AL Carugio

Onestamente mai più! Da evitare totalmente: la pasta senza gusto forse precotta da tempo, servizio lento, costi esorbitanti

The only things saving this from a one star review is that the setting was cozy and every other employee save our waitress was a friendly human being. Our waitress was truly terrible — okay, we aren’t fluent in Italian but we can speak enough to get by. When we ordered we were met with eye rolls and stares in the distance.
Once we requested a table we were told there was a 20 minute wait. Which was fine, but after that we were shown our table and not acknowledged for another 20 mins when some stale bread was dumped on our table without eye contact.
When asked what we wanted to order the only thing we came in for, minestrone soup, was out. Okay, so ordered something else. The ravioli looked and tasted like it came from Costco and the gnocchi was hard — I don’t know why I thought it would compare to the home made gnocchi our relatives made the night before — fail. Having said that it wasn’t terrible…
After finishing our meals and having the wallet out and plates stacked ready to go, the waitress looked away each time she passed us. We finally went to the till to pay and she said nothing just shoved our bill and held her hand out for money. Maybe she was having a bad night but seemed to be fine smiling at other patrons. We said buona notte, were ignored completely then walked out with a mixture of frustration and humor at how truly bad this dining experience was. Wish we had wifi access to check reviews before giving it a try.

The pancetta in the salami appetizer was amazing, but the frittata of anchovies and squid was probably the worst Italian dish I have had in my life, anywhere. The pasta was not particularly good either. I’d skip this place.

We had a great lunch in this place — most notable thing was the fried anchovy and miniature octopus starter — if you like fish but hate anchovies, you should try some in Liguria because they are fantastic here. The pasta w pesto and fish ravioli were also very well done. Just add a carafe of white wine and you are set.

Delicious pesto (try it with the gnocchi!). Cheap jugs of wine. And yummy tiramisu tucked back on an alley in Monterosso. We stayed at the owner’s guesthouse, as well, which was one of the most pleasant stays I’ve ever had anywhere. If you stay at their place, you get a discount on dinner, so mention it to the waiter.
All in all, a really lovely dinner in a dreamlike village. The pasta helped to fuel our Cinque Terre hike the next day!