Ristorante Wistèria, Venezia
This was an unplanned restaurant while I was visiting Venice with a friend. Unfortunately, he is a vegetarian so I went here by myself. The restaurant is located west Venice, by a small river. I went for the dinner service, though I could imagine it would be a nice view in the daytime.
I was the first customer for that night while there were a lot of waiters welcoming me. I got a small table next to a window though facing the court rather than the river. Interestingly, it is a stone table without tablecloth. It had a slightly different vibe from many other fine-dining places: it is a very bright environment. Also there are a lot of decorations.
Table
The menu is also simple containing a few different sets; I went for the larger set including eight dishes. Before serving the dishes in the menu, I got several light snacks.
Menu
One of the snacks was especially fun, in a very small Dutch pot shaped container (the left in the picture). I was told to directly use my finger, like when we were kids. The taste was very light and also felt warm.
Canapé
The first dish I found attractive was pink oyster and pomegranate. In other places, the oyster is often a small bite and emphasises the freshness. However, the chef here put some fruity seasoning. In fact, the initial pomegranate flavour covers the oceanic flavour of the raw oyster, which might put off customers if they do not have raw oyster often, and then the sweet of oyster came out. The presentation itself is also well thought, in a round plate but a rectangle cut, and the pink colour was very attractive.
Pink oyster and pomegranate
The next dish, though it is not on the menu, was amazing! It was a simple tomato pasta. While I cannot remember the details of the three types of tomatoes in the sauce, the taste was stunning. I could taste the bitterness, sweetness and sourness of the various tomatoes. The sauce was in the perfect texture, not too pasty but still being able to taste tomato fibre. The pasta itself also balanced the enormous layers of flavour and toned down the dish very well.
Secret tomato pasta
I have to say the pasta is the absolute highlight for my night. The rest of the dishes in the menu were executed very well and in the expected standard.
This was a restaurant holding its standard with some nice highlight dishes. The table service, just like many Italian restaurants, were very good.
🐼 Score: 4/5
