Ristorante Vela Bianca Sorrento — Restaurant in Sorrento

Had dinner here our first night and last night in Sorrento. Very accommodating and pleasant owner/manager (Michele). First experience was much better than the second. The first night, antipasti was delicious, wine recommendation was perfect for the meal.(however, they only had one bottle of that wine, and had to substitute the 2nd bottle with another kind). BUT only 2 of the 4 meals were good. 2 (bad) meals were "fresh" fish. The fish was dry (we suspect the fish was not all that fresh) and not properly deboned before plating. We thought we’d give them a 2nd chance.. probably the wrong thing to do. Antipasti was terrible, pasta dishes were all too salty and we could not eat them, once again they ran out of the wine we first ordered after one bottle (even though we specifically asked them if they had enough before choosing the wine for the meal). Again substituting another wine. Overall, a bad experience. Probably not the best choice if you are looking for good, consistent...

Last night we had a fabulous meal in this restaurant. Firstly, we were picked up at our hotel (Art Grand Paradiso) by taxi supplied by the restaurant, (free of charge),we were welcomed at the door, then taken to our table. The food was lovely, I’m not even keen on fish and the salt and pepper cod was super tasty. The four of us enjoyed a lovely meal with great service all at a very reasonable price. We then went for a walk round the marina and returned to the restaurant a half hour later for them to take us back to our hotel in their taxi- all free of charge. To top it off, we had left a pair of sunglasses in the restaurant and planned on returning the following day to collect them- no need, as the driver of the taxi appeared in our hotel that same evening to deliver our sunglasses back to us. How is that for great service!!! Would highly recommend this...

Nice setting by the sea, food was great with lovely fresh seafood. Menu is comprehensive and prices are fair (not cheap, but I’m happy to pay high prices for good quality fresh fish and shellfish).

Staff were all very attentive and nice but unfortunately at the end of the meal the waiter gave us the bill and told us that “service is not included with the bill” (strange considering we spent 75EUR for a starter, three drinks, and two mains, and tips are not a requirement or an expectation in Italy). They were quite pushy that we should tip in cash after paying for the meal with card. A shame as this overshadowed what was otherwise a very pleasant evening.

A great place to go if you’re an American tourist that is happy to throw cash tips around but if you’re after an authentic local dining experience there are better options around...