Dolce Vita
291 Fumin Lu,
Huaihai Zhong Lu
near Changle Lu, Metro Line 1 Changshu Lu Station
富民路291号
近长乐路，地铁1号线常熟路站
6170-1318
www.dolcevitashanghai.com
ristorante@dolcevitashanghai.com
Open 12noon-2:30pm, 6-10:30pm, ends 11pm on weekends
Price Y300-Y399 per couple
Accepts International Credit Cards
- City Weekend
says -
A go-to destination for fine Italian cuisine, this warmly decorated restaurant is adorned with snapshots of the 1960s movie for which it is named. Complimentary bread and pate are followed by your selections from a menu of authentic fare including classic lasagna, thin-crust pizzas, delicious appetizers and the best tiramisu this side of Milan.
- Contributor
Description -
This Italian restaurant consists of two areas, the first floor is where people enjoy wine before dinner or have a gathering after it, decoration of this area is full of southern European atmosphere. It's more romantic under the candle light at night. Steeping on the helical stairs, the spacious dining room isn't as luxurious as we expected and it's more like a banqueting hall of an Milan family.
Reviews Been there? Add a review!
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cityweekend
Most Recent Reviews
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Went to this joint last night and it's still rubbish. 108 RMB for three thin slices of mozzarella, an undressed 'rocket salad' and 5 strips of ridiculously salty prosciutto. I complained and the vegetarian waitress assured me 'it is supposed to be like that'....comforting! The house wine at 68 RMB was about two mouthfuls and they charge 40 RMB for water. My Vongole was also far too salty and the ravioli, well, let's just say 98 RMB is a little hard to swallow for 6 mediocre dumplings. Most tellingly the place is full of Chinese men, not an ex-pat face in sight (and not mine ever again). Avoid this place like the plague. Italian food in Shanghai fails again. Epicly. At least I was propositioned to buy some hashish outside, which made it a more fulfilling experience.
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Not the best italian restaurant in da city but the lunch set with the starters buffet is not a bad offer. You won't feel hungry once your lunch ends. Coffee are quite good (I tried the expresso).
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Disaster. The small forgivable things are that the wait staff cannot describe the food or deserts. When the menu description is too vague, the wait staff should be able to fill this gap. They have no idea what anything is on the menu. When you ask for a good wine, they simply point to the most expensive bottle. The unforgivable: I have been in the hospital getting an IV and blood tests since my saturday night dinner. I ended up with such massive food poisoning that my white blood cell counts were off the charts. I am on day 4 since that night and only now slowly starting to eat baby food. Since then I have not even been able to drink water without vomiting it back up. This is the first day I can even lift my fingers to type this review. I suggest you can go here for drinks and a nice environment, but dont eat the food.
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Brunch - a definite NO NO! It seems to be one of those places that just want to get their share in the brunch circuit by claiming they offer brunch, when they actually offer...LUNCH. There IS a distinction.
For 138 kuai they offer a buffet of appetizers and desserts (quite a few listed to appear on the buffet table were conveniently missing though), a main course - pastas and a seafood pizza, a glass of prosecco and free flow of bottled orange juice or coke. No coffee. Also let me say- the pizza dough - carton. Am not sure what they put in it, but it sure does not result in a pizza base. Quite honestly, I am doubtful about their other dishes as well, the first impression was that this is not actually a nice Italian place, even though the prices might claim so.
The biggest turn-off at this place is the service. I hate to be one of those nagging ex-pats that complain about the service, but I am really tired of going to an "Italian restaurant" where i have to wait 15 minutes for my glass of water and cutlery when my food is already on the table, while I can get more then perfect service in my little local 餐厅. I'm sorry, but this has the be the problem of the management, who apparently has no idea how their staff is serving the customers.
There is one upside- the outside sitting area - it's nice to just seat there and enjoy the sun. But other than that - really, skip it, go to a place where you can actually get Brunch.
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They have good lunch sets and the pizza is good, but unfortunately the service is on par with the hole in the wall Chinese restaurant. They will lose some good customers if this keeps up.
