Volare — Restaurant in Amsterdam

A Night of Slow-Motion Dining: When the Hugo Spritz Became Our Best Friend

Well, where do we even begin? Our party of six rolled into this cozy little restaurant at 7:30 p.m. full of excitement, hungry bellies, and a long-overdue catch-up session. Little did we know, we were about to enter a time warp where minutes stretched into eons and the focaccia developed its own geological era.

We kicked things off optimistically by ordering a pitcher of Hugo Spritz. Now, we thought this would be the classic start to a lively evening: a quick clink of glasses, a refreshing sip, and off we go. Except, well, the Hugo took a little field trip somewhere in the space-time continuum before it reached our table. We had to wave down the server just to get a drinks menu, because apparently the cocktails were playing hide-and-seek from the main menu. When the Hugo finally arrived, it was a nice relief—though by then, we were already on our way to mastering the art of patience.

Now, let’s talk about the great Espresso Martini Price Mystery. One of our friends ordered it, only to find out the price had mysteriously gone up by one euro compared to the menu. Our waitress checked, shrugged, and basically said, “Yep, the bar says that’s the new price, deal with it.” Not that a single euro is going to break the bank, but it was a little eyebrow-raising that they wouldn’t honor the printed price. We just rolled with it, because at this point, the night was clearly writing its own comedy script.

Then came the real test of endurance: the wait for food. The focaccia, which had been sitting on the counter like a museum artifact, took a good 45 minutes to reach us. By the time it landed, it was the kind of stale that could probably survive a nuclear winter. We had two servings of fried zucchini flowers and some vitello tonnato that eventually showed up after an hour or more. The starters were actually decent once they arrived, but we were definitely on the slow food train—emphasis on slow. So, after what felt like a delightful eternity of playing cards and bonding over our mutual hunger, our main courses finally emerged from the kitchen. Three pizzas, two pastas, and one steak later—delivered around two and a half hours into our epic odyssey—we were finally able to eat for real. And you know what? The mains were pretty darn good! Except for one lemony cacio e pepe that might have had a little identity crisis. Everything else was genuinely tasty once it finally landed on the table.

Dessert, however, was a different story. We thought we’d wrap up on a sweet note, but the desserts had other plans. The pistachio tiramisu seemed to have forgotten any hint of sweetness and came off oddly salty, while the filled doughnut just tasted off. We did manage to embarrass our friend with a sparkler and a fake birthday moment, so at least we got a good laugh out of it.

In the end, we spent over three and a half hours there, had some good laughs and a bit of a marathon wait, and left feeling like we’d just filmed a reality show episode called “Survivor: Dinner Edition.”

So, in summary, our night turned into a bit of a slow-motion adventure with a few sassy twists. We got to know our deck of mini cards very well, made a drinking game out of the dessert debacle, and left with a story that’s honestly more memorable than a perfectly smooth evening might have been. We’re probably not rushing back, but hey, at least we had a lot of laughs and a lot of Hugo Spritz refills to keep us going.

If you’re in the mood for a dinner that doubles as a patience-testing social experiment, this might be your spot. Otherwise, maybe just grab a pizza somewhere else. Thanks for the ride, and bon...

We had a nice corner table for a birthday dinner. The starters were fast, calamari was super good. But the waiter took it away even though we were still eating. Then two of the pastas my friend ordered were served cold, so they asked for new ones. They got new ones after the rest of us finished our food and it was apparently too cheesy although it was a truffle pasta. Two other friends’ pastas were also too salty. I ordered a pizza with anchovies and even without the anchovies it was way too salty. It didn’t feel authentic but the restaurant interior was very beautiful and spacious. It’s nice for pictures but for food I would not really recommend. There were these frat boys who came with a big group and were being a complete menace. They were super loud, rude, and disrespectful. Everyone in the restaurant was uncomfortable. They would yell and swear, sing songs without being mindful of other customers. Some of them even threw up on the table which instantly made some of us lose our appetite. I wish someone would have told them to quiet down. I don’t think i would come here again but if they work on their service and taste better then it has potential to be a restaurant with...

I recently had dinner here. Overall, the main dishes (pizza and pasta) and wine were good, but the experience was medium by several disappointing aspects.

We waited over an hour before our starters arrived (burrata, carpaccio, and a cold cuts & cheese platter). The cheese on the platter lacked flavor — mostly mozzarella and a very mild cheese, far from the bold Italian tastes one would expect (Grana, Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Pecorino). The charcuterie was served on a mountain of salad, likely to make the portion seem larger, and came with some crunchy vegetables that didn’t add much.

No bread was served with the burrata — which seems essential to me. When we asked for some, we were charged €7 for focaccia and a kind of chip-like snack, which felt quite overpriced. And we realised that when I paid at the end.

The service was not up to classic standard either — slow and inattentive when we needed something. I know that the level of service in Amsterdam is low compared to other countries so we are in habit.

Despite the decent quality of the main dishes, the long wait, high prices, and some questionable choices make it a place I...