Ristorante La Taverna Del Barbarossa — Restaurant in Unione dei Comuni Amiata Val d'Orcia

What an utterly disappointing restaurant dinner experience, including the service, mostly provided by a seemingly stressed out, impatient, and none-too-friendly restaurant owner (he was, poor fellow, profusely sweating whenever I saw him, even as all three air conditioning units were turned off on this very warm night, for whatever reason). This is a restaurant that, as other more positive reviews prove, holds a lot of promise, but it needs a serious service and food overhaul.

Every time a dish was served, the restaurant owner would shout loudly to silence everyone at our table so he could deliver a plate to somebody, although he had no idea which plates went with which guest, despite having taken the orders himself. Adding insult to injury, he would loudly bellow “excuse me“ (in Italian) before the disruption. Then he would shout out the contents or names of the dishes like an auctioneer. One wonders if this man actually enjoys managing a restaurant and providing hospitality to his guests. I have serious doubts.

Plates came out of order, with some of the first courses being delivered after the second courses. Orders were forgotten. I actually felt sorry for the rest of the wait staff, who were meekly delivering plates and bowls even as the owner bellowed.

(Tip to the restauranteur: provide side or dinner plates for dishes served on ungainly platters. Second tip: make a system for taking orders by number and delivering them without loudly interrupting guests’ conversations. Third tip: provide more paper or laminated or even chalkboard menus — your QR code menus cheapen the experience considerably.)

The food was, unfortunately, mostly tasteless. Spinach unseasoned; bread dry; potatoes overcooked; bland tomatoes (for bruschetta and salad) carelessly sourced. A few dishes, the simple ones, were not bad but merely middling, including the pici pasta in tomato sauce and the pepperoni and cheese pizza; the grilled steak was decently seasoned. Unfortunately, even the steak was a miss: it arrived very rare when it was ordered medium and had to be returned for finishing. The red table wine was, in my opinion, very poorly chosen — in Tuscany, no less.

Ok, maybe I have erred in failing to mention one of the outstanding qualities of the restaurant. It is a very pretty restaurant, and it overlooks a lovely valley. As one of my party quipped, however, we could dine better and more happily by packing a sandwich and sitting on a hill.

Perhaps we just arrived on an off night, or perhaps the regular personnel were unavailable on this night. I really couldn’t say. Needless to say, we didn’t stick around to try out...

The staff were lovely and welcoming and the views were stunning. It's just a shame the food is so bad.

Sadly some of the worst food we have eaten in Tuscany so far. The only thing that really stood out was the bread and oil was delicious. Everything from that point on was awful. We had the duck Ragu and the beef Ragu both very dry and overcooked with Papadella which wasn't great either. My partner had the Caci e Pepe with Pici equivalent which was cloying.

I really hope they improve the food, as they have such a great location and front of house staff.

Outside there is a small playground which would be great...

Attirati dalle foto con quella che si direbbe essere una splendida vista sulle colline della Val D'Orcia, decidiamo di prenotare con largo anticipo per un pranzo. Purtroppo una volta arrivati vediamo di essere stati posizionati in un tavolo a fine sala in cui è presente una finestra che non permette la vista al di fuori, perché sporca o incrostata. Chiediamo gentilmente al cameriere di poter cambiare tavolo, dato che ve ne erano altri disponibili che permettessero una godibilità del panorama. Dopo aver chiesto ad un suo superiore ci viene detto di non poter cambiare tavolo, in quanto già prenotati (anche noi eravamo prenotati, risposta che lascia il tempo che trova); decidiamo di non far polemica e di rimanere nell'unico tavolo della sala senza vista. Dopo 30 minuti nessuno è venuto a chiederci l'ordine, solamente il passaggio dei camerieri di tanto in tanto ci avvertivano che sarebbe venuto qualcuno a chiedere le ordinazioni, alternati da cameriere che, ancor prima di ordinare, portavano piatti di altri al nostro tavolo. Tralasciando che il menù riporta crostoni, e a noi sono arrivate bruschette, quella col pecorino è stata buona, mentre l'altra con i funghi niente di che. Entrambi i primi sciapi, probabilmente la materia prima dei condimenti sarebbe stata anche buona, ma purtroppo senza sale non veniva esaltato nessun sapore. Il vino purtroppo conteneva del fondo, nonostante la bottiglietta mi fosse stata aperta davanti. Siamo rimasti molto delusi del fatto che dopo 1h e 30 minuti di pranzo, i tavoli che avrebbero dovuto essere prenotati, erano rimasti vuoti. Un...