L'Hostaria San Pantaleo

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff, but the service was extremely poor—I think the staff lacked proper supervision—and the food was very ordinary, nothing special.

Mediocre and overpriced food. Staff not attentive at all. We waited too long for food. They forgot to bring the wine bottle. The obly delicious dish was the fennel and orange salad.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU BOOK. The reviews sound great. Unfortunately, we met Andrea, the manager. Two nights earlier, he told us they were completely packed, so we made a reservation for another evening. Passing by later, half the tables were empty. Strange, but fine. At dinner, we asked Andrea for wine advice. His “absolute winner” was nothing like what we had asked for. When we asked for something else, he sent a trainee with another bottle. No explanation, no price. So we simply asked what kind of wine it was before opening it. The trainee went to ask Andrea, who seemed furious. Little did he realise the restaurant is an open space, and my girlfriend is Italian. We heard every word. Andrea loudly complained that we were “arrogant” for refusing his suggestion and that he “didn’t want to be humiliated.” We’re still trying to figure that one out. He never returned, never apologised and couldn’t even look us in the eye when we left. We can’t review the food. We never got that far. The rest of the staff were really nice. Apparently, Andrea wasn’t having his best day.

L'Hostaria San Pantaleo offers a great atmosphere and truly excellent service. The appetizer, Battuta al Coltello di Scottona with truffle on top, was absolutely perfect and a clear 10/10. For the mains, the Mezzo Rigatone di Gragnano alla Carbonara was outstanding, perfectly creamy, and full of high-quality ingredients. The wild boar pasta, Maccarone de Lados con Stracotto di Cinghiale, was unfortunately a bit too salty for my taste, earning a 6.5/10. Despite that one dish being slightly over-salted, the overall experience was wonderful and we highly recommend this spot.

Excellent - nothing to add

I had the tuna tartare, which was good. The cozze presented as the chef’s choice, however, was very disappointing, although the freshness of the mussels was indisputable. The marinara sauce was completely watery and lacked any real consistency, salt, or flavour. It tasted as if a decent sauce had been severely diluted with water. The wild boar gnocchi was almost inedible because the wild boar stew was extremely oversalted—and I love salt and often get criticised for using too much. The wine by the glass arrived at nearly 30 degrees Celsius, basically room temperature, so I had to send it back to be cooled. What bothered me most was the behaviour of the chef de service. He loudly cursed in front of his friends about a guest and insulted him after the guest had left, simply because the guest had asked how the meal was and made a remark about a delay with one of the dishes. I do not like this kind of attitude. These places are clearly overrated by Instagram enthusiasts. There is no doubt it is a beautiful location in a pretty village, but the food is simply not good enough to justify the prices or the service. In this village you pay tourist prices, yet it seems many people rate superficial appearance over actual quality.