L’Osteria di Santa Marina

Creative Venetian cuisine

Shi drum, lentils and pumpkin

Searching for a good quality local restaurant can be tricky when you visit Venice, it is no secret that Venice is one of the most visited city by tourists in the world. On my visit, it was flooded with thousands of visitors from around the world. To capture that profit opportunity, the city is also filled with plenty of "tourist trap" restaurants. To avoid such places, I have done a little research in advance and came across L’Osteria di Santa Marina. The restaurant itself has been recommended by a good number of review sites and judging from the menu, it is fairly creative and taking food influences from around the world, with Venetian cuisine as a foundation. 

Crispy Shrimps

Tuna, Tataki, daikon, sprouts of leek and teriyaki sauce

Scallops, pistachios, lemon grass and crispy bacon

Unlike many other restaurants in Venice, L’Osteria di Santa Marina offers a tasting menu and that is what I opted for. I could see the Japanese element in its first course: the tuna tataki, the tuna was very fresh and wrapped around some daikon and leeks, with a teriyaki dressing. The crunchiness of the leeks, along with the mild sweet taste of the daikon, created an interesting fusion dish. The best dish of the evening was the scallop, it was seasoned perfectly with some lovely creamy and crunchy textures thanks to the Pistachios and dried crispy bacon. On the other end, the braised beef cheek was underwhelming, while the meat was very moist, the taste was weak and the truffle failed to add anything to the finish, it was average at best.

Tortelli, duck ragout filling and black truffle

Beef cheek braised and black truffle sauce

Puffed open macaron stuffed with tiramisu

My dinner at L’Osteria di Santa Marina was a fun and interesting encounter. The food was mostly Italian based cuisine but with a modern makeover, from Japan to Mexico, which made it very exciting. Strangely enough, the decor of the restaurant is very old fashioned, a big contrast to its contemporary cuisine offering. The staff all spoke decent English, and the manager on the day was so charming, which made the dinner a little bit more special. Price is not cheap, however, as you would be paying 65 Euro for a 3-course meal. I found Venice, in general, is very expensive compared to other cities in Italy so I feel the cost to dine at L’Osteria di Santa Marina is actually justify if you accept the fact that everything at Venice is more expensive.


Food 3/5

What I paid: 
£85 per head with wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£60

Campo Santa Marina, 5911, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

http://www.osteriadisantamarina.com/

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