Sandwich “lunch” stop. The drink was also traditional.
I rarely go on food tours because I prefer to wander around on my own. But the tour I took in Malta was an example of why one should take a food tour.
The tour is not just food. This is the view from the upper gardens where the tour guide explains a whole lot including which films were filmed here.
In Valletta, I joined a tour with the Valletta Street Food and Culture Walking Tour, found by my friend on TripAdvisor. This tour was great. Not just food, but culture, history, and movie locations.
The guide spoke excellent English (it’s one of the languages of Malta) and used a micrphone/headset system so you could always hear her.
It was good value for money, the walking was not too strenuous, and guide was great (guides must be licensed in Malta so they have to know their stuff).
Fried ravioli.
The cost is about $43 per person and for that you get four food and culture stops and three hours of information about Malta.
Horse meat stew.
The guide will ask you to pre-select if you want to try the horse meat.
Cheese and salami plate.
The amounts of food are not overly huge but enough that you will not need to eat lunch.
Coffee stop at a traditional bakery.
At the final stop, you get free beer, an appetizer slate, and a small main dish.
Dessert at the “dinner” stop.
Conveniently, the tour ends in a food hall so you can keep eating if you are still hungry or just want to sit for a while.
There are many Chinese restaurants in Rome, but I like spicy Chinese food (like food from Sichuan). I have been to about 15 Chinese restaurants at this point and I am finding that most are the “same same” — so I do not want to continue. The first three are places where one can get spicy “Sichuan” style food. The rest are where you can get okay Chinese food. ***update December 2022 — I did finally find really spicy food at the hotpot restaurant called Tianci Chongqing.***
The spicy hotpot is sure fire way to make sure you eat something spicy!
Sichuan, Via di San Martino ai Monti 33: It was supposed to be spicy but I didn’t think it was. The food was good. I took a Chinese person with me so maybe the food was better because of that.
Xiao Shenyang, Via di S. Croce in Gerusalemme 91a: On a dingy thoroughfare but if you can speak Chinese to the owner and he does the cooking, then you can get authentic spicy Chinese food.
ChongQing Impresiones, Via Vicenza 10: Near the train station with a casual cafe feel but excellent cucumber salad and other vegetables. I’ll be back. Sichuan style food but not sure about it.
Mi Cucina Cinese, Via Giovanni Botero 31: Located quite a bit out of the city (five miles is a long way in Rome) with good dishes but not worth the haul. They fried rice with beef and fried egg served on a massive iron hotplate is straight up comfort food.
These were interesting, and not bitter.
MiFang, Via Firenze 30: In Monti, and a bit fancy inside. They have excellent special fried rice but the portions are small. The sweet and sour chicken balls are worth it just because they are served in a bowl of ice… and still are hot enough to burn the roof of your mouth.
Mandarin Chow, Via Emilia 85: Considered one of the best. I thought it was good but not sure it was the best, but maybe I have a faulty memory.
Tea and Noodles, Via Conte Verde 38. It’s comfort food when you need it. Homemade noodles and dumplings. While it is a casual cafe, the menu is extensive and even includes Peking Duck. The homemade dumplings, fried rice, chicken crunchies (not sure what they are called but that is what they were), and pork belly were probably the best things but I love the garlicky cucumber salad and the sour pickled radish.
Tea & Noodles chicken crunchies.Sichuan – Dumplings in spicy oil, chicken with chiles, and hot and sour soup.Apparently this plum drink is what one drinks with spicy food. It tasted a bit like ice tea.
Chinese Tea House, Via Otranto 3 in Prati: This place has an all you can eat sushi offer that one orders through a tablet at the table. But, they also have a Sichuan menu which is really more generic Chinese food. Not bad for generic. I’ll go back for the shrimp.
Online reviews say that the Tea House is hard to find but it is not. It’s covered in flowers, which you can see in the background.
T’Ang Cout, Via Filippo Turati 54: The service is nice. The place is well lit and pleasant. The food is okay.
Coconut tapioca dessert at T’ang Cout.
Oolong, Piazza di San Paola alla Regola: Very fancy with a strict Chinese owner. Outdoor seating, a vast menu, housemade noodles and dumplings, oysters, and the best part were the desserts.
This dessert at Oolong was the best thing there.Heji.
Heji, Via Daniele Manin 61: This is a newish place and they are not finished decorating. It has a hole in the wall feel, and it located on a busy street with a tram line chunting along outside. The folks are friendly and they seem to do a massive delivery service.
Water spinach, kang kong, is very popular and is in season in the fall.
I also went to some others, like Green T, but I don’t recommend them. Green T had nice decor, too pricey, food was cold, and too fancy with no flavor.
One of the “chandelier” problems with Italy is that the food is delicious and one could spend a life time trying it all. That said, I have some food that I have liked more than others. I expected to like the cheeses of Piemonte as that is where much of the dairy farming happens. But, I found it not so exciting. Here is an article on some of the typical dishes to try. I only managed a few of them.