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My girlfriend and I usually go to the Italian restaurant Otto down the street on Fumin Lu. So we were interested in making a comparison between the two. Well, we walk into Dolce Vita last night and it was filled with only Chinese customers. That was a very bad sign. Chinese people know nothing about Italian food.Then the service was terrible, as my girlfriend had to wait 15 minutes for her Mojito drink. The apetitizer of cold cut meat tasted like cheap meat bought from Carrefour. Then the main course came, and my poor girlfriend ordered a scampi, that turned out to be only three small pieces of shrimp with very little meat. We were so dissatisfied with our meal and drinks that we decided to go to Malone's afterwards for another dinner and drinks of BBQ ribs. The dinner was so bad at Dolce Vita and the meal so small that we had to have another dinner at Malone's later in the night! At least at Malone's we can hear some music. Never go to this place. Bad food, small portions, bad service.
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The lunch deal is reasonable but with limited selections. The service is pretty slow and bad. I asked for an orange juice from the waiter but didn't receive it after half an hour. Then I asked from another waiter, he still didn't bring it. I had to ask another girl but the orange juice never came to my table and I finally gave up and paid the bill without saying anything. Bad experience.
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After ordering a bottle of wine last night we asked for water, and were informed by a very arrogant manager that they don't serve water at dinner -- only lunch. In todays world it is ridiculous (and not very green) to force people to pay for bottled water that has been flown halfway around the world when local bottled water from the large tank in the kitchen would satisfy. That and the large table of men hawking and spitting into their napkins sort of spoiled the evening... I agree with all previous comments about the poor service.
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A passable buffalo mozzarella, which is credited to the quality of ingredient than quality of cooking. The veal with tuna sauce was good. The lobster pasta was very disappointing; monster-sized plate and the noodles was tasty but the lobster was stringy and tough. The shell was huge but the small piece of meat was not bouncy like good lobster meat. The tiramisu was a disaster; it was mushy and wet without flavour.
The environment is so-so; as they kept adjusting the lighting around our table. The service was average...
Prices are not reasonable.
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I was surprisingly charmed by the grand stairway, warm flattering lighting and elegant decoration of the dining. This was the backdrop to what i thought would be a wonderful night of fine dining. HOWEVER..the evening slided downhill from there. The starters and pastas were really mediocre, the highly anticipated tiramisu was mushy and lacking in taste.In fact the HONG KONG resturant next door probably served better tiramisu. And the most disappointing factor was the sub standard service level.The service staffs were inexperience, unattentive and extemely arrogant! La Vita Dolce clearly does not comprehend what is good customer service , judging from its current troupe of service staffs. In a nutshell, this restuarant lacks the basic elements of a fine restuarant...namely fantastic food and excellent service. One is better off going to the many good italians joints which has mushroomed over the years in Shanghai.
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This is one place I would never step foot into again, even if it's free.
Average food aside (yes, even the musy tiramisu failed terribly), the snobbish attitude of the service staff was simply appalling and a big turn-off. It felt like we were interrupting their evening instead!
Even after we gave comments on the bad service rendered, all we received was plain defensiveness from the concerned service staff and nonchalent, hypocritical acknowledgments from the manager. No sincere apology was given, or even attempted.
For its positioning and prices, this place has not only failed to impress, but also managed to turn us off greatly. Bring your money to its much more friendlier neighbours in the same building. Even many of the local eats offer a much better eating experience.
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This place got to be one of the worst dining experiences I had in Shanghai. For the prices they charge, I would expect better service and experience. Apart from not serving iced water and making their customers choose to 1) dying from thirst or 2) paying for expensive bottled water, the attitude of their service staff range from snooty to nonchalent. One of the female service staffs was particularly rude to us and when we complained to the supervisor, there was no apologies non service recovery. And the whole experience just leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Food-wise, it was so-so, nothing fanstastic. It is just Italian food, ridiculously marked-up and fancy bottled water. If you have the cash to spare and wants a satisfying dinner experience, I would recommend that you take your money to Cantina Agave or Tsui Wah - the Cantonese restaurant next to La Dolce Vita.
