Redlandsneen

Hello. Would anyone be willing to recommend a nice moderately-priced restaurant in Siena, featuring local cuisine? In the meantime, I'm looking at the Michelin Red Guide and cross-referencing with TripAdvisor's top ten places. TIA!.

Keren

Yes, Osteria da Gano. Superb.

Reading54

La Taverna Di Cecco, good food in a comfortable setting.
We loved their "Chicken sautéed with mushroom in white wine sauce". The chicken was just cooked to the right tenderness.

bvlenci

Tripadvisors top ten is not very reliable. Check out the top ten where you live, and I think you'll see what I mean.

StCirq

Agree w/bvlenci. I would check out Chowhound.

bvlenci

One of the worst restaurants in our town is in Tripadvisor's top ten for the whole province.

ahbonvraiment

i remember seeing a restaurant that was at the time in the top 5 or even 3 in Paris. La rose des sables it was. With Belgian meatballs on the menu. Not one french dining there. I understood later reading some reviews. The tablecloth was red and white squares. So typically Parisian.

Redlandsneen

Thanks, everyone! That's the beauty of this forum. One of the restaurants from T.A. was Salefino Vino e Cucina. It had mostly excellent ratings and a tiny sliver of poor. But the review that changed my mind was from a woman from San Francisco who was incredulous about the odd negative comments and urged people to ignore them. I'm from San Francisco, one of the best dining cities in the US, so I believed the comments from whence they came. I think it's pretty individual, so the least you can expect is to avoid a real tourist trap and trust you will have a better than fair chance of having a great meal. Should I start new threads for the other towns I'm visiting where I'll only have one chance for a nice dinner or post them here?

janisj

Restaurant reviews on TA are especially suspect. Even a 'fast food' or deli type places can be in the top ten because the owners solicit/campaign for good reviews.

What do you consider 'Moderately priced'? Number help because that could mean anything from expensive but worth it to dirt cheap - depending on your frame of reference.

Redlandsneen

* * * *
Hello and thanks for the reply. By moderately priced, I guess I am referring to the categories used by T.A. and other websites, eg $-$$, although I don't actually know for sure what that means in terms of actual price. In other words, "le trattorie e osterie" - not fine dining restaurants.

I usually don't scrimp on dinners when in Italy, but I do want good value. I imagine for a nice dinner with house wine, maybe 50 Euros per person, max? I am open to any suggestion for a place that serves a delicious meal for non-highway robbery or touristy prices and is of really good value. Thank you.

PS - not sure if appropriate, but if you have a recommendation in the same vein for any of the towns below, please share, thanks.

Salerno
Matera
Polignare a Mare

Holly_uncasdewar

I had an excellent meal of pasta fagioli and eggplant parmesan at the Ristorante Nadi in Matera in 2015. It's kind've on the edge of the sassi, on your way up some stairs leading to the main piazza, the name of which I can't remember right now. The meal, as I recall, was outstanding.
https://www.ristorantenadi.com

janisj

>>I don't actually know for sure what that means in terms of actual price<<

Guess I'm being a bit pedantic -- but if you don't know what it means, how are supposed to? How much money (in € or even $ ) do YOU consider moderately priced?

Holly_uncasdewar

Janis, she already stated "maybe 50 Euros per person, max."