Anchovies Ortigia — Restaurant in Syracuse

Fabulous location for a slow long lunch which is what my husband and our daughter and her partner have just done. The bread offered was excellent but the quality of the bruschette was not impressive for the 12 euro price tag. The tomatoes were not the usually flavorful tomatoes that you can enjoy in the Mediterranean area and the guacamole base was an unusual choice for the anchovy bruschetta- the marriage of flavors was not very successful. The Sicilian salad however was excellent so do order this if you go as for 12 euros this is definitely superb for lunch. It was irritating as a tourist to have to ask for oil for the bread and as no side plates were offered it unfortunately meant messing up the paper napkins on the table. I was so surprised this place got 5 stars for reviews. Perhaps the previous diners have a different expectation but my husband and I like eating out and have become much more discerning with a greater disposable income...

I’m absolutely shocked with my experience at this restaurant/ bar tonight. It was pretty empty, my partner and I asked if we could sit for a glass of wine - we were told that it was no problem. We sat, ordered a glass of wine, nothing else. We were then charged 6 euro for a “service charge”.

I do not recall being provided with a “service”, other than having a waiter drop two glasses to our table. We asked what the service charge was for - we were told that “every restaurant/ bar in ortigia” charges this. I have been here for two weeks and This is the first time that I have been charged 6 euro to sit at a table and drink a glass of wine.

There are many lovely places to sit and drink a glass of wine in ortigia/ Syracuse/ Sicily that do not have ridiculous...

I'd like to have cuttlefish ink pasta stuffed with red shrimps which was available on their menu outside of restaurant. Unfortunately once we sat down they menu they gave was the same dish description but without cuttlefish ink. And at that point they have already opened the water so we stayed. The waitress was not very friendly and speaking limited English unfortunately. When asked about if there's salad as side dish she didn't understand. The squid was overcooked and quite rubbery and not really sure about the combination with pea puree. I think this restaurant is aimed to have more modern twist. If you want traditional food, I don't think this is the place. A little...