Ristorante L'Escale Trattoria & Wine Bar

Had a great night at l’escale, it pitches itself to be a more “approachable” option vs the hotel’s signature restaurant “LA TERRAZZA GUALTIERO MARCHESI” with crowd favourite traditional Italian dishes such as steak Fiorentina and spaghetti carbonara but in an elegant high end setting.

However don’t expect to pay bistro prices. A glass of wine will set you back 30 euro plus and look to spend at least 100 euro per person in food. But if you’re prepared for the price tag it’s well worth it.

The service was attentive with a dash of over the top humour (we ordered the tiramisu that was prepared at the table and our waiter “confessed” that he was looking forward to the dessert more than we were)

The atmosphere was bustling yet also managed to feel intimate, we were sat inside and were greeted with a modern yet personality full decor with many interesting elements as potential conversation starters. The indoor part of the restaurant is a perfect date location, it seemed that in this section the majority clientele were couples with several sat side by side as opposed to the traditional opposite. My only minor criticism was that even though we were sat inside it was slightly on the cold side so would say this is more of a summer place for those sensitive to lower than average temperature (we came in April).

Last but not least was the food, and this did not disappoint. We ordered several dishes and surprisingly the standouts were the more traditional options where we found they were able to execute elevated versions of dishes we’d had before with a twist. The beef tartare for example was made at the table, broken down ingredient by ingredient, and served with raspberries, a well thought together addition which broke through the meatiness perfectly.

Am glad we didn’t look at the reviews before coming as it may have persuaded us to not come. This is an amazing restaurant! Bottom line is L’Escale is an experience as opposed to somewhere where you just go to “get full”. Perhaps they could have one or two cheaper wine options, perhaps they could charge a slightly lower markup for food but the counter to this is for those who are looking for good value for money food and wine can definitely find better value options elsewhere in the region. However if you’re looking for a truly memorable time, amazing food and wine, and fantastic service all in a majestic yet approachable setting then look no further.

Amazing meal, best among the ones we’ve had anywhere else on the lake. The pastas were to die for. Pietro was our server, even then absolutely top notch!

Good food, good portions, friendly staff members and good service.
We enjoyed the table side presentations as well.

Best experience. All was very good and nice.

Incredible food and nice ambiance. It’s located at the hotel not where google maps implies. Highly recommend.

AMAZING!!!!!!
Service, view, food…. Everything!!!!!!

So nice!!! Enjoy your meal❤❤❤

Excellent food.
Wonderful service.

Bel endroit, Service impeccable!
Prix exorbitant pour la qualité proposée. Vins très coûteux également.
On paye l’endroit plutôt qu’une qualité de nourriture.
Belle soirée passée tout de même

Beautiful location/setting but ***PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE****..
Incredibly overpriced food. Most staff were friendly but unfortunately our designated waiter was rude to my friend for his pronunciation of saying thank you and in general was quite lethargic and seemed annoyed that he was serving us.

Food was a pathetic size with little presentation effort and wouldn't even consider that the dishes were even cooked traditionally.

If you come here, make sure it's just for a drink bit be prepared to spend upwards of £100 on 3/4 drinks.

Leider ist der Preis überhöht und es ist nichts Besonderes. Das Ambiente ist gut und man hat einen Blick auf den See. Eher laut wegen der belebten Straße.

This restaurant was a real disappointment. Staying in the hotel we assumed the restaurant would be good but that was not the case. We spend €215 on dinner for 3 dishes (each were tiny) and 3 glasses of wine. The meatballs were inedible, they tasted like vegan meatballs that had been cooked for 20 minutes too long. The spaghetti carbonara tasted like it was made from Kraft Mac & Cheese. We left hungry & extremely disappointed.

We chose it only because we were staying at the hotel. But the food was very disappointing, the risotto wasnt even well cooked. We left with a huge bill for a food we didnt touch.
The manager kept asking us if they can make us another food? But what’s the point if it is gonna taste bad too.

Beautiful location, the restaurant is located excellent but... is pitty that there is a personal which have complete improper atitude...
I tryed 2 times to take the dinner there with my family but was impossible. We were waiting 15 minutes staying at a table but nobody asked us something. More of that I asked for the menu, the waitress promised to come back immediatelly but...she forgot in the next 5 seconds and continued other activities till we considered that... maybe is better to change the place for the dinner. Of course, after that we didnt tried again here. Fortunately we found a lot of other places/restaurants around with very friendly and professional personnel.

Not worth it

La trilogia perfetta per una cena DISASTROSA:
1- Qualita' veramente bassa. Esempio: Una cacio e pepe con il formaggio che fa grumi, il pepe che non si sente e fredda dopo 2 minuti. Oppure 3 polpette che sono dure come sassi, asciutte ed insapore. Oppure, il migliore, il dessert millefoglie con 3 strati che sono talmente cotti che sanno di "bruciato".
2- Porzioni minuscole. Esempio: 50 grammi per la pasta? 3 polpette? Dessert grande come un pasticcino mignon.
3. Prezzi esagerati. 50 euro a piatto. Quindi il costo che hai negli altri ristoranti a 5 stelle in zona ma dalla qualita' penosa.
Mi dispiace, ma siete nella top 10 dei peggiori ristoranti mai provati.

Dovevamo pranzare da Giacomo al Lago (della struttura Grand Hotel Tremezzo), ma a causa del maltempo il personale ci ha consigliato di andare al ristorante interno “L’Escale”. Visto che la location sembra piacevole abbiamo accettato. I piatti erano molto cari, intorno ai 40€ ciascuno. La qualità molto bassa, quantità anche meno. Clientela composta esclusivamente da stranieri. Su location e personale niente da dire.