Osteria La Torpedine — Restaurant in Riomaggiore

Beware: do not try to go here if you are a solo diner!! I am not one to leave reviews, good or bad, but I had a very terrible experience here and wanted to share so others don’t experience the same thing. When exploring my dinner options on the internet, I saw a review for this place that warned about trying to eat here as a solo traveler since she was turned away despite many available tables. Today at 7pm, I tried my luck and thought maybe that was just her own experience or was a weird night. The restaurant was nearly empty- only about 3 tables of patrons. There were tons of empty set tables. I asked an older gentleman at the door for a table for 1. He coldly kind of mumbled to himself, backed away, spoke to some of the wait staff—making what I thought was a “just a minute while we figure this out” gesture—I assumed at first that he was just discussing which table to give me. As I have had trouble find a restaurant in the area both nights of my trip, I waited anxiously for a few minutes. I’m new to solo travel and I’m still finding that it takes courage each and every time I try to dine in a sit-down restaurant by myself, so requesting a table for 1 is already a hurdle for me. Well, after about 5 minutes, still an empty restaurant and no one else trying to come in, I look inside to see if he’s going to come back, and I see that same man who I can assume is the manager or owner of sorts, polishing glasses….what?! The server he be had been speaking to made eye contact with me and said nothing to me. The man polishing glasses also made eye contact with me. It was completely clear in that moment that they were not going to come speak to me to show me to a table. I was pretty disgusted and walked away. This place should be ashamed of themselves if this is how they treat solo diners. It feels awful and also just seems like bad business. I would have spent a good amount of money trying different dishes and also now here I am leaving this review, hoping to discourage other solo diners from experiencing this same thing....

First of all I have to congratulate myself with the 3 or 4 people who I believe own and work there. They are young, clearly passionate and lovers of good food and people. The atmosphere created by the waitress and the barman fit the location so well I am stunned.

The place is tiny, there are 5/6 tables inside and this is not a bad thing, it feels like an old restaurant... for friends and family, but at the same time the decor is beautifully thought through, not too much on the walls and not too little.

Coming in February, the menu was pretty small: 5 starters, two first dishes, two mains, two desserts. But this, in my mind, is an upside. They can prepare the food quickly and well.

I ate the tagliolini (I can't really remember what was in them) but they were, let me tell you, f*ing amazing. I am Italian, I live in Genoa but that dish had an insanely good flavour and the portion for the price was actually pretty big.

Having eaten the brownie I can say that here the portion was a tad too small but the flavour was there and the cream with lemon on top gave it a nice and interesting taste.

Wines were mostly from the region and at a good price, kudos again to the waitress who knows her wines, I know a little myself and she hit the right points.

Again, kudos to the waitress, the barman and the cook or cooks. I hope you stay afloat and keep on that passion that hit me last night. It's clear that I loved your food, energy and love for...

The perfect orchestra of seasonal and local food. Our hostess was absolutely fantastic and gave us the perfect wine pairing for the food we ordered. The food was so spectacular. The pumpkin capaccino was truly inspired with a fun and whimsical presentation. The sweet pumpkin mixed with the taste of rich ricotta and a hint of bitterness from the finely ground coffee on top was the perfect balance. The tuna tartar was succulent and buttery. The pesto was punchy and fresh with the handmade pasta having the most wonderful texture. The langoustine pasta was an umami bomb that exploded in the mouth. Such a deep fish flavor on the perfectly cooked pasta. The beautiful langoustine on top was so sweet and the lemon zest rounded the dish off with some nice acidity to cut the salt in the sauce. The octopus had a lovely char and was quite meaty. The sauces that went along with it melded beautifully with the octopus. The portions and timing between each dish was perfect giving us time to enjoy our bottle of wine while we waited for the next flavor to arrive. They only took on as many guests as they could appropriately serve and it was much appreciated. Was able to go to the restaurant around 530 PM and make a reservation for 7 PM the same night. Would definitely recommend making a reservation as many people were turned away. If there is one restaurant you need to visit, it...