Hi all! My husband-to-be and I are splitting up the research for finding restaurants for our honeymoon next May. I'm in charge of finding places around Lake Garda (staying at the Beach Hotel du Lac in Malcesine) and Montepulciano (Hotel Panoramic). We're looking for one "special" meal in each location (perhaps around 40-50 euro/pp) as well as some more casual suggestions. Would love places with a view and a more local feel, and hopefully not more than a 30 minute drive from each of our locations (we will have a car). Ideas welcomed :)
Posted by
Houston, TX
244 posts
www.acquacheta.eu/ in Montepulciano.
Osteria Acquacheta
WebsiteDirections
4.7
69 Google reviews
Restaurant
Address: Via del Teatro, 22, 53045 Montepulciano SI, Italy
Phone:+39 0578 717086
Hours: Open today · 12:30 – 3:30 PM, 7:30 – 10:30 PM
Hotel Panoramic is an Awesome hotel! They just rebuilt it a few years ago, very modern and good AC!
Posted by
OP
25 posts
Thank you, morvegil! We will look into that restaurant. And glad to hear good things about the hotel, too :)
Posted by
Tampa, FL, USA
1054 posts
In Montepulciano here's another vote for Osteria Acquacheta. I ate there twice over a 4 day stay for the Bravio.
Posted by
Alexandria, VA
771 posts
We ate at Rosso Rubio twice in Montepulciano during our 5 day stay there, and really enjoyed it. They had recently opened, the food was delicious, and they were very friendly and accommodating. They even came out to share a glass of limoncello with us, and presented us with a bottle of wine as we left after our second visit.
We also ate at Aquecheta, and were a bit put off by the place, maybe because we didn't know enough about it before we went. Their "style" is to be brusque (or came across as rude to us.) We had a reservation, but were treated as if they were doing us a huge favor to seat us at their big, long communal tables. The menus were all in Italian, which is fair enough, but they expected one to have deciphered it in about one minute and were put off when we were not quite ready to order. They served the wrong appetizer, and were annoyed at us for their mistake. The main draw is the Florentine steak. The chef comes to your table with a hunk of beef, and writes the weight on the paper tablecloth, so although we asked for a small piece, our option was 1.2 kilo, which is one of the smaller ones they offer (that's more than a pound of beef each.) You might ask to have it cooked any way you want, but it will come out very rare--you can check with Rick Steves on that (he loves the place.) If you order a carafe of wine and water, they will serve it old Italian style, which means one glass for both. You drink water, then wine, etc.
You sit snug up against the other patrons which can make for some interesting travel conversations, since everyone seemed to be Americans.
What really put us over the edge was that although we ate at the pace they served things, we were asked to leave to make room for other patrons. We had been in Italy long enough to know that never happens in Italian restaurants. It was not a cheap meal to be treated rudely.
All that being said, if you go in knowing what to expect, and are there for the experience, (and really like rare beef) you'd probably enjoy it. You definitely need a reservation, though.