Le Bistrot de Venise

Perfect from beginning to end. Worried about getting about an outside table, the jovial maitre d was able to find a nice one. Stefano the sommelier is funny, honest and incredibly knowledgeable. He helped us play class out two stunning wines made from grapes only grown locally in the Veneto. A French couple next to us followed suit.
An amuse Bouche of salmon and fennel started. On the friendly multi lingual waiter’s suggestion, I started with local lagoon soft shell crabs over artichoke that were amazingly but subtly flavored. Main was mullet from the lagoon very simply prepared. No rush, service was attentive and friendly without either fawning or contempt. Good place to practice the Venetian dialect if you’re up on your Italian. Will return for sure.
Locals and tourists in the know who seek out real food at reasonable prices. It’s not cheap, but this quality shouldn’t be.

Das Bistrot de Venise ist mein persönliches kulinarisches Highlight auf unserer Reise gewesen. Dieses Restaurant ist einer jener Orte, an dem man einen ganz besonderen Abend für alle Sinne verleben kann. So schlicht «Bistro» klingt, so edel ist doch das Ambiente, so exquisit der Service und so delikat das Menü von wundervollen Kreationen aus erlesenen Zutaten. Kurzum: Würde ich in Venedig leben, so wäre ich von nun an Stammkundin, die jeden feierlichen Anlass im Leben von nun an im Bistrot de Venise feiern würde.
In dem erlesenen Menü finden sich Klassiker der italienischen Küche, zubereitet mit besonderer Note und kunstvoller Garnitur. Beispielsweise zartes Rindercarpaccio mit Raukensauce und Büffel-​Mozzarella. (s. Bild) Als Alternative stehen Spezialitäten mit einer Note aus fernen Ländern zur Auswahl, die an Venedigs Handelstradition erinnern, beispielsweise rote Garnelen auf Ananas-​Carpaccio mit Sprossen.
Auch historische Gerichte finden sich in der Karte. Die Artichocken-​Suppe beispielsweise erfreute sich zu Dogen-​Zeiten ausgesprochener Beliebtheit und findet sich in so manchen Kochbüchern guter Küchen aus alter Zeit. Sie wird mit Weintrauben und Pistazien verfeinert und ich darf behaupten, dass ich ähnliches noch nie gegessen habe.
Ebenso ein Gedicht nach uralten Rezepten eines Küchenchefs aus dem 14. Jahrhundert sind die mit Käse und Kräutern gefüllten Ravioli an würziger Sauce. Himmlisch.
Zum Nachtisch kann ich den Ricotta-​Pudding an Ingwereis und Rosenblüten empfehlen. Es wurden zusätzlich als zweiter Gruß aus der Küche neben dem Entré als Nachtisch Mini-​Pralinés mit allerlei köstlichen Füllungen serviert.
Es versteht sich von selbst, dass der Service nicht nur charmant und tadellos war, sondern auch herrliche Weine zu empfehlen wusste. Preislich sind wir bei drei Gängen pro Person mit ausgefallenen Kreationen, guten Weinen, einem Espresso zum Nachtisch und großzügigem Trinkgeld im Endeffekt bei 160 Euro für zwei angekommen. Für so etwas besonderes finde ich das in Ordnung.
Im Nachhinein habe ich erfahren, dass dieses wunderbare Restaurant nicht nur gerade erst den Ehrentitel «Hall of Fame» von Tripadvisor bekommen hat, sondern sogar im Michelin-​Führer lobend erwähnt wird. Meiner Meinung nach völlig zurecht.

