One of the first restaurants you come across walking downhill from the Vernazza train station into the main hub is Trattoria da Sandro. It's always the rule that you don't walk into the first restaurant you come across, especially on the main road. But after wandering around the town, it seemed as safe a place to eat as any and we happily settled on the wooden platform out the front, and watched the world walk by.
- Spaghetti seafood;
- Baked potatoes topped with anchovies & tomato.
Despite the high tourist traffic through Cinque Terre, it was surprisingly difficult to find many places recommended online. It could be because most people (especially tourists who use English websites) stay in the much bigger town of Monterosso. Or perhaps Cinque Terre is still relatively unspoilt enough such that anywhere is fine.
Da Piva had some appeal in being off the central road in Vernazza. I had read mixed reviews online but the seafood risotto had been mentioned a few times as worth getting. I'm glad I tried it.
- Grilled octopus;
- Seafood risotto - this delicious pot held a nice array of seafood in a much wetter than typical risotto. It was much more of a seafood stew with rice, and a great one at that. I wish I could have finished it but it was too large;
- Spaghetti seafood.
One of the quintessential Cinque Terre walks is the via dell'Amore between Manarola and Riomaggiore. This lovers' walk is most pleasant at sunset and it is easily to stroll the short 1km or so whilst enjoying the weather (in summer), ocean scenery, and general beauty. Access to the trails between cities costs, but after 8pm all the check points close meaning they are free. In the midst of summer the sun may not have set at 8pm making this the ideal time to go. However of course you need to buy (maybe not "need") a train ticket to get back to your city of choice (Vernazza for me).
Before the walk there was time for dinner. For no particular reason I chose to from Riomaggiore to Manarola. I'd recommend this way again as you walk towards the sunset (on my evening at least) rather than away from it.
I didn't have any particular food places in Riomaggiore, so after a short look around, there were several good looking options. I opted for somewhere that didn't have the ocean and beach views.
- Tagliolini al nero di seppia al tocco di scorfano, capperi ed olive Liguri Taggiasche - Tagliolini pasta cooked with cuttlefish ink with a dash of scorpion fish sauce, capers & Ligurian "Taggiasche" olives;
- Calamari e seppie fresch alla griglia - grilled fresh squids & cuttlefish;
- Zuppi di frutti di mare in polpa di pomodoro, rosamarino, olio extravergine di oliva - typical local specialty shellfish soup with tomato pulp, red pepper & rosemary sauce;
- Spaghetti al mare di Liguria (con frutti di mare di Giornata, pomodoro fresco, prezzemolo ed olio extravergine di oliva) - Ligurian seafood spaghetti with mixed seafood, fresh tomatoes, parsley and extra virgin olive oil.
The food was as delicious as it looked. I was happy to be able to try some of the local Ligurian specialty dishes.
Looking at the menu again, next time I'd try the local specialty pasta of Acciugata spaghetti with fresh anchovies from Monterosso, capers and oregano. The flavour combination sounds right up my alley.
Around the corner from Trattoria Mario is Zaza. Within this quite busy piazza Mercato Centrale, the food options are plentiful. I generally try to avoid food recommendations from LP and RG, unless I have read online things about them that interest me. My brother really wanted to eat here countering that their recommendation in LP and RG might mean they are actually good and not just full of tourists. I suppose the other thing that deterred me was the enormous sign board menu outside.
Every single other food place in Italy was selected by me so I let him have this one. We trundled there for our final dinner in Florence.
The setting is actually quite nice, with a large outdoor area that is perfect for the July summer evenings. For that reason I didn't even see the inside other than to approach to get a table.
- Insalata Campagnola - salad with proscuitto, pear and cheese;
- Spaghetti allo scoglie;
- Fettuccine alla bolognese;
- Risotto zafferano, zucchine, gamberi e tartufo fresco - saffron risotto with fresh shaved black truffles.
Overall the food was excellent. I can't say that about every place I'm hesitant about, but I was wrong about this one.
I don't find that much to do in Florence. After visiting David, considering a trip inside Uffizi, seeing the street sculptures and roaming about Ponte Vecchio, there's only really outlet shopping left. Perhaps this will change on my next return after recently reading Dan Brown's Inferno. Crossing over to the other side of the bridges is probably something I should look more into. On this one occasion the journey over had the purpose of eating on the other side. Surprisingly not many places on the main cityside took my interest.
I wanted to eat bistecca alla Fiorentina. On my list Trattoria Sostanza sounded interesting because it had this dish but also a particularly well reputed buttered chicken. Unfortunately it is closed on weekends so I had to look elsewhere.
Trattoria Dante met the criteria for across the bridge, exploration and also reputation for pasta (for my brother) and steak (for me). I was surprised to find the name of the place Pizzeria Dante, although the official title still says ristorante trattoria pizzeria. It's a much more upmarket place than the standard trattorias or pizzerias, so be aware the clientele and setting is quieter.
