Osteria del Vecchio Orologio — Restaurant in Viterbo

We had high hopes for this restaurant given its reputation and the many accolades plastered on the doors, but overall the experience didn’t live up to expectations.

The service was unfriendly and dismissive, which set the tone for the meal. At one point, our placemats were left oily from the plates, and despite us gesturing, mentioning they were dirty, and even stacking them at the front of the table, the staff never replaced them. Instead, we sat through dessert with greasy, food-stained placemats right in front of us- not exactly the atmosphere you want for enjoying a “fancy” meal.

As for the food, there were some hits and some misses. The lamb rib chops were fine but nothing remarkable. Of the pastas we tried, the pesto with hazelnuts was our favorite, while the mushroom pasta was bland and under-salted. The calamari, however, was excellent- fresh, crispy, and elevated by crunchy zucchini and sweet potatoes. Dessert was underwhelming: the “mixed fruit” turned out to be just strawberries, and the tiramisu was cloyingly sweet.

Nothing we ate was terrible, but overall the dishes leaned pretentious without delivering. Combined with the poor service, the restaurant simply didn’t live up to the hype or the...

We were brought here as part of a "gourmet" tour. After spending three months in Italy, I can promise you it's the worst food and wine I have ever experienced in Italy. I can make better food at home.

I've had better wine out of a box in Venice. Better food on the streets of Naples for $3 euros. Shocking. Not gourmet, at all.

The Ravioli tasted like nothing, zero flavor. Ate one. Passed on the rest.

Then came the meat, salad and potato plate. Horrible. Gave us plain olive oil for salad. We had to ask for balsamic.

I'm 100% Italian from ischia not a foreigner. Typically when you were served in an Italian restaurant, they standby to watch you and your reactions to the food in this restaurant they hide in between courses.

I would recommend...

Siamo stati per una cena in questo ristorante scelto per le più che buone recensioni tra i vari che ci ha elencato google. Il servizio è stato buono come i tempi di attesa per essere serviti. Abbiamo preso 3 paccheri con cozze e pecorino devo dire di ottimo gusto e 3 dolci ottimi anch'essi, una birra da 0,75 artigianale ed una coca cola in lattina piccola e... qui finiscono le note positive. Quelle negative cominciano con le bevande. Sia la coca cola che la birra erano calde e nonostante lo sia stato fatto notare la birra veniva sostituita con un'altra uguale un po' piu fresca, ma già quasi imbevibile appena aperta. Il vaso pieno d'acqua con 5 cubetti di ghiaccio poi non è servito a migliorare le cose. Immaginate dopo 10 minuti con ben oltre i 30 gradi all'aperto. Praticamente un ristorante che non ha frigoriferi per tenere le bevande fredde per tutti gli ospiti per tutta la serata considerando che ci siamo seduti a tavola alle 20:40 circa. Passando ai primi tutti e 3 i piatti avevano i paccheri nella zona più esterna (ed alcuni di quelli superiori) raffreddati; segno questo che i piatti erano stati preparati e pronti in cucina, ma erano restati 3 o 4 minuti sul banco, in attesa di qualcuno che si degnasse di prelevarli e portarli al tavolo. Infine il conto: 3 paccheri con cozze e pecorino, 3 dolci, una coca piccola, una birra artigianale 0,75 ed un caffè per la modica cifra di 93€. Lascio a voi decidere se vale la pena sedervi per pranzare o cenare in questo ristorante, io di certo non...