Hi Folks,

I am considering these 3 restaurants in Venice for dinner.

All comments will be appreciated.

Cantinone Storico

Locanda Montin

Taverna San Trovaso

Thanks

I have read disparaging remarks about Taverna San Trovaso but we ate there twice last april and enjoyed both dinners. The potatoe dumplings and the spaghetti alla carbinara were wonderful. Reservations might be a good idea they open for dinner at 7 PM.

San Trovaso and Montin were recommended by Pensione Accademia where we stayed a year ago.

San Trovaso was a great value for someone like us who eat rather light, just salad and pasta or pizza (took dessert and half liter house wine too.)
No problem not to order a main dish. Good food for reasonable prices. The waiters were friendly enough too.
I returned there 3 more times at later visits to Venice since then.

Locanda Montin on the contrary was a disappointment. I was not particularly happy with the dishes I ordered and the bill was more than twice of San Trovaso. (normal maybe because this restaurant is considered to be a sort of gourmet one but if you don't like the food..) Also surprisingly their house wine was bad and we did not finish the half liter we ordered (we usually drink all we order). The young couple next to us must have thought the same. Their house red was still half full yet they ordered a new full bottle of red. Naturally we have not returned there since then.

Above is just our exprience. Maybe other people appreciate Locanda Montin better than we did.

Wife and I both loved the Taverna san Trovasso. It was the first recommendation our lodging hosts offered to us when asked, and we were not disappointed. We ate there two nights out of three nights stayed in Venice. To be honest I can't remember where we ate the third night. I especially liked a seafood appetizer and the four cheese gnocchi. Never cost us more that 50 EURO including appetizers, salads, usually both first and second courses, house wine and bottled water. Always people waiting for the doors to open at 7PM. Seemed like many locals ate there, so I think that says something.

Ira, we like Da Raeffale[sp] for a nice al fresco dinner.

Hi
Thanks for replying.

I'll look into your suggestion, Bob.

Familiar with Taverna San Trovaso only. As posted previously in this thread, it's recommended frequently by hotels and will have a line waiting for it to open. No locals whatsoever at the time we were there (we waited with English, Portuguese, and Japanese visitors), but then Italians tend to eat a bit later.

The food was reasonably good and reasonably priced. Service was hurried by Italian standards (closer to the U.S. norm), and tables were turned with alacrity.

Overall it was okay, but not my favorite. Two suggestions: Osteria alla Zucca and Agli Alboretti, with Alboretti being the more expensive of the two (but still not bad).

> No locals whatsoever

Hi again. I went to San Trovaso twice for lunch and saw locals eating there. Once was seated next to a big table of local workers. Another time I was one of the last to leave at around 15:00. All the others (5 or 6 of them) were locals. At dinner time, I did not notice locals, which make sense. Most of the locals must be eating at home.

We sat next to a couple who were locals at Taverna San Trovaso last month. We did notice that the service was more American in that we were served very quickly but I also remember that our meal was quite good and very reasonable. We also ate at Da Raffaele that trip and enjoyed that as well. It was a more sophisticated menu and presentation and the price reflected that...it was about twice the cost.

We went to Laconda Montin last week with no reservation, around 7:00. The entrance from the street/canal makes it seem like a small, non-descript diner. But then, the dining area is back in a courtyard, a beautiful, garden canopy, with snazzy waiters and a full menu. We enjoyed it. But then, we were so hungry and thirsty after walking and seeing Venice, anything might have tasted good.

Thanks again for the help.

Hi Ira. Interesting to see the Locanda Montin on your list as I've rarely, if ever, seen it mentioned here.

We stayed at the Montin for seven nights a year ago, in April, and decided to eat at the restaurant one of those nights. Unfortunately, being April, the beautiful courtyard in back was not open yet but we enjoyed the dining room anyway, especially with all the different works of art on the walls. (Breakfast at the Montin, which is included with the price of a room, is in another art-filled room adjoining the main dining room.)

As for the food, and house red wine (which is the wine I think we ordered), I'm not going to get into objective comments. All I can say is that we really liked our meal, as well as the attentive service we got from our waiter.

If you decide to go there, I'd love to hear what you thought.

Out of curiousity, I looked for my "live" trip report here to see what I'd written about our dinner at the Montin. Here it is..

"We wanted to have dinner at our locanda on our final evening in Venice, tonight, but they're closed so we ate there last night and had our best meal of the trip so far. My girlfriend had steak in a olive & artichoke sauce and I had a salmon steak which was cooked to perfection. Absolutely delicious. We sat across from two older couples from Boston who were also staying at the locanda and who were enjoying it as much as we are."

I think it was also the priciest dinner we had in Venice but well worth it for eating there one night.

Thank you, Capo.

You're very welcome, Ira.

Taverna San Trovaso had been recommended to us by a Swedish family we met at nearby Al Cugnai, a great little inexpensive trattoria, but we never made it there. If you happen to go there, walk down the San Trovaso canal toward the Zattere and, on your right, you'll see a little squero, a gondola workshop.

Thanks again, Capo.

We will try to make that part of our sightseeing.

Ira, here's a great photo I just found of that squero...

http://www.michaeltaylor.ca/Culture/gon-work.shtml

P.S. One more comment... I'd always wondered about that Tyrolian look of the squero, which seems so out of place in Venice. Interesting to find out that, according to that website, it reflects the Dolomite heritage of the original gondola craftsmen.