Osteria De Gustibus — Restaurant in Taormina

A small but charming restaurant in the centre of Taormina. There is no outside dining here and it may get a little warm inside in the warmer months - we were sat next to a noisy big fan but fortunately the temperature was fine so we were able to turn it off. We liked the look of the place, had read some excellent reviews about it and were hoping for some great Sicilian cooking. We ordered the Salina Bruschetta to share as a starter which was large portion and was ok. We then shared some Spaghetti Carbonara which was tasty enough but unfortunately the egg was beginning to scramble. We then had the meat balls which came as 2 huge spheres of meat served on a couple of vine leaves next with a large serving of salad leaves with some quartered tomatoes on top. The highlight of this dish was the tomatoes; sadly the meatballs were quite tasteless and came with no sauce and, as the salad is not dressed, the dish is quite dry and really not very good. Based on the overall quality of the meal so far, we skipped dessert. The service was however very friendly and very charming, it’s just a shame the food wasn’t better. Not a place you will find any...

Atroucious experience. Extremely bad food - never had before freezing cold potatoes (literally taken from the refrigerator and did not bother at least to warm them evem a bit), some pastas were average some other purely uneatable, poor Negroni (did not take any wine, though), meatballs from the fridge a bi warm at the surface but cold in the middle,frozen pizza that was not enough unfrozen (you could feel ice flakes inside). Service was polite but in fact careless. Read before that it was not easy to find such a bad food in Sicilly and it was hard to believe that was true. Unfortunately we would just echo this statement. Maybe the owner (whom I read in other reviews that she was also the chef) was not around (we sat at the table at 5 pm) but who was in the kitchem at that time simply made us write this review. Price was 220 euros for eight people with almostno drinks, no sweets (could bear any after tasting the food) and just basic ordinary sicilian food...

Unfortunately, our experience here was very disappointing. I ordered a steak which tasted sour, as if the meat was not fresh, and it was completely overcooked with a dull appearance. My sister’s bolognese had a nice flavour, but the pasta needed a minute or two for being al dente. My mother’s meatballs were fine, but nothing special.

When we politely mentioned the issues with the pasta and my steak to the waitress (who wasn’t particularly service-minded to begin with), she called someone from the kitchen. This quickly escalated. The older lady, who seemed to be the chef and owner, became angry, insisted it was impossible, and said it was the best restaurant in Taormina — then told us to leave. Her son calmed the situation and handled it very well, and we were asked/allowed to leave without paying.

The only positives: the drinks were as expected, and the son’s professional handling of the situation. Unfortunately, everything...