Whan Cat met Harry.. (Harry's Bar (Venice, Italy))

Member Name: Cat19

Product:	Harry's Bar (Venice, Italy)
Date:	28/05/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent service, nice ambience in downstairs bar

Disadvantages: Poor quality food and ridiculous prices

Eating and drinking are two of my very favourite things to do. On special occasions or even just for the hell of it, there is nothing I like better than to sample a fine dining restaurant. Last month my husband and I travelled to Venice for my birthday weekend and beforehand spent some time researching the best restaurants in Venice for the evening of my birthday.

Our travel guidebook and other research indicated that Harry's Bar would be a good option and when we arrived in Venice and mentioned our booking to the hotel concierge, he confirmed that it was an excellent choice. We were very much looking forward to it and asked the concierge to reconfirm our reservation and ask for a nice table seeing as it was my birthday.

The restaurant is located very close to the San Marco water bus stop just up a small side street and so is very central and easy to get to. It is something of an institution in Venice, a magnet to the rich and famous. We actually walked past it a couple of times during the day without even realising it was there as the entrance is very low key. When we arrived for dinner, we finally identified the very narrow front door, squeezed through and it was like entering another world.

We immediately found ourselves in a thriving bar area, all the tables were taken and after announcing ourselves as dinner guests, we were invited to enjoy a drink at the bar so we perched on high bar stools. We started our evening with a Bellini cocktail, reputedly invented in this very bar, the drink is a combination of Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine) and peach puree or peach schnapps. We thought it was a very good start to the evening overall. After we had finished our drinks, we asked to be taken to our table.

The restaurant is upstairs and we were reasonably impressed as we made our way up, the wood panelling decor and old paintings and photographs just seemed to fit. I was thus surprised to arrive at a very dated looking restaurant; I had expected something grander or more sophisticated. We got formica tables and wooden chairs, there was a sort of condiments station nearby and I could not believe that there was a bottle of tomato ketchup on display. I am sure Gordon Ramsay does not have ketchup in his dining rooms. Still, we were optimistic. We thought perhaps the dated look was a deliberate attempt to highlight the restaurant's long history. And we were there for the fine cuisine after all, which we were very much looking forward to.

The main thing I remember about the menu was how expensive it was. Even though we knew we were in an expensive restaurant, in an expensive city and suffering from a poor exchange rate, we still found the prices shocking. I found myself debating whether I could justify having a starter as well as a main course as even the cheapest starter was £30 but most were about £45, the mains were from about £45 to £70. Of course strictly speaking those are euro prices but at the time of my visit it was about one for one. Fortunately a waiter arrived at the table and after we enquired about the starter sizes, he kindly suggested that we could buy a starter between us and they would put it on two plates. Relieved to hear this we ordered a veal cannelloni starter to share, my husband ordered a steak main course and I the stuffed guinea fowl on mashed potatoes. We also ordered a bottle of wine, thankfully the wine prices were reasonable and we selected a decent white for £30.

After a short wait the split starter arrived and it was served in two small shallow dishes. Definitely a half portion was more than adequate for a starter size wise. Unfortunately it was wholly inadequate in every other way. The overall dish was sloppy, the pasta was soft, the veal was like sausage meat and really could have been any meat and the whole thing was drowned in cheesy sauce. I have had better pasta dishes in Bella Pasta. It was not revolting. It was edible but a huge disappointment.

We hoped the mains would be an improvement, after a slightly too short break these arrived. My husband thought his steak was cooked very nicely and enjoyed his meal, but to be honest give a man a steak and they usually are happy. I thought it just looked like a steak served in any high street steakhouse, it didn't look like a £55 steak to me. But the prize for the worst choice of dish was claimed by me. My "stuffed guinea fowl" translated to half a plate of a kind of meat terrine (like the inside of a pork pie) with a measly quarter centimetre slice of guinea fowl around the outside of the terrine. I suppose strictly speaking I did get stuffed guinea fowl but this was not what I expected. My accompanying mash potatoes were sloppy and covered the other half of my plate, if somebody had told me they served smash I would believe them. This was no fine dining.

Feeling thoroughly ripped off by now we declined dessert and we even decided not to spend any further money on a coffee afterwards. My mood was not helped a few minutes later when the waiters came out with a cake singing Happy Birthday.....and delivered it to the lady at the next table. We had overheard telling a waiter that it was her birthday that day. My husband mentioned at booking and earlier that day when he confirmed the reservation that it was my birthday so I felt childishly peeved. As I visited the bathrooms before leaving, my husband mentioned to the head waiter that it was my birthday and to give them their due, when we got downstairs we were invited to take a table and given complimentary champagne, I was then presented with my cake and also a book on the restaurant. I noted that by this time, the tables downstairs were all being used for bistro style dining as well, I thought there was a nicer ambience downstairs than up.

I realise I have not so far commented on the standard of service and it would be remiss not to. I can only say that the service was excellent throughout. The waiters and bar staff were not just efficient, but were friendly and charming as well.

Our bill for the evening came to around £250, to recap this included two pre dinner cocktails, one bottle of wine, a shared starter and two main courses. I enjoy going to good restaurants and I have paid similar prices in the past, so I do not have a problem with this kind of price for a fabulous dining experience in principle. But I have a HUGE problem with this cost for the standard of food we received on this occasion, in fact we felt ripped off and angry. The exchange rate certainly had an unfavourable impact but even if it were 1.5 euro to the pound, this was still overpriced. Bearing in mind the city is generally expensive and including our alcoholic beverages, I think a reasonable bill would have been £80 - £100.

I concluded that this was a classic example of style over substance. The restaurant is well known and has a history, it was a favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway and Orsen Welles and still attracts celebrities during the Venice film Festival. The result appeared to be a restaurant trading on its fame and history but not its food. I say don't believe the hype, I cannot recommend against visiting this restaurant strongly enough.

Summary: A restaurant trading on its past glory and fame but not its food