Osteria Bentigodi da Andrea

Small quaint restaurant. Friendly staff, good portions and the cost consistent with Venetian level prices. They did not treat us like «tourists» but rather no different to locals… at the least we did not feel different –which was not the case at a few other Venetian establishments. Here they seemed to genuinely appreciate our business. Food was excellent but not earthshaking. I would recommend.

First day at Venice and after researching/​Yelping legit nom places, we wanted to try two local restaurants. Unfortunately, both were closed since it was New Year’s Day. I guess this is a sign that those two restaurants were legit :(We stopped at the Nobile Patisserie and the employees there tipped us that there was a good seafood place around so we followed their advice and went to Da Andrew/​Benigolde/​whatever the name of the restaurant is.
The restaurant is a bit off the main road, but still drew a large crowd. It was only 8 pm which was still considered early for dinner in Italy. The store looked simple from the outside but inside, was a cozy dim lighted tavern of Pinterest worthy décor. Artsy guitars lined the shelves and there were chandeliers made out of music sheets. There was even a live guitarist! I thought he was singing a song about the 626, but he was really singing about Route 66 in a thick Italian accent… lol The restaurants not big, probably could seat only 10 – 12 tables. When we stepped in, almost all the tables were full — most diners were old and Italian locals (GOOD SIGN !) and everyone seemed to know each other too. The waiter told us all tables were already booked (by this point, we were eager to nom here cause it seemed like a place for the fine to dine). After some awkward period of us standing and not leaving, he crammed the 3 of us into a 2 person table.
The waiter that served us spoke good English and helped us suggest a couple of dishes but first, DAMN this place is $$$. But my friends and I were eager to splurge — I feel blessed to have found a group of friends who also think food takes priority over other basic needs. We ended up ordering the raw seafood platter and octupus salad for appetizers and then the half moon pasta and green cheese ravioli for entrees. Family style, duh. We wanted to get the squid ink pasta but they ran out :(
In the meantime, we were served a bread basket. The bread was actually mediocre — and the least yummy carb I had in Italy so far. There were mediocre breadsticks, some hard bread, and this sesame toast thing that tastes like any bread from an Asian bakery. We were also served a free glass of prosecco (sparkling white wine), which Venice specializes in. I’m still new to the alcohol scene so to me, it tasted MEH. Haha would still choose a fruity cocktail/​Bellini over it.
Within 30 min, all our food came. Our small table was crammed with food. The raw fish platter came with raw shrimp (SO GOOD, like Japanese Ama ebi but less sweet), oysters (ehh they were ok), some raw tuna pineapple ceviche (interesting), and smoked salmon (I usually don’t like smoked salmon, but this was one was so good — pretty salty and tasted like prosciutto). The octopus salad was huge. It was probably two whole octopus cut up… I really enjoyed it but my friends didn’t dig it so alone, I probably consumed a whole one. It tasted light, lemony, and very fresh. Like I said, the servings are very small. The two pasta dishes each had 4 pieces of pasta…#sadness. But, the half moon pasta was epic. It was stuffed with fresh seafood, the sauce was rich and so delicious, and the pasta itself was perfectly al dente. The green ravioli was filled with mozzarella cheese. It wasn’t as good as the half moon pasta but the pasta was still perfectly chewy and cooked.
For dessert, we got the traditional Italian cake, Sicilian sweet cake. It tasted… nasty. I thought it was like eating mediocre cupcake frosting but it looked pretty lulz. We wanted to chill more in the restaurant after the meal but the waiters kicked us out since a lot of people were waiting for tables. This is a great place to take your lover because everyone (besides the three of us) were a a couple…

4 ½ Stars. Came in for dinner BC the concierge at my hotel recommended it for seafood. I made reservations but the restaurant was hosting a large group so we were given prosecco while we waited to a live pianist and female vocalist that were excellent.
Once seated I enjoyed a glass of local white wine. For my entrée I went with the mixed grilled seafood platter which had 3 types of local fish, shrimp and a prawn. The fish was tender, moist and seasoned perfectly. I also tasted the seafood pasta which was also yummy. We passed on dessert but were given complimentary limoncello which was perfect before heading back to the hotel under the rain showers.
Service was solid from management but unfortunately the waiter wasn’t as friendly as management at this establishment.

Nach dem Theater bekamen wir hier noch ein feines nachtessen aus traditionellen Antipasti und einem excellenten Teller schwerzer Nudeln (offensichtlich frisch) mit Gemüse. Die Weinkarte ist gross udn der Service freundlcih. Was will man mehr?