Osteria Da Trombicche — Restaurant in Siena

We went here because we had a 2013 Rick Steves' travel book that suggested this place. This place is a deli with a couple of tables. We asked for recommendations, and got the sandwiches they suggested (which also happened to be the most expensive sandwiches on the menu). We got our sandwiches and they had 3 miserly slices of meat. We thought it seemed small, but we figured it was just a little deli for small bites. Halfway through our sandwiches, we notice that all the local people have sandwiches piled high with meat. We're pretty annoyed at this point, and ask for our checks because we are ready to go. We then find out that this tiny deli charges a 2.50 euro per person cover charge just to sit down and eat a 5 euro "sandwich." They didn't even provide us with any bread or water. How outrageous! When we pointed this out to the staff, they just shrugged their shoulders and held out their hands for money.

We were pretty mad at Rick Steves at this point, and could not understand why he would recommend this place. Later on that day, we found a newer edition of his book. Turns out this restaurant is no longer recommended by Rick Steves. No wonder! Terrible and expensive food, and...

Okay Food, Good Tartare, Poached egg was not great. I Understand being a small shop they were slow to get dishes out but 2 hours for 2 courses was more than expected. The mains came out very haphazardly and led to even more confusion about the order. Ultimately they left one dish out and it was only once the last main that wasnt left out came out that we could realize (the 4 others came once every 5 minutes, nothing simultanous or close to it). Steak mains did not match the quaility of the tartare meat and were desernably full of tendon. The fact the last dish was delivered at the 2 hour mark (meaing course 1 took 2 hours) ment that yes everyone of the other 4/5 had eaten their mains; however, the 5/5 was fresh on the table when asked about the final dish that did not come. After waiting that long, waiting even longer felt like a waste for...

Disappointed. I found that address in Lonely Planet that is usually reliable. But not on this one for us.

Pros :

the taste of the food was ok

Cons :

the size of the portions was just ridiculous (that spaghetti plate... if you could have seen it...)

I took some green salad as side with the very small tagliata because they did not have potatoes... The 5€ salad was served in a bowl with no seasoning at all. I asked for vinegar but they did not have some... All they could provide was olive oil. Of course no salt and no pepper on the table because this is not something you usually need in a restaurant.)

bad organisation

long, very long

very expensive for what it is

I don't know if the owner changed as I can see a lot of good marks but from my own experience...