My husband and I came for dinner here at the recommendation of our hotel, and I have to say, we were pretty disappointed.
The ambiance and service was mostly good — but the food just didn’t meet the mark.
Things were not off to a great start when we received a basket full of stale bread. We then each received an amuse bouche — which was an overcooked prawn in a sauce with a bit of polenta.
When my husband asked for a recommendation for a light red wine, he received a beautiful glass of wine — but when he asked the sommelier for the price, she obviously guessed, as she told him a price that was actually half of what showed up on the bill.
For my first course, I had fried soft shell crab with artichoke salad The crab was not great, and the whole dish generally lacked a lot of flavour — which was disappointing as this is apparently a classic Venetian dish and I love crab and artichoke. My husband had the smoked cod, which he also felt was lacking in flavour and the slices of the fish were quite thick rather than being thin and delicate.
For a main, I had black spaghetti with cuttlefish. It was extremely heavy and thick — my husband had the same dish a day later which was considerably better. It also left me feeling quite ill almost immediately after eating it. My husband had the historic Venetian ravioli, which he felt was lacking in flavour and just wasn’t very exciting.
The rose ice cream that I received as a pre-​dessert was actually very lovely. My husband had a dessert that I can’t recall that was also just ok.
It also rubbed me the wrong way that they ask each table how they heard about the restaurant — which makes me think that they are offering incentives to hotels in return for recommendations.
Unfortunately, this was, although by no means terrible — the worst meal we had in Venice. Overpriced for the quality and I would never recommend or return. There are far better restaurants in Venice.

Our last dinner in Venice before returning home.
I loved it. Great Ambiance, amazing service. Different artist work displayed on the wall.
Had menus from Venetian recipes from 16 – 18 century (may be off a bit).
Great wine menu and they help you find right wine.
Seafood sampler: unique flavors. Fresh.
I ordered pumpkin dumplings– great dish. Bit filling for me. Would’ve liked this as an appetizer Size.
Hubby had scampi with taglioni. He likes the pasta. He didn’t see much scampi. More like shell.
I ordered pear desSert and love it. Great blend of flavors using balsamic vinegar.
Hubby ordered tiramisu: I thought it was pretty good. He didn’t like it because strong coffee flavor and not coffee lover.
Note: they close a few hours between lunch and dinner. May need reservations.

Excellent service and the food was pretty good here. Our server, Walter took wonderful care of us. We sat down and were talked into glasses of excellent sparkling wine… we were not hard to sell and at 10 euro a glass it wasn’t too expensive. ;)
We had the scallops at 20 bucks a pop, they were good, but definitely not worth the price.
I had the gnocci with pesto, that was delightful but over priced. My husband had the spaghetti with Tuna and olives, his was seriously good!!!
We both enjoyed the fish of the day. It was a nice filet of fish with potatoes for a side.
Our 2 bottles of delicious water included and our tab was 180 euro. Steep, but after some rather sketchy meals it was almost necessary to spend more for good food with spectacular service and close to our hotel. Ciao!

So I wanted to find a place to take my good friend for his birthday dinner so I looked around the web to find a restaurant in Venice. I come across this place because I wanted a place that cooked Venetian cuisine so I gave it a go since it looked like a nice restaurant.
The place is cozy with a lot of ornate decorations. The staff were all welcoming and attended us well. The menu had many different types of dishes and they also included some information about it such as when the dishes were created in Venice. They have an ala carte menu and a set menu that included 4 or 6 dishes. I ended up ordering spaghetti with cuttlefish in black sauce and sturgeon with grape sauce.
Before I got the spaghetti the staff were kind to give us a tomato soup as a starter. A simple dish but absolutely amazing. The flavours were spot on! The tomato soup wasn’t too tangy and seasoned well. It had ricotta cheese in it which I never had before in this type of soup and went well together along with the basil leaf. (I’ll definitely have to include that next time when I make my own tomato soup!) Honestly, all I needed was a grilled cheese sandwich and I would have been a happy boy!
As I was waiting for the spaghetti I googled cuttlefish cause I realised I didn’t really know how the darn thing looked like but I really enjoyed eating it. I didn’t realise it was like a little octopus, but it made total sense cause the texture is like calamari. Anyways the dish was absolutely beautiful on the eyes when I got it. It came in a white deep bowl and the spaghetti in the back sauce looked amazing! The flavours were delicate and well balanced. Perfectly seasoned and the cuttlefish were cooked to perfection. Perfectly tender and no fishy taste. I think you can easily mess this dish up cause the flavour is simple and this one taster way better than the one I ate the day before.
The sturgeon with the grape sauce was good. The sturgeon was meaty and the grape sauce went well with the fish. I thought the fish needed a bit more salt because if you ate the fish alone it was a bit bland.
The staff gave us a dish of bite size sweets to end the meal which was truly generous. I didn’t care much for dessert after I saw the selection so after I paid for the bill I ran to my fave gelato place before it closed for dessert! Ha!
Anyways this is a great place to end a rainy day in Venice. Kind staff with delicious meals that get several of your senses to work. A good place to take someone to celebrate an occasion… It’s pricier than other restaurants around but well worth it if you want to spend a bit of extra €€€.

