Ristorante La Pergola — Restaurant in San Daniele del Friuli

Tourist trap; mischarging, upselling and low quality proscuito

We had a very bad experience with this restaurant. At the core of it was a Steak Fiorentina (aka T-Bone steak) on the menu that we had asked some questions about and looked at with interest. The restaurant charged by weight so we had asked which sizes were available. The waitress informed us that the smallest was 1kg. Being two people this was on the high end (weightwise) but we decided to order this one. When the bill came they had charged for 1.3kg. We pointed this out by they claimed that the weight references were proximate and since the steak had been consumed by then, it was hard to establish the weight after the fact. I did not feel or look like anything more than 1kg, but this is a hard and difficult call to make after the fact. What is important is what is communicated and agreed. Despite our objections and the waitress´ admission that it was her fault, the owner / manager refused to take the extra off the bill and behaved very rudely. At euro 65 this was a very expensive steak and very big steak they had chosen to serve for two people.

I had noticed during the ordering that the waitress was big on upselling. The steak came with potatoes, and given its size and our proscuito starter there was certainly more than enough food. Had we followed the waitress´ recommendations and suggestions for the number of starters and side dishes, it would have been a completely bizarre serving size. I would add that I have lived for years and travelled extensively in Italy and I can say with conviction that the Italians themselves are not big eaters. For Italians it is in no way conventional to gorge in such a fashion. With the overcharging issue in mind this left a bad feeling when seen as a context for the subsequent billing.

I had two kinds of wine by the glass. One pinot nero (pinot noir) that was borderline sour but drinkable with the meat, and one glass of cabernet sauvignon which was acceptable but nothing special. This restaurant is basically in the Friuli wine area, which ,though focused in whites, have remarkable and very drinkable red wines (as does Italy). This was not at an acceptable level.

The side dishes and starters were not at a good level. The local proscuito (ham) would be the reason to stop in this village, but it was really not impressive. The vegetable sides and salads were uninspired to say the least.

The restaurant has live fire cooking which was appealing and cosy. Nonetheless, I would describe this best as a tourist trap that does not treat outside guests well at all. Our experiences in Udine were of a different and much higher level and I would advise to chose eating here over this example of a San Daniele restaurant.

The problems with the price level, the quality of the ham and the service level that we had was also picked up in reviews before. I only noticed this after our visit as we had relied on its inclusion in the Michelin guide. Of course Michelin does not heap any praise on it such as bib gourmand or star, while also callling it a “simple standard”. But inclusion in the Michelin guide is normally, in my experience, a guarantee for a minimum level that was...

Una cenetta con la mia dolce metá, lo consiglio per la bontà della carne. A parer mio prezzi leggermente superiori alla media.

Pro: locale accogliente, crea intimità la carne viene cotta sul fogolare in vista elogio alle pietanze che ci hanno davvero lasciati stupiti, ottimo il prosciutto, i sott'olio, il formaggio caprino e le carni. ho apprezzato le presentazioni nei piatti, semplici. l'attesa tra le portate era giusta, sará che eravamo 3 coppie. spiegazione accurata dei piatti

Contro: fretta nel prendere l'ordinazione sembrava volessero venderci di tutto pur di alzare il prezzo, abbiamo preso un tagliere di prosciutto di San Daniele e ci han portato l'antipasto completo (formaggio, sott'olio, prosciutto) che ovviamente costa di più. Chiedo un calice di rosso e ce ne portano due... Chiedo un contorno e ne portano due... il vino rosso della casa era di pessima qualitá tant'è che non sono riuscito a finirlo. i sott'olio avevano un capello non nostro consiglierei una pietra ollare per mantenere calda la carne che vista la quantitá succede che la si finisce fredda il prezzo a parer mio era leggermente sopra la media (84 euro)

Conclusioni: Le cose che ho elencato mi hanno un po infastidito, lo consiglio perchè la carne e le pietanze erano davvero buone. Sia usciti con la pancia piena. 5 stelle solo se migliora...

Cibo discreto ma non in linea con il prezzo che è decisamente alto (un secondo senza particolare vanto si orienta dai 25 ai 35€). Le porzioni sono sufficienti dal punto di vista della qualità e discrete da quello della quantità. La cucina è molto semplice (sughi e salse decisamente essenziali e non particolarmente fantasiose) e la presentazione non è curata. Il prosciutto di San Daniele non brilla per dolcezza come ci si aspetterebbe da un locale della zona di effettiva produzione, ma è del tutto uguale a qualunque altro servito in provincia. Sorvolando sul coperto da 4 euro/persona e il caffè a 3 euro cadauno, l’impressione generale è quella di venir spremuti come limoni per compensare il “privilegio” di trovarsi a San Daniele. Il locale è arredato senza una coerenza, e con elementi di recupero, tant’è che le tovaglie sono semplicemente dei tendaggi da finestra con tanto di asole per l’astina. C’è un senso generale di disordine, fra casse appoggiate di traverso sopra un congelatore, ventilatori sparsi, bicchieri spaiati, che culmina col labirinto che si deve affrontare per raggiungere i servizi igienici (abbastanza puliti, questo sì); locali condivisi - in qualche modo - con un albergo. La cameriera, unica nota del tutto positiva, è...