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This review is slightly more difficult to do, because the food is excellent! and It is not because the people and service are not excellent they are! you will go a long way to find nicer people or service, the one fault with this restaurant are the prices
I am not sure whether as is sometimes the custom here to have one price for locals and another one for “Stranieri”, although it would be strongly protested it does happen in a lot of bars and restaurants. Rightly or wrongly they just seem to assume that all foreigner’s have a bottomless pit of money, “The Priory” should not be singled out for criticism but they do seem to take their charges beyond what would seem reasonable. We have now taken this restaurant off our favourites list for this reason alone, as our last bill per person would cover the same meal for two anywhere else. It is a shame as the restaurant really is nice and the people just could not be nicer, and I am not sure if these reviews are looked at by the owners but if they are I hope any criticism could be viewed constructively as they deserve to have a full restaurant every night when judged on their food.
Anyway on to the positive side of this review as you will have seen from above I have a high regard for the family, they also run the bar above which is in the Piazza and it is set in the most typical old hill top town setting you will find. I may be accused of being biased well your right I am we are both proud of “our” town of Monte San Martino. The food is of outstanding quality and they are famous in the region for their pasta one of which is Nettle pasta is does not seem to sound much but is quite delicious, and their other pasta dishes have to be sampled to appreciated. Also the Antipasto here is another treat in some places it is passable but here it is a must but be careful as it can almost be meal in itself. Of course as everywhere else you can opt for the meat as a main course or “secondo” I must say it is here I have most probably had the nicest piece of steak, and you can have it done to your taste. It goes without saying that again vegetarians will be well catered for as the local cuisine is full of vegetarian treats so good you could forget to be a meat eater. Desserts are much the same here as most Italian restaurants in this region okay but a bit forgettable, how all Italians can make desserts that look so good but don’t live up to expectation I am not sure.
If you don’t mind paying the price you will enjoy your experience at “Dei Priori” for the extra price you will enjoy subtle differences like having the correct glass for the wine you are drinking, and if you are enjoying a pasta dish the platter is left at the table for more if you want or indeed can manage it, and when you get to the after dinner drinks the bottle will be left, and there are always more people to tend your needs without having to try and attract attention. When I compare prices it is with other restaurants in the area, and if you compare it to British restaurants you will not find it will break the bank. So if you are only here for a holiday or short visit you may well find it is not that expensive.
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