Bar Bruno

Positano, IT

There were only two reasons we dined Bar Bruno on our last night on the Amalfi Coast, first  the view, which is of the iconic mountain side town of Positano which everyone associates with the Amalfi Coast. 

View from the sidewalk seating at Bar Bruno

Second and more importantly, it was a three minute walk from our hotel. It was significant in the decision making process because we had just completed a five hour hike called Sentieri Degli Dei (Walk of the Gods) along the Amalfi Coast.

Sentieri Degli Dei

So despite the warning we had read about the subpar, overpriced food in Positano, we really  cornered ourselves with no other choice. Right off the bat, just receiving water and menus was an ordeal. Bar Bruno is all about turnover, so the next table can get seated. You would think that that would motivate them to provide better service, but unfortunately, this was not the case.

Baby Octopus in tomato sauce

We sat right next to the kitchen sliding door, which gave us two great views, one of the town and beach, the other of our food being prepared. The problem was, I also knew how long our baby octopus appetizer was sitting on the counter before we received it. Over ten minutes. Which meant, despite the tenderness of the octopus, it was lukewarm. Our server dropped it off so fast, I couldn't say anything. Sure I could have picked it up and walked it right back to the kitchen, but we didn't want to make a scene, so I bit my tongue.  The flavor was just a little off and heavy on this dish, but the octopus itself was tender.

 Scialatielli with eggplant

The problem with our pastas wasn't that it was cold, it just took forever to get them period. When the scialatielli arrived, my impatience may have swayed my opinion of the food itself. The eggplant flavoring was a nice change of pace from our usual seafood dishes the past few meals, but the problem was the pasta itself was subpar.

Gnocchi with seafood

I had the seafood pasta, but with a twist, gnocchi as my pasta. It was actually pretty decent gnocchi, but the dish as a whole just didn't seem to go together and it was salty.

Fish with potatoes and tomato sauce

By the time we had finished three meh dishes, we were too full to eat the ordinary flavored fish with potatoes. It was recommended by our server, but the fish filets themselves were bland and overcooked.

We were so exhausted from the hike and so hungry that the meal seemed decent at the time. But looking back on it, I wish we conjured up the energy to go somewhere worthwhile.  Oh well, that's food in Positano for you, enjoy at your own risk.

Overall 5/10

May 25th, 2011