- bread - we didn't order this but as is Italian restaurant tradition, it was served. Considering the pizzeria reputation, this was exceptional bread. I imagine their pizzas would be fantastic;
- Insalata di mare caldo (calamari, gamberetti) - seafood salad with squid, shrimps;
- Spaghetti ai frutti di mare (calamari, cozze, vongole e gamberetti) - rich with calamari, clams, mussells and shrimps;
- Pappardelle al sugo di cinghiale (wild boar sauce);
- Bistecca alla Fiorentina - Tuscan beef T-bone served perfectly seared into rare. The meat was lovely and tender but could have used extra seasoning.
Overall it was a little too much food for two people. But it didn't stop me from having impromptu gelato down the road at La Carraia.
Back in February 2005 I made my first trip to Florence. My mate and I stayed in a cheap twin room in a plaza somewhere. As this was my first overseas trip in years, I left all the planning to my mate and his Lonely Planet. Our accommodation host decided to recommend us a local place to eat - Trattoria Mario. It was on the corner of the same plaza we were staying and seemed quite busy. What impressed us was that we were the only non-Italians that were there (granted this was winter) but I'm certain also because it hadn't been discovered by the internet and others yet. I recall an exceptional pork chop bursting with flavour and grilled goodness, a jovial loud atmosphere and a pretty good pasta ragu.
Fast forward 7 years and I found myself in Florence again. My mate (who wasn't with me) and I often reminisced about this trattoria but neither of us could recall the name nor location. I was actually wandering around looking for Osteria Pepo (which has great reviews online) when I found a familiar face - it was Mario. Memories of the store front, the plaza corner location and the meat inside came flooding back.
What less impressed me was the clientele - all American. The loud accented voices filled the space outside of patrons waiting to go inside. All I could hear was how "awesome" it was, how everything was "awesome" and someone's friend had said it was "awesome" and after finally finishing and coming out it was all "awesome". I thought if it was worth the 20min or so wait amongst this crowd and decided I should pay homage.
The bustle inside had escalated now to loud English voices, the lack of old Italian families, but the familiar sight of huge steaks still remained.
- Penne al ragu - flavoursome simple dish enhanced with parmesan;
- Bistecca di maiale (pork chop) - not as tender as I remember but still juicy and packed with flavour;
- Disossata (boneless beef steak) - served rare (no exceptions, which makes me happy) and nicely charred.
The food is still great. The beef texture was better but the pork flavour was better. Meat remains my friend. Until next time Mario.
For the last meal in Rome (before heading off to Florence), the last thing on my list for Trastevere was to try the local cacio e pepe - a pasta dish of cheese and black pepper. The restaurant on my mind was Taverna Trilussa. For some reason it was decided against here, possibly because it is a bit more of a finer dining place and so far the pasta quality locally was so good it didn't seem necessary to pay more.
Casetta di Trastevere was a simple walk past in a plaza of nice seeming restaurants. Once I saw the cacio & pepe on the menu and the excellent prices, the risk was taken to eat here. The pastas for €5-8 didn't seem out of place compared to some of the more expensive tried at other establishments. There were no complaints from my end.
- Gnocchi allo scoglio (with sea fruits);
- Spaghetti al cartoccio (in foil with clams, mussels, squid, shrimp);
- Rigatoni cacio & pepe (with pecorino cheese & black pepper) - served on a delicious burnt cheese bowel and added to the dishes simple delicious cheese flavour dotted with pepper.
One of the joys of having spare time in Rome and staying in Trastevere is the option of wandering through the backstreets. Not only do you find many restaurants that English Google is yet to, there are also many delis selling fresh and dried ingredients, a few shops to visit, and otherwise a lazy time in peace.
La Fraschetta is apparently a good place to eat gnocchi. Gnocchi Thursday is a thing in Rome and so my intention was to come here for that. Gnocchi used to be my pasta of choice when I was young (about 10 years ago) because it seemed the best value, the most filling, great fun to chew, and there were no packets of this dried pasta in Safeway.
Sure enough on this evening the gnocchi was being served, and the dense little chunks were soft with the faintest al dente bite that I don't associate usually with Western-style gnocchi. I'm not sure I still like it more than traditional stranded pasta, but for a Thursday tradition I can easily made exceptions for this quality.
In one of the slightly quieter piazzas of Trastevere lies a few (three I think) restaurants very close together. Two are next to each other and another is smaller and closeby on another wall of the piazza. Without knowing any of them, each looked reasonable and even though it was July, it was refreshing to find these all with Italians dining and barely any audible English.
Capo de Fero had the extra appeal of stating "cucina marinara" considering every meal in Rome (outside of a pizzeria) consisted of seafood pasta.
- Bucatini all'amatriciana (with bacon, pecorino cheese & chilli) - you can see the hole running through the pasta typical of bucatini;
- Spaghetti alla pescatora (with seafood);
- Spaghetti alle vongole veraci (with clams).
I actually had this place on my list for amatriciana and also coda alla vaccinara (oxtail in tomato sauce) but seemed to forget the oxtail once I arrived. Next time.
A restaurant in the streets of Trastevere that was a chance occurrence. I wanted Hostaria La Botticella but unfortunately they were full. This place had typical fare which was quite good. Doesn't the lasagne look special?
- Rockmelon & proscuittio;
- Gnocchi;
- Lasagne.