La Piazza - LIPARI

Just had a wonderful lunch and felt compelled to write a review as this restaurants TA ranking does not reflect the high quality of the food that we just enjoyed. 
 We have been travelling for many weeks in Sicily and have been consistently disappointed with the standard of food. Most restaurants are offering predictable menus directed towards tourists. 
The chef at Hotel La Piazza Restaurant in Panarea deserves recognition for his skills and authenticity! Lunch on terrace overlooking the water: *linguine with prawns, lemon and ginger 
*spaghetti with vongole and zucchini
 *salad of fennel, orange, fried capers, olives and lightly pickled red onion 
*mulberry granita packed full of deliciously ripe, summer mulberries

 The quality of the two pasta dishes was elevated by the intense seafood flavour. The sauce was mellowed by butter which clung beautifully to the perfectly cooked al dente pasta.
 Hotel La Piazza Restaurant appears to appeal more to discerning Italians on vacation and English isn’t necessarily the preferred language. However all staff were highly attentive and professional and there are a couple of younger English speaking staff to assist. We found that with a little bit of effort we could all easily communicate. 
This honest tasting food sets itself apart from the rest of the tourist driven offerings on Panarea. We enjoyed lunch so much that we returned for dinner and the food was again impressive. A very flavoursome cous cous cooked in a seafood, saffron and tomato broth. It was both light and rich. Roast pork and potatoes. Simply delicious. The pork was slow roasted with simple seasoning and fell off the bone. Simple unfussy food, generous portions with focus on flavour.

Very poor service. Ordering takes forever even if you point by finger the dish in the menu. After doing that, the steak comes in first and the appetizers last. The food is average, prices rather expensive, the staff is welcoming and friendly but the actual delivery of food to the table is a task too difficult for the personnel. They also have a bar so at least you can have a drink in due time by picking it up yourself.

Just had a wonderful lunch and felt compelled to write a review as this restaurants TA ranking does not reflect the high quality of the food that we just enjoyed. We have been travelling for many weeks in Sicily and have been consistently disappointed with the standard of food. Most restaurants are offering predictable menus directed towards tourists. The chef at Hotel La Piazza Restaurant in Panarea deserves recognition for his skills and authenticity! Lunch on terrace overlooking the water: *linguine with prawns, lemon and ginger *spaghetti with vongole and zucchini *salad of fennel, orange, fried capers, olives and lightly pickled red onion *mulberry granita packed full of deliciously ripe, summer mulberries The quality of the two pasta dishes was elevated by the intense seafood flavour. The sauce was mellowed by butter which clung beautifully to the perfectly cooked al dente pasta. Hotel La Piazza Restaurant appears to appeal more to discerning Italians on vacation and English isn’t necessarily the preferred language. However all staff were highly attentive and professional and there are a couple of younger English speaking staff to assist. We found that with a little bit of effort we could all easily communicate. This honest tasting food sets itself apart from the rest of the tourist driven offerings on Panarea. We enjoyed lunch so much that we returned for dinner and the food was again impressive. A very flavoursome cous cous cooked in a seafood, saffron and tomato broth. It was both light and rich. Roast pork and potatoes. Simply delicious. The pork was slow roasted with simple seasoning and fell off the bone. Simple unfussy food, generous portions with focus on flavour.

Ingredients present across multiple dishes missing and communicated on adding it over time leading to completely different dishes. At the end, also other ingredients were changed without informing us eg. Having Galbanino cheese instead of mozzarella di bufala, a toast NOT toasted and with prosciutto cotto rather than crudo, and apples in the fruit plater after clearly communicating one person was ALLERGIC to it Staff not organized and very slow, they would also bring us drinks/food for other tables and leave it there until the figured which was the table that actually order it Last but not least, they brought us the check but when we asked to pay they wanted to check it again as they were not sure about the final number on the receipt Honestly ruined our trip to Panarea, wasted so much time and money at this place. We felt robbed and actually left still hungry cant believe I am writing that for a Sicilian restaurant! Avoid at all costs.