avoid this restuarant in Venice
 

While in Venice,<BR>we found many delightful places to eat,<BR>esp. in the Cannaregio sestieri where our hotel was located.<BR>BUT, there was one exception;<BR>the Pasqualigo<BR>which is on the Strada Nova, <BR>between Campo Saint San Apostoli and <BR>near the Ca'D'Oro vaporetto sto.<BR><BR>We ordered a pasta with mushrooms,<BR>and Caprese.<BR><BR>The pasta came with tomato sauce and no mushrooms,<BR>and my Caprese consisted of hard yellowish tomatos,<BR>and the (hard) cured type of mozzarella that one uses in cooking.<BR><BR>when we inquired, as to our order;<BR>we were told that the pasta dish is what we ordered,<BR>and NO-ONE had fresh mozzarella in Venice.<BR>As I had eaten this all 3 of the previous days we had been there,<BR>I knew that was not true.<BR><BR>After talking to the waiter, I asked to talk to the owner/cook<BR>and went back into the kitchen,<BR>and talked to the owner.<BR><BR>they were unwilling to make any adjustments to our bill.But were willing to provide us with salads, which consisted of iceburg lettuce, and hard tomato.<BR><BR>If we had been in the States, I would have just left without paying ,but as I was NOT in the States,<BR>we paid and chalked it up to experience.<BR><BR>So, if you want a meal that is inadequate, and does an injustice to food, go there.<BR>Otherwise avoid it.<BR><BR>Just FYI.

"If we had been in the States, I would have just left without paying". <BR><BR>That speaks volumes about you.<BR>Sometimes we choose good restaurants and sometimes we choose bad restaurants. When you choose a bad one that doesn't live up to your expectations, you lose, but you don't leave without paying. At least civilized people don't. Now if the food was spoiled or inedible, that is another matter. But the fact that this restaurant uses regular mozzerella instead of fresh, or you can't find the mushrooms in the mushroom sauce simply means it isn't a very good restaurant, one you'd never go back to. You are right to simply chalk it up to experience.<BR><BR>Do you really mean if you went to a restaurant in the states and they served you frozen fish that you expected to be fresh, or you couldn't find the mushrooms in your sauce, that you'd just leave without paying? Or even ask for an adjustment to the bill because it wasn't what you expected or you just didn't enjoy it?

Patrick, I think you're being a bit harsh. If you go to a restaurant and order pasta with mushrooms, you expect pasta with mushrooms. If you order Caprese you expect tomatoes reasonably in season and real mozzarella, not the kind one might use for pizza making. Nancy, I would have refused the Caprese, and refused the pasta, paid for my wine, coperto, etc... and left. I don't think that's unreasonable.

Well, perhaps I'm a bit too forgiving, but I don't know what the menu said. The fact that the menu included "mushroom" in the pasta could be so little as a sauce flavored with ground mushrooms -- yes it is common in Italy, and you won't find a speck of actual mushrooms, so I'm giving the restaurant the benefit of the doubt here. Or perhaps the pasta itself is made with a mushroom dough -- also fairly common and to the average eater (myself included) not able to be tasted at all. And Nancy never said that the menu specified the Caprese contained "fresh" mozzerella, so who is to say that the way they do it isn't with processed mozzerella? I have seen that too, just not in great restaurants. So the tomatoes weren't ripe enough? That's unfortunate, but again hardly a reason not to pay for a meal in my opinion.<BR> <BR>It is possible to go to a place in Italy that says "pizza" out front and find that they reheat frozen or long prepared pizzas. I'd be very disappointed, but if that is what that particular restaurant does, I don't feel I have the right to say, "I didn't like that, I'm not going to pay." I'd just assume that I had made a bad choice of where to eat.<BR><BR>On the other hand, I appreciate Nancy's warning. This is one place we should all cross off our lists if it was already on one.

I too, thought you were a bit harsh. Civilized people don't leave without paying, surely she would have paid for what she had ordered that was satisfactory. Although there is a big difference between not liking something on a menu and a menu being deceptive. Also, pasta with mushrooms, is different than pasta flavored with mushrooms. I've never seen ground mushrooms anywhere. Nancy doesn't say that the sauce contained ground mushrooms as an alternative. Thank you Nancy for warning us on this restaurant.

Sounds like an unfortunate experience, but also one that you made way too big a deal out of. Did you really have to talk to the cook? How condescending. Also, mozzarella is not a specialty in Venice. I'm not surprised it wasn't of the fresh kind. Tomatoes aren't big there either. I would never have ordered a Caprese in Venice. Italian food is very regional. Could they have been yellow tomatoes? Yes there is such a thing.

I don't think Nancy is overreacting. Pasta without mushrooms is not what she ordered. And caprese, by description is fresh mozzarella. The fact that she doesn't know about regional specialties is not her fault. If their product is not up to par it should be taken off their menu.

I am surprised that the menu was in English! If it was in Italian, then please Nancy tell us what it said. Or did you just see the word "funghi" and assumed there would be mushrooms, not merely an "essence" of mushrooms or a pasta made from mushrooms. I agree with Patrick that sometimes it is either hard or impossible to find or taste mushrooms in things that state mushrooms as an ingredient. I happen to love Caesar salad which is supposed to include anchovies, which I love. But if I refused to pay for every Caesar I've had that I couldn't find or taste anchovies in, I'd be a rich lady today! That is true in the US as well as Europe. I agree with Pietro. You did not do well to order a Caprese in a restaurant in Venice.

Pietro is right. I think you over reacted. Talking to the cook about them not preparing a dish the way you like? That's like telling a wine guy in Paris, that they should chill their wines better, or serve them in different glasses.

