Trattoria di Donna Sofia – van Dam 9, dutchgrub 6-

Restaurant critic Johannes van Dam recently awarded Trattoria di Donna Sofia a 9 on a scale of 10. I think it’s a 6- at best.

Donna Sofia is located on the corner of 2e Anjeliersdwarsstraat and Anjeliersstraat. Good Italian restaurants in Amsterdam are few and far between, so I remembered when we were in the area and trying to decide where to have dinner. And I thought it would be fun to review van Dam’s review!

We got a table and I ordered some of the dishes that van Dam raved about. Zucchini parmigiana, scaloppine with truffle sauce and panna cotta. We also had involtini, rigatoni with eggplant sauce and tiramisu. The service was prompt, friendly and attentive. The restaurant was small and had an authentic trattoria feel. And the food was good. Especially van Dam’s recommendations, the sauce with real truffles (“a triumph”) and the panna cotta (“perfect consistency”).

Unfortunately not all dishes had the same quality. The involtini were served lukewarm. The rigatoni were undercooked. The meat of the scallopine was too thick and chewy. And the tiramisu had a strange spongy consistency and was too sweet.

Van Dam called the wine list short but extensive and settled for the house wine. We were delighted to find a ripasso on the list – our favorite wine and quite popular in Amsterdam these days. Unfortunately it was the worst ripasso I have had in a long time with little body and completely lacking the ripasso’s usual smoothness.

Finally there were inexcusable issues with the basics. The water carafe had a nasty cloudy film and the bread was cheap baguette that seemed to have come from the Albert Heijn around the corner.

Unfortunately the quest for good Italian restaurants continues. When you’re in the Jordaan and want Italian food, I find Cafe de Curtis much better than Donna Sofia.