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Corte Sconta Review
Read our Venice restaurant reviews. Or post your own.
Corte Sconta
- Address: Calle del Pestrin, Castello 3886, Venice
- Phone: 041/5227024
Fodor's Review:
You're close to seafood heaven at this firm favorite on the Venetian dining scene. Simple wooden tables are arranged around an open courtyard with outdoor seating in summer. You could make a meal of the seafood antipasti alone, but you'd miss out on such delights as spaghetti neri alle capesante e zucchine (cuttlefish-ink pasta with scallops and zucchini) and vongole veraci spadellate allo zenzero (clams sauteed in ginger). The house dessert is a warm zabaglione with Venetian cookies, and the house pour is a smooth, still prosecco, backed up by a good range of bottled wines.
- Keep in mind: Reservations essential.
- Credit Cards: MC, V
- Closed: Closed Sun. and Mon., 4 wks in Jan. and Feb., and 4 wks in July and Aug.
- Metro: Arsenale
Member Reviews & Ratings:
surprised
Posted by tommyeph from minneapolis on 12/9/07
I am surprised by the other reviews. We were in Italy for three weeks in October, in Milan, Como, near Cinque Terra, and in a hilltop village not too far from Pisa; and also in Venice. Our best experience was at this restaurant. Our only disappointment was having to wait for a table in the garden. And, yes, it was expensive; and yes, we had the antipasto platter; but the food and service were great.
A Nightmare at Corte Sconta
Posted by Mangare_e_Bere from California on 10/23/07
We recently returned from a fabulous trip to Venice that included eating at four different restaurants that had been recommended by some locals. We were interested in eating at some "typical" Venician places, habituated by locals, not tourists. Three of the four were outstanding...this place was a nightmare.
Of the four restaurants we went to, I had the most trepidations about Corte Sconta. I had read in a few reviews on the web that they would try to hook the table into buying a very expensive appetizer platter and would be visible dissapointed if we didn't order it. I am always wary of this type of come-on from an establishment and had my radar up when we arrived.
We had reservations all set up for 8 pm, and arrived on time. We were seated promptly. It was quite busy, full of American tourists. Waiters were running pell-mell. We sat there for 10 minutes before I flagged down someone for the wine list. After some more time had passed, I ordered the first bottle of wine.
Finally the person who seated us, I assume the manager, came to the table and proceeded to tell us what was on the menu. He pushed hard on the appetizer platter. I am always leery of a situation where no menu is given and where no prices are listed. I explained to him that we wanted pasta and a main course, we gave him our order, and he visibly rolled his eyes and walked away.
At that point we should have left. The evening got worse from then on. It was nearly impossible to get a waiter to stop and get another wine order. We finally got our second bottle. The pastas arrived - and were quite good. We just had a hard time getting olive oil, salt, etc. The staff was totally swamped.
Our entrees arrived, and I was now ready to order red wines. I picked out two bottles. It took forever to flag down a waiter. I ordered the wines. We proceeded to eat our entrees. No wine. We finished our entrees. No wine. We waited for another 10 minutes after our plates were removed. No wines. I tried to flag down someone. No help.
Finally the waiter that I had ordered the wines from showed up with the two botlles. I gestured to the table, which was bare. I saif that we had finished our entrees long ago and that we no longer needed the wines,. we were ready to go and would take the check. To his credit, he apologized profusely and offered us some dessert wine, but the damage had benn done.
It took forever for the check to come, which, by the way, had stamped on it, in English, "Service not included". Yet another ripoff for the clueless tourists.
On the way out, I approached the manager to compain about the horrible service, the failure of the wines to arrive, and the general lack of anything approaching professionalism and courtesy.
His answer? I quote: "It's not my problem."
If you go to Corte Sconta for dinner, you deserve what you get.
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