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Sonon andata nello questo ristorante ieri. Siono Francese ma .....che delicioso!!!!!!!!! Le pizze sono perfectta, il buffeto di antipasti straordinario.
I have been with my friend in this restaurant and my tongue still got this fabulous italian Taste after 24 hour. I recommend this Italian perfectto ristorante
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We have been there 2 times, over successive weekends. Overall the service is reasonable though the waiters (which conversant in English) probably need some time to settle in. What was more lacking was their floor management staff. They didnt seem interested in their customers let alone interested in what their customers thought of their service. They did not bother to even greet us when we came in despite us being the first table of the evening! If they are not careful, they will head the way of Frankies - which had good food but managers who were crap! Foodwise, their pizza is great (we favor them over pizza's from Issimo or Da Marco) .. but other dishes still need working on - the anti pasto we had was poor compared to what we've had at Da Marco ...
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I tried this restaurant twice in the last 3 days. The first experience was sorely disappointing. Apparently having opened prematurely, they did not have an available wine menu, so my girlfriend and I had to trust the judgement of our chinese waiter to bring us something decent. We ended up with a 350ml bottle of musty tasting chianti that was barely drinkable. Our tuna, salmon and sea bream carpaccio was lacking the sea bream, and the tuna and salmon were overly thick slices drenched in olive oil with a few lone capers on top. The fagioli soup and beef lasagne were unmemorable. My 4 little ravioli were actually very tasty, but left me wondering if maybe they forgot the other 4. The waitstaff were not only unattentive, but also fairly clueless - pretty much the norm in Shanghai. We didn't stay for dessert. 2nd attempt: I was told their pizza was great, and my friend wanted to try it, so I went back hoping not to relive my first experience. Upon arrival, I find out that during the 2 days since my first visit, they stopping serving ice water. It's understandable that a restaurant wants to encourage their customers to spend more, but they should do so by offering delicious food and great service, not by forcing their customers to drink expensive bottled water. I can almost accept it at an expensive, high quality restaurant, but when a place is serving mediocre food at mediocre prices, it's a little brazen to force the customer to buy water. As for the 58rmb glass of wine my friend ordered, it was more like a sip, than a glass. And once again, the service was clueless and unattentive. We didn't stay for dessert. On a slightly redeeming note, the pizza was pretty damn good. Especially the Bufalina. But Velvet/Casanova, Issimo, Da Papa Mario, and Da Marco all have great pizza too. And at least those places give you free ice water.
Carpe Dolce
Ascending a magnificent wooden staircase accented by a bright, elegant chandelier, patrons seeking authentic Italian fare enter a spacious, warmly decorated and comfortable dining area replete with tasteful old photos of the movie for which this restaurant is named. Complimentary breads and pate arrive instantly at the table by the well-trained and attentive wait staff. Our choices for appetizers included a warm selection of herb-baked scallops, shrimp with cocktail sauce and saucy octopus over polenta (RMB88) which was as delicious as varied. The buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes and basil (RMB78) was not available, but was graciously replaced with a special request of rocket salad with the right touch of olive oil, shrimp and cherry tomatoes. Soup, a true Italian bean soup called pasta e fagioli (RMB48), was thick, creamy, mellow and not too rich. The lasagna (RMB68), described as farmhouse lasagna Bolognese-style, was meaty with just the right amount of sauce and cheese. Our pizza (RMB68), with crispy thin crust and toppings of artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms, cheese and Parma ham, was outstanding. Dessert is a must here. Try the perfectly layered tiramisu (RMB48) which blends fresh mascarpone and a dusting of chocolate cocoa--we were in tiramisu heaven. Homemade Italian ice cream and sorbet is also very refreshing (RMB15 per scoop). This was one of the most enjoyable dining experiences we've had in a long time; we could certainly become regulars. Peggy Rosen