Osteria del Bastian Contrario

Location: right on busy cobble street Vibe: I was there at lunch, mostly tourists and local college students Not too noisy when i was there, but I think on friday night this place could get loud. Seating: Both outdoor and indoor seating, the patio is large, the dining room is cozy and there are several private dining rooms. Setting: So Fun, I wish I took more pics. There r antiques everywhere, from an old motor cart to Coke machine. The place is covered. Service: This is Italy, so the service is at leisurely pace, they assume you are going to be sitting all day. The Staff was nice and responsive. Dress Code: most people are in very casual clothes. Food: Food was tasty. We ate the "Tuscan Tonno" (basically pork that served like canned tuna...so good with plenty of Olive Oil!) . There are several items from each category that a Vegetarian could eat and there we soo many soups in the menu, very hard to choose, I had the Lucchese Frantoiana, a local dish made with black cabbage, so hardy. Beverages: There is a “bar” kind of hiding in one of there many dining cubbies.

We enjoyed our dinner here. We tried dishes with truffles and were completely satisfied with both the choice and the quality of the food. If you’re looking for excellent food and a relaxed, simple atmosphere, this place is definitely a great choice.

We stumbled upon this lovely little osteria while wandering the streets of Lucca. First of all – the atmosphere, both inside and outside, is absolutely charming! There’s a beautiful little terrace with a clever fan setup, everything carefully decorated in a retro style. The waiters are quick and extremely friendly, prices are very reasonable, and the food is fantastic! We highly recommend the duck-filled tortellini with pistachio sauce and the wild boar ragù. We also tried the pasta with pumpkin and mushrooms, which is interesting, though better suited if you enjoy a sweeter main course. The portions are quite generous. Speaking of sweet – the tiramisu is excellent! Nothing but praise, and when I’m back in Lucca, I’ll definitely return here 🤗

Beautifully decorated the ambience is just charming. Then you get to the menu which is pages and pages of options and if you branch out just a little bit, you can get some incredibly unique flavors. We’ve been in Italy for a week and a half and we have had nothing that tasted anything like what we ordered Today. We had deer cooked in a blueberry sauce, served with polenta and taglia in a duck Ragu and Torelli with wild boar. Also, we had polenta with truffle and a pastrami and mustard for hors d’oeuvres. Just excellent all the way around and so refreshing to have something that is so different. Be warned there is no English menu which to me is a good sign for authentic food, but it took us about 20 minutes on Google translate to figure out what to order. Just talked to an Italian woman who says she eats here each time she comes to Lucca because it’s like walking into her grandmothers house. The food is like home made ands so amazing!! That’s from a real Italian😆🥰

Wonderful! The food was wonderful and the service was fantastic! The staff was kind and patient (we had people with us who were on their first trip to Italy and took some time with the menu). We had soups, pasta, desserts…. All of it was very good. The ambiance was good as well. We will gladly return many times!

The atmosphere was lovely. Service excellent. Sadly my risotto with squid ink was very average. I have had this dish in various restaurants around Italy so I can tell when it’s excellent or average. Don’t underestimate your clients when they’re not Italian.

Osteria del Bastian Contrario is a traditional restaurant offering local Tuscan cuisine. The prices are reasonable, the service attentive, and while the portions are somewhat modest, the overall quality is good. The atmosphere inside is warm and welcoming; we chose to sit indoors due to the rain, though the restaurant also has outdoor seating on Piazza dei Malcontenti. The restaurant’s unusual name, Bastian Contrario, refers to someone who habitually takes a contrary view—an expression from Italian culture that adds a touch of character to the place.

Stepping into this osteria feels like visiting the living room of an eccentric collector - lively, and brimming with quirky objects that defy all aesthetic logic. The décor seems eager to tell a thousand stories, perhaps too many. The staff adds a theatrical touch to the ambiance: two waitresses without uniforms - a bohemian twist, perhaps? - and a third comfortably seated in the back, busy with accounting, presumably to make sense of the rather steep menu prices. As for the food, the menu boasts an abundance of Tuscan specialties, so extensive it feels like a culinary encyclopedia. If nothing else, it’s impossible not to find something to whet your appetite. Portions are generous - a plus for anyone who likes to leave a restaurant feeling full - and while the quality isn’t flawless, it’s still enjoyable except for the subpar dessert. The service could be described as rustic, which is a polite way of saying casual and a bit improvised.