Zanze XVI — Restaurant in Venice

Unfortunately this restaurant just didn't wow me. With Michelin stars definitely comes high expectations and I feel like Zanze XVI was missing that something special.

Environment is top notch if you get a seat outside. It's a beautiful setting next to the water and calm, less people are walking around compared to other areas of Venice. By the time you are done eating if there for dinner, there are even less people and it's wonderful to go for a stroll after.

Service was okay, staff was friendly and informative regarding each dish and asking what we thought after each course. However I didn't feel the service was high as it could be for a Michelin restaurant, and I have been to a few.

We did the 7 course tasting menu and the pace was good in the beginning but slowed down a lot by courses 4 and 5. I appreciate meals that aren't rushed and having some pause between each but by this time we ended up waiting 20-30 minutes each for courses 4 and again for 5. At this point the fullness starts to set in and so does the "food coma" so I started to get tired. Overall for the 7 courses it took 3 hrs to get through.

Price: Again, we got the 7 course tasting menu. 120 euros per person and we did wine by the glass (about 10 euros per). Interestingly water and coffee are not included in the price but if you do get the voucher online it does. So it was total 4 euros for water and 8 euros for espresso for 2 people. There is also a 5 euro per person cover charge. I understand water and espresso are not commonly included in Europe or even the US for espresso but again, for the price, you would think it would be. I am also used to coffee being offered as part of an inclusion with the end of dessert/the meal.

Now for food. Unfortunately did not get a photo of the menu so I don't remember the descriptions of the food but part of the fun for me is not knowing ahead of time what's on the tasting menu! They give you a welcome course before the official meal. Usually this is what sets the tone and unfortunately it was an okay starter which could have used more flavor. The first 3 official courses fortunately improved and I enjoyed those. Particularly enjoyed the soup that had some assorted seafood and garbanzo beans. And the risotto which had a pesto sauce were delicious and lifted our hopes up.

The next course was a flat spaghetti noodle dish with truffle and I enjoyed it but did not feel like it was unique. We also waited perhaps 20 minutes for this one. And then another 30 minutes for the next one which is the meat--you get a choice of fish or beef. I chose fish. This one was okay, needed more flavor. I had a taste of the beef my husband got and was again surprised by the lack of flavor.

The last 2 courses were dessert. The first one was not good for me, the vodka taste was too strong to where I couldn't finish it. The last one was their take on tiramisu and this was enjoyable. They then finish the meal off with some bite sized dessert and a gold flaked bite that tasted like hazelnut. These were good and I wish those had been bigger.

Overall, no bad courses other than the dessert with vodka. Just not enough "wow" moments or moments where I closed my eyes to savor how good something was.

I am by no means an expert on the subject but we have been to a few Michelin starred restaurants around the world, as well as those with bib gourmands, on the Michelin guides, and enjoy trying all types of food on our travels in all price ranges. We love tasting menus.

Again, with the Michelin star comes high expectations and unfortunately this did not blow me away like others have. We also have found Venice to be difficult to find good food in and hoped this restaurant would turn our experience around...

Update: even though it's stated on their website, Zanze XVI doesn't have a Michelin star anymore.

We've been to Zanze last Saturday. Here's what we have to share.

Welcome experience: The staff was very friendly, the restaurant has a cool bistro style and we got the table right at the window with a very nice view. We got informed that there is no sparkling water as the machine that makes it didn't work. Solution: go to the next supermarket or even to the train station across the canal and buy some sparkling water. As water was served in a carafe I would't even have recognised it. One Michelin star but no sparkling water. Our waiter recommended the chef signature menu which we both chose. I asked for pairing wines also (just for one).

Starters: the amuse gueule were very nice, all starters were very good. The home made grissini were a good idea and were perfectly crafted. There were two breads served, it would make them better to put them in the oven for a minute and serve them slightly warm. The focaccia was a bit chewy.

Main dishes: all main dishes were very good, two of them extremely well prepared. Compliments to the chef.

Dessert: there were two dessert courses, none of them convinced is. Patisserie does not seem to be the chef's strength that night. In both dished I had the feeling that there was too much aga aga (or whatever gellant) being used.

Pairing wines: the pairing wines itself were excellent and matched the dishes. I wish more explanation about why they chose the wines instead of reading the labels and telling me about the grape. I assume none of the waiters was a sommelier. Also one time the pairing wine was forgotten and I explicitly had to ask for it.

Summary: Zanze XVI offers fine dining on a good level but at that particular night we do not see where the Michelin star should come from. There is the "extra mile" missing. Without a Michelin star and lower prices I would probably give a 4-star rating.

We paid 330 EUR (without tip) for two menus, pairing wines (only for 1 person) and three glasses cremant.

About us: we love to travel around the world and experience the culinary specialties of the countries we visit. We dined in 20 Michelin starred restaurants and I think we can form an option about fine dining. Visiting a restaurant with a star raises high expectations. Sometimes they are matched,...

We really wanted to like this place. We've had some amazing meals in our two weeks in Italy, from pizzarias to Michelin star tasting menus. Based on the stellar reviews, we'd hoped to enjoy a tasty last dinner on our trip. We were sorely disappointed. The atmosphere is very pleasant with cozy well appointed tables inside, as well as several tables outside along the canal. We chose the 5 course tasting menu as well as the 5 wine pairing. We were a little confused as antipasti were served, but no wine or drinks other than water accompanied the course. The inventive appetizers were fine, but nothing special. My husband liked the second antipasti, an asian inspired cuttlefish carpaccio, but I found the flavors muddied and not helped by the visual muddiness that large quantities of squid ink caused. The next 2 courses were quite nice, although I've never had such chewy monkfish, and I began to think that our initially questionable experience was turning around. The wine pairings worked well with the dishes, although were sometimes served long before the food appeared. The meat course is where I became seriously disappointed. My beef was pure gristle and most of it ended up on the side of my plate after unsuccessful attempts to chew it, let alone cut it. The server noticed and I said that I couldn't chew it and that I'd like to move on. Nothing more was said or done to remedy the situation other than a small discount on our bill which I assume was meant to make up for the inedible course. The last course of deconstructed tiramisu was unpleasant and crunchy and lacked the richness I associate with tiramisu. It was accompanied by an infused Irish whiskey that lacked sweetness, a choice I found odd for dessert. Several times our dirty plates remained in front of us for long periods of time. 2 servers were attempting to manage the entire restaurant and seemed spread very thin. All in all I applaud the effort to create imaginative dishes, but they missed the mark more often than not. For a relatively expensive restaurant, I expected a higher quality of food and service. My guess is that some nights have spectacular dishes and we missed one of those nights, but I can't recommend this restaurant based on...