New Garden — Restaurant in Vietri sul Mare

A strange experience. We dined here on the 21/8.

-We were the first group to arrive for dinner, but our group of 4 was seated at the furthest table away from the view, next to the ugly old bar. There were very few tables that were reserved. By the time they started seating people in that area it was almost dark and the view could not be seen. There is no drinks menu: you have to guess what you want and how much it costs. We don't know why but there was no pizza available that night, which cuts out a large portion of the menu, especially if seafood does not excite you. Three tables were brought their food before us despite us ordering first. When our food did arrive, it was very staggered between dishes, sometimes waiting 5 minutes between each person, if we had waited for each other to be polite our dishes would certainly have been cold. Interestingly, this did not happen at any other table... The wait staff were not very capable, although it was clear they were trying. The portion sizes were generous and some of the food was good, however the Gnocchi with Tomato was so salty I could not finish it. After half a bowl I could feel the salt burning my stomach. Surely a good Pomodoro is the benchmark of all Italian cooking, so it is worrying that this was not done well.

I've given 1 star for the generous portion sizes, and 1 star for the servers because they were trying to be good despite needing more practice. The view is great if you can get anywhere near it. We would not...

OMG!! If there was zero, I would have given it to them. After reading all those good comments, how great local food this restaurant serves, we decided to go there for a dinner. Booked table for 8pm. Turned up on time and we were told that they are not ready to open the restaurant yet, as had a party and still cleaning, organising the place. We thought , it's okay, we shall wait. Around half an hour later, after asking a waiter again , when can we be seated, they have given us a table, some starters and bottle of wine on the house, which was very nice of them. Then we ordered seafood mixed grill . When the food eventually arrived, we couldn't believe that they served us (literally) burnt calamari, fish, prawns. It just smelled so bad and tastes horrible. When called a waiter, he was surprised that we complain, but took it away and after 20 minutes brought us new plate with greasy , smelly seafood. Just decided to leave after paying the bill. On the way out, I noticed that the cook was smoking a cigarette whilst in the kitchen! Do not go there, unless oilily, grease, smelly seafood it is your...

I had a good experience and the food was tasty and satisfying. The restaurant has great views but, since I was staying nearby and wanted to avoid walking back in the dark...I requested to order takeout. The server was helpful, brought me a menu right away, then offered me cold water while I waited for my order. While I didn't dine in, I wished that I could because everything looked really welcoming. I ordered Tagliatelle with mushrooms and grilled vegetables because I'm not a fan of seafood. The food came out reasonably fast for food cooked on demand and it was delicious, generous in portion, fresh and hot. All the staff were pleasant and helpful. I plan to go back tomorrow for dinner and bring a flashlight so I can enjoy the restaurant and walk back after sunset.

I posted a review because the negative ones I read almost made me decide not to eat here. The negative reviews seem pretty unfair compared to my experience. This is clearly a local, family-run restaurant that's working hard to earn business in a tough economy. I'm glad I decided to give...