Vistamare, the signature restaurant of Grand Hotel Miramare, is the perfect ambiance for a special meal, or just a glorious place to dine and gaze into the eyes of the sea and twinkly lights along the Ligurian coast. Of course, you’re obligated to start with champagne and a 21 EUR glass in this location feels like a relative steal.

We were an early seating on a Monday night so we had the place nearly to ourselves, other diners arrived just a bit later. Clearly they don’t care about a cloudy sunset the way I always will.

The amuse buche was a whimsical sea bass ceviche mini cone.

Whimsy found its way into the starter which featured a ‘brick’ of eggplant, a ‘fake tomato,’ and tomato sorbet. It was lovely to admire and fun to eat, but the eggplant, the star, needed some real seasoning.

For my main I selected a spaghetti with raw red shrimp. While it was tasty, I was a bit uninspired and had food envy for Mum’s trofie ravioli.

Trofie ravioli.

For dessert, I opted for a citrusy baba au rhum that came with a vanilla anglaise. Again, very nice, but I should have kept it simple and gone for ice cream.

Mum chose the almond cake with summer fruit. I believe she felt the same way about hers that I did mine.

After dessert we have what I affectionately call “check dessert,” the bit that arrives just before the bill. This was a standout for me, much more than the dessert itself. Coconut truffles, macarons, and canoli were all delicious and made the bill paying a real joy.

I would look forward to another meal at Vistamare. While I appreciate the creativity of the dishes, simplicity seems to be the way to go with Italian food and would order this way next time. The view, the service, and the food really made for a nice “fancy lady evening” and true vacation experience.