this for under €100!!!

The food was to-die-for and the service was the best we've had in Italy. Bon Appetito!

A special thanks goes to Andréa for his professional but approachable manner, and his beautiful recommendations. I urge you in the strongest terms to...

Our (... by far) worst restaurant experience on our fourteen days roadtrip through Italy. Terrible service and barely edible food for the same price as many of our best restaurant experiences including lunch at a Michelin star restaurant in Rome.

What was bad about the service? There were plenty of nice tables available, but we were given the worst table in the restaurant. We were asked four times whether we were okay during our meals despite not really showing any signs of us not being okay (... except maybe our disappointment with the food). We had to ask for cheese for our pasta. We felt like we were intruding when we got there and everytime we asked for something, e.g. when my girlfriend asked about the difference between their dish of the day and another pasta dish (... the waitress had no idea) and when asking for the check.

What was bad about the food? The lasagne was burned in the bottom and therefore extremele tough and without taste. The vegitables with the dishes felt very out of place and not very fresh. The swordfish burger felt more like a swordfish stake and the sauce with it was nothing special. The pasta and mussels were okay, but felt a bit tough and overcooked (... quite...