Hotel Grand Matej has a nice location, great view from the patio and decent service. However, the food was probably the worst I tasted in Banska Stiavnica, and the patio is so overrun with insects that it would be a miracle if some of it...didn't end up eaten.
We came here for a quiet dinner, and a quiet atmosphere we got. Despite the large facilities and a nice evening, and even though the restaurant offered a very novel feature - a fire pit where customers could roast their own food, such as sausages, there was only one couple except us. We found a place on the patio with a great view at the New Castle, lit against the night sky. The service was prompt, and in no time we had some wine and placed our order.
To our dismay, the food was miserable. One meal was oversalted, and the other was spiced to the point that one could not feel the actual taste of the Chicken Penne Arrabiata. I've had this meal in many other places, and while I expect it to be a little hot, I didn't anticipate the eye-watering, overwhelming taste of the chillies. The menu did not indicate any spiciness, either.
As a bonus, we got extra protein in the form of flying ants. The patio is inundated with insects of all shapes and sizes, and the smaller ones freely fly into people's meals and promptly drown. Even though we were trying to fish all of them out, I doubt we succeeded. The server apologized, but admitted that it was a common problem, and that people even got stung by wasps. Even though the patio has a small and attractive playground, we would not recommend letting children there, with stinging insects around.
All in all, we were very disappointed with the quality of the food. Even though Banska Stiavnica doesn't have too much to offer, this was still at the bottom, taste-wise. The inconvenience of swarming insects just adds to the extra misery for customers. The view, location and quick and attentive service earns this establishment an extra point, but even that isn't enough to pull it op to an average.More