Initially I was quite surprised by the high quality of the Venice bar scene in general, but now…read morethat I'm living here I've grown accustomed to the quality and have adjusted my expectations upwards. Despite this, I was very favorabley impressed when I first visited Osteria ai Pugni; it's unquestionably among my top three favorite bars in "The City of Water".
On my first visit, a friend and I stopped in here for a pre-dinner cocktail. We planned to find a restaurant to eat dinner in afterwards, but we found the drinks, service, and the ambiance here so much that we ended up staying the right of the evening. We enjoyed quite a bit of their exceptionally good wine, skipped dinner and made a meal out of the amazing cicchetti.
Yes, the food is wonderful and the wine list truly outstanding, but it's the exceptional service that brings everything together. It's what made our first visit so memorable. Every single member of the staff we interacted with was amazingly attentive and very friendly. They all seemed to want to go the extra mile to make our experience here exceptional. All their cicchetti recommendations were spot on, and they even let us try samples of the wines they recommended to pair with our food.
Tip: All the cicchetti we tried was first-rate, especially the polenta based dishes. We found them to be a delightful alternative to the more common bread-based cicchetti.
Bottom line: The hospitality here is 2nd to none, the service is exceptional, and the wine list has something for everyone. Add to that how reasonable the prices are, and it's a foregone conclusion that I plan to become a regular.
Highly recommended!
