La Rampolina — Restaurant in Stresa

Readig all the good reviews we were really looking forward to our dinner at La Rampolina but got bitterly disappointed. I cant remember ever not giving tip (because usually I really like to reward good service)to the waiter but as i never experienced such bad service ever before and felt so unwelcome it seemed to me the only right desicion. We booked a table days in advance and got a really bad table just next to the entrance were you get disturbed by the constantly arriving guests and have no view. We decided to ignore this and were looking forward to the food. But then the evening got worse. The waiter had a very arrogant attitude. All in all the whole service was a neglection of hospitalty. If at least the food was ok i wouldnt write this review. As the first course was totally ok but nothing special, the mains and the desert were far below average and made without love and ambition ( I really couldnt finish my main course.). I normally dont write reviews and also accept that one can have a bad day, but the overall experience at la Rampolina was so bad that i really feel to share it. There are so many better options for diner in and...

This is a place that can be a 5 star for one and a total failure for the other. Ours was more miss than hit unfortunately

Setting:

They have a beautiful setting, but if you don’t get a front row table, it’s just a restaurant.

Food:

Great antipasti, but very mediocre Primi e.g. perfect texture, but flavourless Angolotti. Other primi similar lack of taste. Didnt have a secondo.

WINE:

The winelist is great but prices are also schizofrenic: 540€ for Rinaldi Brunate of a mediocre vintage (14) but also Le Piane Boca in multiple vintage sub-100€. Pick your battles….

What bothered us most was that it is a HUGE place and if you’re not incrowd, you’re just a number. That’s not hospitality with a capital H, regardless of the view. Frustratingly, the lady in charge of the payments didn’t seem impressed by our comments.

Resumee:

This place has it all, and yet it doesn’t....

I write this review with Very mixed feelings.

Short Summary: Great food and wine, but poor service.

First of all we arrived at 1830 where the restaurant opened at 1900 due to being off season. The staff did let us in, however they were not very friendly. We got a nice table with nice view and were asked of we want some wine and if we would prefer red or white. The stuff brought a bit of wine without giving us the wine menu. The wine was food, which is a plus for the restaurant, however not being given the wine menu is a no go.

The good was great. We ordered 4 different starters, 2 different main dishes and two deserts and all of them were really good.

Better service would have been five stars. If the wine would have not been our taste it would have been one star, despite the quality...