My husband and I decided to dine at Al Fontego Dei Pescatori after reading that another Yelper who stayed at our hotel (Boscolo Autograph Collection Marriott) ventured to this location. We opted to take a gondola ride before dinner at the Sophia Gondola station (very close to the restaurant).
We were VERY impressed by the food and the service. Our only regret was that we had a large lunch and we were not that hungry for dinner. However, this was our last night in Venice and we were determined to eat. We split the spaghetti with cuttlefish ink sauce (13 euros), the salt crusted Branzino (65 euros, price based on weight of fish), and the chocolate souffle (7 euros)...oh yeah, and a bottle of wine (18 euros...the least expensive bottle was 15 euros, I think). The menu had a varied price point (from about 12 euros to 65 euros for each item) which seemed consistent for the area - no hidden fees, which was nice.
Everything we ate was absolutely delicious. The lobster dish looked really good as well, but again, we simply could not eat any more. It was my husband's first time eating anything with ink sauce. He said that when he closed his eyes the creamy rich texture of the sauce would make him think he was maybe eating a cream based pasta dish.
Just as important to note was how great the service was. Although the english of the staff was minimal, everyone did their best to make us feel welcomed. We ate on a Wednesday night and by around 8PM this place was about 1/2 full. I would guess that during the weekend a reservation would be really helpful. Our waiter was a pro! We had one order of the spaghetti but he brought the dish to our table for presentation and than separated the dish onto two plates. For the Branzino, again, table side he de-boned the entire fish and plated. Even with the salt burning his eyes he stayed focused and tried to chat us up the best he could.
If we were in town longer, we would definitely return. Great place, a little hard to find, but totally worth it! read more