Le Vin de l'Assassin - Bistrot — Restaurant in Syracuse

We had plans to make a reservation at another highly reviewed restaurant I found on Trip Advisor for my birthday dinner, but decided to go here after it was recommended by our guide from a cooking class we took earlier in the week (Ortigia Flavour, highly recommended). We are glad we changed our plans and feel so fortunate that they had one open table for two when we stumbled in without a reservation around 9:00 PM.

The food was absolutely one of the best meals we had during our three week vacation in Italy. We travelled to Rome, Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, and then Sicily, and this meal has to be at the very top, as every bite of every plate was made us wiggle in delight.

The burrata in gazpacho was out of this world amazing, and I don't even like tomatoes. It was the best burrata we've had anywhere, and we've ordered it at many different restaurants. We also enjoyed the goat cheese and anchovy spring rolls, the branzino cooked simple with olive oil and garlic, and the most amazing pork shank al tartufo nero (black truffle). The pork was unbelievably tender, perfectly cooked, and had just the right amount of truffle - my wife has been dreaming about it ever since.

The atmosphere is quirky and hip, which suits us better than a more formal, stuffy, classic Italian restaurant. It's intimate but not too noisy inside. The service was excellent as well - all the staff was extremely attentive, prompt, and always kind and smiling. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention, they have a huge list of wine - we ordered a Nero d'Avola from Cos and it was also one of the best we've had! You can see there's a theme here - this place blew us away from start to finish.

I don't typically leave reviews for restaurants, but I felt I had to after one particular act of kindness from the staff. At the end of our meal we were very full, but still wanted to have some sort of dessert as it was my birthday. I had seen other patrons ordering a delicious little cup of strawberry tiramisu throughout the night and my heart was set on it, but we were both about to enter a food coma and needed time to digest before dessert. However it was already past 11:00 so I asked if it was possible to take it to-go. At first they were a bit hesitant, because the dessert was made in little glasses, not suitable for takeaway containers. However when I mentioned it was my birthday, they immediately got the kitchen to wrap one cup up for me as long as I brought the glass back the next day. We later got to enjoy a perfect little "birthday cake" which was also one of the most delicious dolci I had in all Italy. Of course I brought back the glass the next day and they were again very kind and gracious.

I highly recommend you have dinner here if you are staying in Ortigia, you will not regret it. When we return to Ortigia one day, we will be sure to come back....

Honestly, this was a very strange and unpleasant experience. We ordered an Aperol, it was served without any issue, but later another staff member came over and explained several times that they actually don’t serve alcohol without food. The main comment from him was: “You should have asked first if you’re allowed to order alcohol only.”

I really don’t understand this logic. As a customer, I expect the restaurant staff to explain their rules and policies upfront, before accepting the order. If something is not allowed, the waiter should immediately say “sorry, we don’t serve alcohol without food,” instead of bringing the drinks and then repeatedly coming back to lecture us afterwards.

At the same time, it’s a stylish place with a beautiful atmosphere and interesting food. But this situation was very unpleasant - being lectured about rules that were never communicated to us, and which the staff themselves failed to follow, completely ruined the impression.

Update (in response to the restaurant’s comment): We never used any offensive words in our review – it was focused only on the situation and how it was handled. As customers, we cannot be expected to guess internal rules that are not written or communicated before ordering. According to the Italian Codice del Consumo (D.Lgs. 206/2005), service conditions that affect a customer’s choice – such as requiring food in order to be served alcohol – must be made clear upfront.

Unfortunately, your reply with personal remarks towards guests only confirms our impression: the real issue here is not the rules themselves, but the way they are communicated and the tone towards clients. We respect any internal policy, but clear communication is essential if you want customers to feel welcomed rather than lectured.

Also, you are making incorrect assumptions about our intentions – we simply wanted to ask if you had that particular beer, so that we could buy it and take it home...

There are many restaurants in Ortigia so is a bit of a minefield from what I've heard. Some very bad places, some very good but it's a bit of a gamble so had to do a little Google research which resulted in me finding this restaurant.

This is the last place I've eaten on my trip here in Sicily and the first place the staff were actually all friendly and welcoming from the time I walked in to the time I walked out. We had a lovely outside courtyard table to the left of the restaurant and a busy restaurant at 19:45 which I considered a good sign given how quiet some of the other restaurants I walked past were. Service was efficient but not pushy and staff made recommendations which I took them up on which were all lovely in their own right.

For starter, we had 2 servings of the Sicilian Tempura Prawns which were for 2 adults, 2 children and came out with some nice bread so was plenty for the 4 of us as starters. The Prawns had a lovely batter around them served on top of a salad with dressing. We all loved this.

For main, I had a white fish with a Pesto sauce served with Cous Cous and Salad at the recommendation of the waiter. The best fish dish I've had on my trip. My wife had a Tuna Lasagne which I tried and though highly of too. The kids had a Pasta in Gezpachio sauce with Mozzarella. This was reasonably sweet and kids being as fussy as they are at times weren't so keen. I tried it and actually thought it was nice.

For dessert, I had another recommended Sicilian dish by a waitress. Can't remember the name but was Ricotta mixed with chocolate and had what I can only think was like a wafer. Very nice and very filling at the same time.

This with drinks came to just under €130 so not cheap compared to what I've been paying outside of Ortigia but it's tourism prices this time of year and food quality was excellent so well...