We changed our plans while in country to divert to Maria's place as we read such good reviews about the place as well as the food. We had been traveling in Southern Sicily without many good meals so were looking forward to a good, home cooked meal. There were no photos of the actual room or amenities IN the room so went on the reviews alone. We had inquired before booking the morning of if we could enjoy a meal at the AirBnB as we had heard such great reviews about it and the breakfasts the next morning. They very kindly obliged. We arrived in the town around 6PM- I would note that there is no other reason to visit this town except to stay at Maria's place.
We were greeted warmly and shown to our room, which while sparkling clean, was very very basic. Based upon the reviews we expected as much, but would have been nice to have seen the room in the picture beforehand. The mattress was very uncomfortable so those with back problems (both myself and my traveling companion) should be weary. The bed was set inside of a bed frame much larger than the mattress so I smacked my shin on the frame several times as well. The view from the patio was beautiful and probably the highlight of Maria's place.
We went to dinner, having no expectations or clue what we would be having. As someone with some dietary restrictions, but not wanting to be overly picky, I didn't say much about our preferences as I generally can eat a variety of things (and they never asked!). I tend to shy away from too much shellfish as I will get congested. A little bit is ok, but not an entire meal. When we arrived they asked if we liked fish- YES, we Love fish. We were served a several course meal, but almost entirely of cephalopods; octopus (just seemingly boiled no flavor), raw shrimp, squid and baked calamari for our meal. Whilst lovingly prepared, almost none of it had much flavor at all. We were served a 'salad', but it was just leaves and a few tomatoes without any dressing/oil/vinegar just plain. We were served wine, just white, which I cannot drink, and my companion had one glass just to be kind, and water. The next morning for breakfast we had bread and two different pieces of cake. The dinner was 30Euros per person including wine. It was the second most expensive meal we had on our entire trip and the least flavorful. The hosts were kind and welcoming and lovely people, the view was beautiful, but the meals were mediocre. It would have been helpful to have either varied the courses a bit, or at least inquired as to preferences. Also, whilst we didn't ask in advance (and that's our fault) we were shocked to get the price the following day considering the cost of meals on the island. I feel like this is worth mentioning only because we, like many others here, were drawn here for the food/home-cooked meal.