i LOVE this place! last night before bed we wanted to go have some great cuttlefish ink pasta so to Unilocal i went for help. this restaurant poppped up and luckily it was only a minute walk from our hotel! i had the soft shell crab appetizer, the spaghetti with cuttlefish ink and their rose’ omg! everything was so delicious!!! the restaurant is very elegant as well. i will definitely be back!

Bistrot de venise, Venice Italy. This is ‘the’ restaurant that everyone talks about in town and want to dine in when they are in Venice. The deal is that they focus mainly on the 14^th-​16^th century authentic ventian food. All the recipe are ancient or inspired by the early 14−16^th century meals and made exactly how the maestro chef made the meals in the 14^th-​16^th century. The seafood is very well executed, well balanced, beautiful poetry like. Scampi with sour onion apple salad was a recreation of the classic venetian dish. The seafood sampler was venetian dish of the seasonal seafood. Spaghetti ‘venetian’ style so it uses wholewheat noodle. The noodle texture was different than any other spaghetti I have in the past. Yet it was very chewy and had the perfect amount of resistance. The tomato sauce served with the spaghetti perfectly complemented the noodle and the seafood. I didnt find the seafood served the pasta that amusing. Lastly the duck was old fashioned «sauce pevaraga» duck liver with wild apple with red onion pudding. This recipe came from the 16^th century chef Bartolomeo Scappi. The taste was very exotic and not used to tasting this combination of flavor and spice. I liked it but had bit hard time trying to enjoy this dish. The restaurant had the 16^th century vibe with vivaldi playing in the background. Enjoyed the unique venetian specialty atmosphere and cuisine.

Fantastic meal, dinner for two ended at € 210 with a couple drinks and each getting the four course option. The black pasta with cuttlefish was excellent and so was their house red wine. Came with complimentary appetizer and dessert in addition to the listed menu.

Most excellent! We travel the world. This is the best service! The best olive oil! The best lamb! We didn’t have reservations (though I highly recommend you have them) and they work this into a nice corner table. Incredibly kind and friendly and unbelievably delicious food. Eat there!

Davide is a superb server with a vast wine knowledge and great attitude. The atmosphere was excellent, nice light gluten free menu, and wonderful wine list. Menu also offers pre-​fix menus with historical Venetian recipes. Please give this place a try.

Restaurant chic en plein cœur de Venise. Le service est classe, et les serveurs connaissent leurs plats à la perfection. Ils sauront vous conseiller sans hésitation.
La cave à vins est bien garnie et d’excellents crus. N’hésitez pas à demander conseil au caviste !
Les plats sont vraiment très bons et superbement servis !
Vous pouvez y aller les yeux fermés !