A civilized person would have paid for what they ordered that was adequate and left.

The part about the Caprese is so funny. I used to buy fresh mozzerella and make Caprese at home all the time. One time I couldn't get the fresh and had a lot of packaged regular mozzerella so I used it. Now I always use the package mozzerella. I actually like it better that way - more flavor.

Nancy: Was this the only memory of Venice you found worth posting about? I could see your mentioning a bad dining experience as part of an overall thread about the wonders of Venice, but to specifically post an "avoid this restaurant" over so minor an incident?Seems like you must lead a blessed life free of the day to day problems everyone else faces, at home and especially on vacation.

I don't think it was inappropriate of Nancy to discuss with the chef/cook her concerns with her meal. Would the busboy have been a more appropriate choice? This is the classic situation in which griping to the waiter isn't going to do any good. I agree that a restaurant in Italy shouldn't put caprese on its menu if the mozzarella isn't "the real deal". Fresh produce comes into Venice at least every Saturday morning & is sold in open market not too far away from Ponte Rialto, and it is of a great variety--tomatoes, oranges, you name it. I don't think expecting the tomato in your salad to be ripe/soft enough to cut and consume is unreasonable.<BR><BR>I don't believe this warning about a restaurant in Venice from Nancy is meant to be a complete trip report, but given the tone of this thread, I won't be too surprised if she doesn't post one.<BR><BR>Patrick covered the bottom line: cross this restaurant off your list.<BR><BR>BC

Oh, just leave Nancy alone. All she is doing is merely pointing out a restaurant that she thought would not be worth your tourist dollars(euros).<BR>Cut out the self-righteous manure people.<BR>Nancy, thanks for the tip!

We were in Venice a few weeks ago and we ordered mozzarella appetizers frequently. Each time we did so we received good quality, fresh mozzarella. We didn't dine in any even vaguely expensive restaurants. <BR><BR>Nancy was not in any way unreasonable to expect fresh mozzarella - even in Venice where product delivery is more limited. And she knew that too having eaten fresh mozzarella in a number of other establishments.<BR><BR>Personally I wouldnt refuse to pay unless I hadnt actually received what had been ordered since legally there's no legal obligation for a restaurant to provide good food just hygenic food that matches the description. If I were given something I didn't think matched the description I'd send it back or refuse to pay for it. But only if I were sure it wasn't what I had ordered.<BR><BR>I would ask to discuss with the manager or chef my concerns with a meal I felt seriously failed to meet fair and reasonable standards. In exactly the same way as I'd be talking to the manager of an auto garage if I bought a car and found when it was delivered that it was blue when I'd ordered red. And then I'd either ask for it to be changed for what I'd ordered or demand my money back. <BR><BR>Nancy thank you for sharing this information. I'm always interested in knowing which places I should really avoid as well as which I should look out for.<BR><BR>And with some people here on Fodors your posts will never win favor unless they are bland and uninformative or vindictive about some other poster.

Oh, now here come all Nancy's defenders from the coffee klatch crowd! (How pathetic)

the reason I ONLY posted about the restuarant is because of the reactions one can expect to receive here at fodors over "little" things.<BR><BR>1- had great experiences with Venice,<BR>but try to post here as little as possible as one can see why.<BR>2- menu in english- geman + italian, <BR>but I speak enough italian that I can certainly translate a menu.<BR><BR>3- I specifically asked the waiter if there was Caprese on the menu,<BR>he replied there was.<BR><BR>4- I talked to the cook because it was suggested to me by the waiter, <BR>that I do so.<BR><BR>5- We paid for the WHOLE tab,did not walk out on anything.<BR><BR>6- In the states, I would have paid for what I consumed,<BR>and ignored the rest of the bill,<BR>but as I was in a "foreign" country,<BR>I wanted to give benefit of the doubt.<BR><BR>8- Expressly ordered the pasta with <BR>funghi as friend is allergic to tomatos<BR>(poor dear!)<BR>and was reassured THIS dish had NO tomato in it!!<BR>(all it was , was tomato sauce, senza anything!)<BR><BR>9- I do have some fun restuarants I would like to post here,<BR>but as my computer time is limited by other things,<BR>I just wanted to expressly "warn" people of this one.<BR><BR>For those who remained "reasonable" about this,<BR>thanks,<BR>and if you get to Venice.<BR>I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!<BR><BR><BR>

Thanks for clearing some of it up, Nancy, particularly that you were told there were no tomatoes, yet it was tomato sauce! You are right, that should have been refused and not paid for -- obviously she didn't eat it, since she is allergic to tomatoes, so I'm sure she send it back the moment it was delivered -- are you saying they still insisted you pay for it, even though it was sent back? And how did the person who is allergic to tomatoes, determine that there was no taste of mushrooms since she didn't eat the dish?<BR>Or did more than one of you order the same dish, and only the person allergic to tomatoes sent it back? <BR>But I'm really confused that the menu was in both English and Italian, yet you had to ask the waiter if there was Caprese on the menu?

BookChick, good comments on the message, however, complaints from a table should always go to the waiter first, then the manager if further needed. Never the bushelp uless it involves tableware. I've waited tables in great restaurants and have always observed this chain of command. Only assholes make themselves noticed with their complaints to the chef by going in the kitchen. This is not a place for guests unless invited after the kitchen is closed. The rep for the chef should be visable in the dining room and take care of discrepancies. Im sorry you had a bad experience and I think you handled it as best as you could under the circumstances. PS: I wasnt referring to you as an asshole, per se, just some people in general who complain. Thanks.