Beware fish dishes sold by the kg at Acqua Pazza in Venice
 

We had a very nice dinner at Acqua Pazza in Venice. Lovely outdoor dining, good service, large portions...BUT we ordered a sea bass dish that was not priced on the menu, just listed as sold by the kg. They brought out several fish on a tray and then we picked the fish, but when the bill came this single dish cost 70 Euros! It was delicious but not worth 70 Euros even in expensive Venice! The rest of the meal was reasonably priced, especially given the large portion sizes...(keep this in mind when you are ordering as I think people tend to over-order here)....but when we questioned the cost of the fish dish, the waiter just shrugged.

Lobsters are sold by weight too.
You just have to ask how much it weighs and work out the cost.
Alternatively, you could ask for a certain weight, just as you would in a fish shop.

I was amused at the "large portions".
Perhaps it's because I am an elderly body, but that would put me right off.
My ideal meal is one of three courses where I leave the table satisfied but not uncomfortable.

You ordered a very high-priced species of fish. This is neither the waiter's nor the restaurant's fault. Asking for price and weight is entirely your own responsibility in such a situation.

No need to try to ruin a business by publishing an unjustified warning on the internet.

Fresh fish is sold by the kilogram in Greece as well. Since even fish of the same species are different sizes, it seems a fair way to do it. In Greece you choose a fish, have it weighed, and ask what it will cost. Simple. :-)

You knew ahead of time that the fish was priced by the kg, and then the price came as a shock to you? How did that happen? Didn't you ask how many kgs the fish you chose was and do the math? And why would you question the price, having been given the information you needed to make an informed decision? I'm shrugging too.

In LynAK's defense, this restaurant is known for urging you to try some dish not on the menu or "specially created for you", then charging you an arm and a leg for it.

I was there with a large group, one of whom went for the "created specially for you" when they had run out of his original order. I spoke just enough Italian to negotiate 50 euros off the price when the outrageous bill came.

In any restaurant in the world, when the waiter tells you the specials, you are crazy not to ask the price. Our companion was confused, and I was at the other end of the table where I couldn't see what was going on.

This is not a place I would go back to, despite its style and portions.

The price of a whole fresh fish can be shocking. In Croatia a 1st class fish could easily run $60 - a friend just got back from Greece, certain whole fish were around $60 euro. You would think destination where seafood is a way of life that it might not costs as much - but do to over fishing and now, transportation costs (and let's not forget our weak dollar) - it can get very expensive and that first time can be a shock. Is the restaurant trying to pull a fast one on me you might wonder - which is a reasonable reaction. Consider it a lesson learned and move on.

Next time - consider ordering just a fillet or just ask the full price of the fish first.

On a lighter note - a friend who was in Paris in May had an appetizer of 5 asparagus stalks with mousilline - 38E.

Food has noticeably gotten more expensive around the world over the past few years.

LynAK wrote:

"The rest of the meal was reasonably priced."

That's your first clue this wasn't a rip-off operation.

Visitors to Italy need to know that when you ask to eat a whole fish in Italy, you are going to pay for the WHOLE fish.

You are going to pay for what it cost the restauranteur to buy it, plus a service fee for cooking it and serving it to you cleaned and deboned.

You should ask how much the restaurant charges per kilogram. Most waiters in Venezia speak English.

Don't be surprised if a kilogram of fish in Venezia in expensive. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds -- even in America, raw fresh fish can run up to $18 per pound. Plus, you're not buying a filet. You're buying the whole fish -- and it's being completely prepared for you, delivered to your table, your dishes will be washed for you and you are sitting in one of the single most expensive places in the world with respect to fuel costs, transport costs, hiring costs, real estate costs, etc. You might as well be in Iceland.

I'd pay that for whole sea bass, the finest fish available. Wallow in the memory.

Even at home in L.A., I ask about the price of the "special of the day" before ordering.

Woody

LynAK - Sorry to hear about your 'surprise' sea bass. It's my personal favorite. Yet, 70 Euros/$110 does seem like a lot to me. Glad you posted as the discussion and insight will surely be helpful. Isn't Venice lovely?

>>Yet, 70 Euros/$110 does seem like a lot to me.<<

This fish surely served more than one person, right? I don't many people LynAK's "we" refers to. Even if it only two people, 35e per person for a fresh fish entree cooked to order, where you picked the fish, in a white-table cloth restaurant that sits in Campo S. Stefano in Venice is not some kind of plot against you.

By the way, I just googled up some info on this restaurant. It's signature dish is Neopolitan pizza, which makes it a favorite among Venetians (which may make the staff more impatient with tourists).

Here is another tourist's review of Acqua Pazza, plucked off the web:

"The portions were huge, and the antipasto should be shared. They brought out complimentary bruschetta as a starter, and we also had an insalata caprese and prosciutto. We shared a bottle of the house wine, which was fine.

Our waiter recommended a baked red snapper for two for dinner, stuffed with vegetables and shrimp. He brought the fish to our table for our approval before it went to the kitchen. Very spiny, ugly fellow (the fish, I mean). He was delicious, though! They removed the bones before serving, and presented it on a deep platter, swimming in a brothy sauce with potatoes, tomatoes, olives and shrimp. My mouth waters every time I think about that dinner...

After sitting with our wine, we decided to share a lemon cake for dessert. The waiter also brought by a bottle of orange liqueur. Wonderful. Although it cost 120 euros, this dinner alone would be worth going back to Venice!"

sorry -- I should have typed that Acqua Pazza is in the Campo Sant'Angelo, not Stefano.

Without weighing in on the OP diner

i've read from reliable sources that Venetian restaurants, or at least some of them, do indeed target wealthy American tourists for padding their bills - there is even a name for this that i do not recall.

They are one-time business and treated as such.

This is true in Roma as well. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn it happens all over Italy in the places with either enormous tourist crowds or very seasonal tourism.

Sometimes people think their bill has been padded when they've failed to see the cover charge on the menu. Meaning, it's not enough to look at the prices of the food on the posted menu before you sit down. Look at the service and cover ("coperte") charge. Most times that charge is nominal, but in places like the Portofino waterfront, the "coperte" can noticeably boost your bill.

<i>Our waiter recommended a baked red snapper for two for dinner, stuffed with vegetables and shrimp.</i>

If interested in reproducing this dish, go to p. 212 of Marcella Hazan's <i>Classic Italian Cooking</i>.

Zeppole -- that is interesting about their signature dish being Neapolitan pizza because I am virtually certain that the staff were mostly Pugliese rather than Veneziani!

From kaboodle:

Marcella Hazan says this place makes the best pizza in town (and there's plenty of competition)—a phenomenon she attributes to the owners being from Salerno. The thin-crusted pies are made with buffalo mozzarella and extra-virgin olive oil and baked in a brick oven.

http://www.veniceacquapazza.com/acquaen/index2.htm

HI L,

It is standard practice in Italy, and many other countries in Europe to sell fish by the kilo.

You should have asked the price before you ordered.

The resto did nothing to warrant a complaint.

It is also standard for steak Florentine to be sold by weight.

((I))