Ostaria Da Mariano

This was our first dinner of 14 in Italy. We just got into Mestre and didn’t want to deal with the hassle of going into Venice for a meal so we decided to keep it local. We turned to our spanking-​new Michelin guide and selected this «Bib Gourmand”– which means good food at reasonable prices.
Mariano is a typical ostaria with great wines and decent food. The fresh house-​made pastas were lovely but the execution left us scratching our heads. The sardines that topped my bigoli, for example, did not seem like they were fresh out of the sea. Wakako U’s pasta with olive oil and chilis was topped with sad vegetables. That’s the first time we’ve ever seen this dish prepared like that. And speaking of sad vegetables, the grilled veg side dish was adorned with some of the sorriest looking greens we’d ever laid eyes upon. Definitely skip that one! The secondi were nice if not on the smallish side. We had the roasted branzino and the lamb chops. We got out of there for around 80 euros. And that, sadly, counts as «reasonably prices» in these here parts…
Overall, a decent meal. But we would have much, much better in this land of culinary perfection. I’d give ‘em 2.5 stars if I could, but being that this is their very first review and all…