Ristorante Casa Bella — Restaurant in Stresa

The restaurant is situated on the marvellous Isola dei Pescatori(Fishermen's Island). We were sitting on the terrace with a wonderful view to the lake, the opposite coast and the Isola Bella, the neighbour island. The rooms of the restaurant are designed in a very elegant style. The staff is very friendly and polite and obviously tries do everything for the personal well being of the guest. We ate for example as antipasto a cream of pikeperch with caramelized onions and fish eggs. So delicious! The salmon fillet was so tender, the caramelized red onions in harmony with the (also red) radicchio was a dream. The risotto with pieces of marinated perch consisted of best Carnaroli rice which was really "al dente". And we had a glass of white wine each, one from Friuli, dry and wonderful fruity, and one Arnaïs from Piemonte, dry and fresh with slight sourly notes and traces of the minerals of the ground where the grapes have grown. The dessert, a wonderful tasting fruit sorbet rounded up this wonderful meal, savoured in the mild November sun. The padrone brought us by himself a second spoon understanding that we'd like to enjoy "uno/una"( one for two). This is only an example for his kindness. We were there two time while our stay at Stresa and we certainly will...

This experience was unacceptable to us, especially for this price range. We would not visit again next time. I wish I wouldn't trust such to all those positive reviews. In the photo is the main dish. The service doesn't ask a standard question how you want the meat to be cooked, in the end it's medium, in combination with the sauce and potatoes all too dry. Salmon was accompanied by so much of an onion, that I felt it even hours later. We were charged 12e for a glass of premium wine but our order was 8e house wine. This was fixed by the staff when paying. The présentation of the meals we got was very poor. A bit like a school canteen, not what you'd expect from a good restaurant. You'll also pay 9,50e a person for the boat and couverte. We think at night is not worth it to go to the island, there's not...

I recently dined at Casa Bella and was unfortunately let down by the experience. The filet was not good at all—it was overcooked and lacked the flavor and tenderness I had hoped for. Additionally, the fish of the day was supposed to be something else, but it turned out to be salmon, which was not communicated to us in advance and we are not coming to Italy to eat salmon.

We shared our feedback with the owner, hoping for some understanding or at least an acknowledgment. However, she seemed to just brush us off and didn’t address our concerns at all, which was quite disappointing. Overall, I expected better service and food from Casa Bella and hope they can improve in the future.

In addition, the private boat pick up service turned out to be a public boat service, with various stops before arriving...