I visited Al Gondoliere for the first time over 5-years ago before I even know what Yelp was. I remember absolutely loving the restaurant and was sure to make a reservation when I found myself at Lake Garda again last week. I'm so excited to be able to log this 5-star review so many years after my first visit as Al Gondoliere is every bit as good as I remember! On this most recent visit, we shared the prosciutto and fig antipasti. While the prosciutto was great, the pairing with the fig fell a little short. (We should have gotten the melon.) This was the only blip in an otherwise perfect meal though, so no real complaints here! After the antipasti, we moved on to pasta. I had the ravioli with smoked cheese and pistachio sauce. My husband had the spaghetti bolognese. And my sister had the gnocchi with ricotta and tomato sauce. Every one was unique and delish. Don't ask me to pick a favorite because I can't. After all that (our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomaches that evening) we then had the sea bass and roasted potatoes. Both amazing. Capped it all off with homemade tiramisu and cinnamon semifredo with wine sauce. One word for ya about all of that. Y. U. M. During the meal, we enjoyed a bottle of the Garda Merlot. I do wish they had carafes of house wine that we've become so accustomed to while living in Italy (mostly because they're a fraction of the cost of bottles) but our €23 bottle was also worth every euro. The restaurant caps off the meal with small glasses of chocolate grappa. I hate grappa but I love this chocolate grappa. Looking forward to many more weekends in the charming town of Malcesine and many more meals at Al Gondolie read more

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American here--I canNOT recommend this place enough. One million stars. The atmosphere, service, and FOOD is impeccable. We were seated within 5 minutes on a very busy Friday night. They have a lovely terrace to dine on and an extensive menu featuring lots of fresh seafood from the lake (and of course pastas!). My wife (yes wife--so lgbt friendly!) got gin and tonics, the grilled trout with paprika, spinach gnocchi w/pancetta, and grilled veggies. All were excellent!! And a fair price at 50E. A perfect date night in malcesine! We will be back! read more

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Service is very good! They do bring you bread and breadsticks. Food is wonderful, I ordered the ravioli with smoked mozzarella with pistachio it was very good! My son had the gnocchi and he said it was good as well. Husband had the pasta with all the seafood in it seafood pasta. You can tell they use quality ingredients and fresh pasta. The pasta just melts in your mouth. We just had water, so I can't comment on the drinks. We would come back if we lived in the area for sure but we live far from here. I would totally recommend the ravioli with pistachio if you come and I would make a reservation since they book up. Very friendly staff. read more

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Well, what can we say? Fantastic is an understatement. Fantastic anti pasti, and great pasta. And the place is situated in such a cool place + the owners (we assume they were the owners) are so cool! We will definately come back for more authentic italian food. The wine was awesome as well! read more

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Quaint out of the way restaurant with amazing food and service. Both the carpaccio di carne and lamb chops were among the best we ever had.

Great rooftop spot! Enjoyed a great meal with friends. Wine was great, food was amazing.

This place is off-the-charts. No joke. Prosciutto and fig appetizer made my eyes roll back in my head. Formaggi selection with the fruit mustards is amazing. We each had a different trout/salmon entree and they were each incredible. Son loves mussels and broth and he said this was the best he's had. And the tiramisu...good god. Service was attentive and flawless -- probably the best service I've experienced in all of Italy. If you're on the northeast side of lake Garda, this restaurant is a MUST DO! read more

For our last dinner at Malcesine we went to the city's most recommended restaurant, Al Gondoliere. We initially planned to catch a table on the balcony which would have offered a nice view on one of the central plazas in the middle of the old city center. Unfortunately, it was raining that evening, so we decided to take a table for two inside. The waitress promptly found us a suitable one and had us seated. The interior design of Al Gondoliere drips with a chic but neither pretentious nor artificial Italian flair. No unnecessary frills or anything but a few well placed decorations complete with a simple, plain white table that hosts a small tray with salt, pepper, aceto di balsamico and olive oil. So, in spite of the restaurants's...odd... promotional picture with the couple eating spaghetti with their bare hands...the interior was much less...extravagant ;) Which we liked, by the way. Moving on to the food: For starters, we decided to share a salad composed of fresh mushrooms, parmesan and rocket. On the one hand, you could make a point of saying that we got exactly that. On the other hand, there's little artistry to chopping those three ingredients and putting them on a plate. But that's literally what we got. We liked it just fine but that was mostly due to the fact that we generally like the individual ingredients. Considering that Al Gondoliere is among the more expensive restaurants in a city that boasts plenty of very good cheaper ones... Well, let's just say we had higher hopes for the salad. Our main dishes on the other hand delivered on all ends. I had gnocchetti with a soft cream and cooked tomatoes and, boy, did I love every bite. We gnocchetti were perfectly cooked and so soft that I could literally feel them melting in my mouth. This meant that they also fabulously absorbed the sauce, tomatoes and cream with created a wonderfully rich mixed flavor. My girlfriend, who also had a great dish (we'll get to that in second) usually only asks for one bite of my meal out of curiosity. This time, I think we exchanged like five tablespoons just because she loved it so much too. Fantastic gnocchetti. My girlfriend's dish - at least to me - was just as great. She enjoyed housemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta, accompanied with a sauce consisting of pistachios. Refereshing, perfectly al dente Ravioli, a big serving at that and a nutty, exotic, rich sauce to go along with it. My girlfriend was pretty enamoured with my dish but as far as I'm concerned, hers was on par. So, where does that leave us? Well, we paid an above average bill for Malcesine's standards (which includes some other, very good restaurants) and good probably the worst salad/appetizer we had in the city. What followed, however, were arguably the two best main dishes we enjoyed during our entire one week trip to Italy. I'm a great fan of Italian cuisine and would even go as far as to rank the gnocchetti among the best Italian food I've ever enjoyed. Alas, I'm going with four stars. Don't take the salad, take something else instead. or skip right to the hands down great main dishes. Definitely recommended read more

Al Gondoliere - Gnochetti with tomatoes and cream - Italian Near Me - Malcesine, VR

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In One word: AWESOME The First course really is a First course Talking about The size of the dish. Remember That, but it is extraordinary delicious. But the Main courses really seal The Deal afterwards. Very recommendable... read more

Excellent food (not the usual tourism Pizzerias around), fair price (2x Pasta, Aperol, large Spezi,Espresso for total of less than 50), excellent service - German, English and Italian speaking. Would immediately go there again. read more

The dining room for this charming restaurant is upstairs, above the tourist hordes, in a tasteful setting. If you can, make a reservation to sit on the terrace. The antipasti and pastas are excellent. The chef uses locally sourced items when possible and everything tasted fresh and homemade. The owner/waiter was a delight, helping us choose the right wine and explaining the different menu items to us (we speak very little Italian). The service was attentive without being intrusive. We felt welcomed and had a wonderful meal. read more