Excellent recommendation from our hotel. Reservations were definitely needed as with most in Venice. Plan on spending time as dinner is an event!
We started with a seafood sampler, small plates with local and eclectic preparations. There was a bit of fusion with sauces varied from a candied tuna to a Venetian version of sweet and sour shrimp. Fresh bread selections accompanied by excellent olive oils round out a great appetizer.
The spaghetti and seafood was amazing. Mussels, bay scallops, shrimp all prepped perfectly. The pasta was prepared perfectly and properly. The wife ordered the goose and pasta. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Flavor depths beyond imagination.
Beware the free flowing libations. Americans are used to an hour long dinner with a few glasses of wine. Dinner here is 2+ hours and your cup never runneth empty :)

Over rated. Food here is not worth the price you pay. Had to order Froi Gra because they ran out of soft shell crab. Froi Gra wasn’t seasoned at all. Imagine lukewarm froi gra with cold mongo chutney. The manager was nice enough to send it back to the kitchen. Seafood spaghettini more like frozen shrimp spaghettini. Seems like the restaurant did lots Internet advertising coz the manager asked everyone how they found this place. I wouldn’t come back. How can this be Michelin recommended restaurant? First time I wrote a review because most of the time I just post pics when the food is good. Huge disappointment.

Great experience from beginning to end! They take reservations via email, which is much more comfortable for us who cannot speak Italian.
I had informed them that we were interested in a tasting menu before our reservation date. They were prepared for it. Our maître d was very entertaining. We were ready to try anything on the menu and drink wine so had no problems dealing with him as he chose the items for us.
Food was great but not incredible (hence one less star), the presentation, service and the execution of each course were superb. The wine choices were unique enough that I will try to look for them here in the US. Would recommend and feel the meal was worth the price tag.

Wonderful spaghetti with cuttlefish, great service, will try tiramisu in a minute :-)

Elegant and delicious. I love it. I would return. There is so much good food in Venice and this one is in the top 10!

Pros: lovely dining experience provided by our waiter. We had asked for a recommendation for a red wine for the meal, and he went through the menu to look for one that he thought would be perfect. He ended up not finding the one he thought of, so he suggested a Pinot noir and we ordered it. However, he came back a minute later and said he found the smoother wine that he was thinking of before. It was half the price of the Pinot noir. We changed our order, and it tasted so delicious. The best red wine I’ve ever had. The food also was excellent. Perhaps a tad salty on the cuttlefish spaghetti. They have free wifi… that you can get by hovering near the entrance or the bridge as well.
Cons: not much. Cost was 50 euros for two people for lunch. Not really a con just FYI.

Staff spoke fine English and were courteous, and food was very good. Since we were on vacation the experience, overall, was four stars and a lot of fun, but being entirely objective this is a fun, good restaurant, but not an especially exceptional one.
If you are staying in Venice and looking for a good restaurant, this is a fine one.

First, a little tidbit of helpful information on Italian dining establishments: A ristorante is more of a formal restaurant for lunch or dinner where entrees must be ordered by the patrons. If you are looking for a more casual environment or just a light meal or some appetizers with a glass of wine you should dine at a trattoria, osteria, or enoteca instead. Most dining establishments are clearly labeled ristorante, trattoria, osteria, or enoteca.
Le Bistrot de Venise is a ristorante and enoteca, the two areas being pretty clearly delineated. Being not especially hungry at the time, opted to dine in the elegant enoteca area. Ordered a bottle of the house red wine and salumi plates which consisted of salami, prosciutto, three different kinds of cheeses, walnuts and honey and was also accompanied by a bread basket filled with bread, focaccia, and bread sticks. The cured meats and cheeses were excellent, some of the best salami and prosciutto I’ve had in recent memory. All paired with the wine, it was a nice slice of la dolce vita. Service was exceptional and on par with top fine dining establishments in the U.S.
Great location and easy to find from Piazza San Marco, elegant atmosphere, and excellent service and food, I only hope that I will be able to return to Venice again soon so that I can spend more time here and dine properly at the ristorante.
Le Bistrot de Venise also comes recommended by the Michelin Guide.

un très bon moment
Situé tout à côté de la place Saint Marc, la cuisine qui est servie est française et excellente. On y trouve même des crèpes, cependant les pizzas né sont pas mal non plus, le choix est appréciable. A l’intérieur, un superbe piano rivalise avec un décor en bois. Très très agréable.