Oltre

This was the only restaurant we visited in Bologna, and we tried their tasting menu featuring local specialties. The appetizers（especially the parmigiano crisp）were excellent, and both the tortellini and Tagliatelle al Ragù perfectly suited our taste. However, the Cotoletta alla Bolognese was not as easy for us to appreciate. Since it was our first time trying Bologna-style cotoletta, we had no point of comparison. In our culinary culture, when meat is fried, even if it’s served with or lightly soaked in sauce, the breading should still retain some crispiness. As for dessert, the panna cotta 🍮 (didn’t take a picture) had a slight refrigerator taste on the surface, which became noticeable when it touched the tongue. Perhaps the container didn’t fully protect it from absorbing fridge odors. Overall, though, we found it to be a very pleasant dining experience and a nice place to get a quick understanding of Bologna’s local cuisine.

Complete disaster. I share the bitterness of every restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide at the thought that this place has also received recognition. Nothing here makes sense. The service, the food, and the wine list are an embarrassment. From the moment you walk in, you’re greeted by people glued to their stations who won’t even approach the door to welcome you. You feel like an intruder from the very first minute. The cold service leaves no doubt that it’s better not to engage, if only to avoid ruining your evening entirely. The wine list is shameful — 20, maybe 30 labels, all easily forgettable. There is absolutely nothing exciting or thoughtfully curated. And then the dishes. Each one seems to come from a different story, random and disconnected, prepared at completely different technical levels, as if each were made by a different Chef. I highly recommend the ramen: a thin broth, noodles, and a cube of hard Parmesan sitting at the bottom. Quite something. Overcooked salmon when they have a fresh fish market across the street?What can you expect when the Chef is flexing at the bar instead of running the kitchen during a full service? In truth, only the tortellini was decent — but in Bologna, it would be a disgrace to ruin such a dish. Two hundred euros wasted. I would rather have given the money to a homeless person across the street. I rarely write negative reviews. As someone who runs a restaurant recognized by 50 Best Discovery and Michelin, I know how demanding this business is. But this place should close.

Amazing restaurant! Absolutely top-quality food — Michelin-listed and well-deserved! The 7-course tasting menu at Oltre truly won us over. Each dish was exceptional, and the portions were so generous you could hardly finish everything. Highly recommended for anyone who loves fine dining and unforgettable flavors!

It was almost ok. Ambiance, your visceral sense of space, lends a large part to a dining experience. Light, color, texture, sound, materials, spacing, windows, tableware, even use of fire and water are curated (if even by neglect) in each restaurant. Lighting is so very important. The harsh, bitter exposing glare of 3 star Piazza Duomo is almost as baffling as this new generation progressive Bolognese experiment, oltre, where the entire dining room has no lights on. Only when you are seated at a table do they turn on your one single tabletop LED. Not having still enough light to see the "punched paint chip selector" style menu and miniscule wine list, I turned on the light at the two top next to us, tables separated by about six inches. The hostest ran across the room, shaking her finger at me, and turned that light off. OK. Only one Barolo on this menu, and slightly pricier than the place, but we went for it... And the 2016 Meteri/Grasso Cascina del Monastero had very well developed and smoothly integrated Barolo notes: spice, leather, dry red fruit, black Sharpie, and that oaky hug. The food was certainly moving in a newer direction. Baccala cannolo with olive powder could have used a much thinner shell and more potato. Chicken liver mousse on brioche with persimmon was fine but with no outstanding notes. Passatelli (heavy pasta cylinders) with cheese, celeriac, and mussels actually worked quite well! Sangiovese peposo-braised capriolo (roe deer) on maccheroncini tasted like all the other wine braised country style meats that we've been having, but the fresh pasta was very good on this dish. Venison with black truffle and one single baby carrot was quite well cooked. Pre-dessert of almost frozen grapefruit snot was the first truly inedible thing we've run into this month! Strawberry-grape mousse and sorbet with grapes two ways on more brioche felt like an excuse looking for a dish... Unable to be seen in its little mustard bowl, that's ok, because it's a visually cool dish only. Oltre has been open a while, so you would think that they've hit their stride. I see potential here, but several misses of things not thought out, or perhaps too broad of a selection of food, and a dismal selection of wine.

Took Hubs for his birthday. Imaginative tasting menu. Was curious about 2 pastas back-to-back but both tasty. Fish lacked any flavour and the raw bok choi was difficult to chew. The tuna sauce on the horse carpaccio was also weirdly lacking in any flavour. Tasty cocktails. Delicious wine pairing. Dessert was good but lacked some fanfare/visual impact we've had with fine dining tasting menus.