Agnolotti di plin.
Agnolotti di Plin are small stuffed pasta. The filling is usually a meat reduction and the one I had was surrounded by a chestnut paste adding to the gamey feel.
Raw meat. They love raw beef tartar.
Sausage stuffed vegetables.
An array of special appetizers with sausage, anchovy, truffles, cheese fondant, and eggs.
Egg frittata with cheese sauce.
Truffles.
Breadsticks. Grissini are apparently a specialty of the area.
Quail eggs and cooked tuna.
Russian salad. I actually liked this mayonnaise based salad of potatoes, carrots, and peas. The one I had was very fancy.
As I have mentioned before, “pizza” is “bread” in Italy. There are many types of pizza and in Turin, I tried yet a different type. A personal sized deep pan pizza (for those who have had pizza in Pizza Hut in the United States, it is like those). It is called Pizza al Padellino.
In Turin (famous for the Shroud of Turin — which incidentally is so delicate that it will not be on show again until 2025), there is a type of pizza that is small, soft, and baked in a pan. The pan is about 10 centimeters across/7 inches across. The dough is airy and yeasty so rises to a pillow when baked.
The staff encouraged me to get the black pizza dough as it was special. The taste is the same but the dough is black due to charcoal. It looks special too.
The taste was as one imagines. Light, airy, yeasty, and with crunchy edges.
It was not my favorite because the dough had that “cookie dough” quality to it. and I am not into the cookie dough. I preferred it be cooked all the way through. But, if you like raw dough…
There are only 12 so that makes it easier. I am listing the restaurants on flavor, authenticity, and selection.
Seoul Restaurant is old school.
Seoul: This place was filled with Koreans and the atmosphere is more family than business lunch. They have no mandu (dumplings) but otherwise a full menu. The service was fast and the flavors were authentic. Not a wide variety of panchan but at least the kimchi was okay. This is on the south side (also figuratively) of Termini. This newly renovated place is down in a basement and I think it is located where the previous highly rate Hana was once located. I would go back.
Seoul restaurant is newly renovated down in a basement.
Starbaps: This tiny three high table top take out place has five things on the menu (bento box, rice bowls, dumplings, rice cakes, and soup) but the flavor is authentic. But it annoys me that they deep fry their mandu as this destroys any “chew” factor. I go back all the time.
This a tiny place with a few high top tables.
Gainn: Perfectly acceptable place to eat Korean. Elegant enough for a nice meal. Near Termini on the nice side. Probably would take newbies here.
Gainn is a fairly classic Korean place. HanCook in south Rome.
Hancook: New restaurant, pleasant atmosphere. They are a bit south of the center. The seafood pancake was good, but the bulgogi was bad. It tasted blah. The japchae noodles were excellent. They had no beef mandu (dumplings) but have small deep fried scallion gyoza. They also have pork dumplings in a money sack shape were “sold out” when I visited. The pork, seafood, and tofu stew was spicy and okay. The rice was not sticky Korean rice. The restaurant looks nice but there were not too many Koreans eating there even though the owner is Korean and the waitress is also Korean. She bops around in her mom jean shorts and speaks Italian. Might go back.
At HanCook, the bulgogi looks okay but it has no taste.
Jangbaeksan/Chang Bai Shan: It’s Chinese Korean. Perfectly acceptable Korean food. A bit far out down south of the center of town. Might go back.
Lettuce included at Jang Baek San.
Da Lui Bian BBQ: This place is listed as a yakitori (meat on stick in Japanese) place but the photos show Korean items. The Korean items are all fine. The bulgogi was more like roastbeef so not too sinewy. This place is also near the center of town so convenient. Might go back.
Large but few portions of panchan at Da Lui Bian.
Kombi Ni Ni: is a pan Asian place but they do make some Korean items. Very generic pan Asian but okay if your live nearby. It is actually a Korean owned shop but they are doing well enough that it takes 90 minutes to get the food so it is best to order online. I liked their fried chicken but it could have been fried anything. Good though. The kimbap (like sushi rolls/maki but these are with beef) were good too. No kimchi served with meals/bento boxes. A bit like Starbaps. Too far away to go back to.
Mamma Coreana/Corea: This is a bit like eating at a Korean mamma’s house. They have all you can eat which includes some basics including rice and soup. There are a few a la carte items but not much of a menu. When the food is done, it’s done. This is bare bones, TV on, children running around, businessmen on video calls with wife while eating, kind of place. I might go back.
Arirang is down those stairs…
Arirang: The food was very average, the location and facade make it a hole in the wall. This is the place that I’ve seen from when driving around Termini… I even walked around twice looking for this place with the Korean painted frontage… and then I searched on Google Earth… finally, I found it by reading other lists of Korean restaurants in Rome, but I clicked on the image search instead of the regular search. Read that list here. I would not go back.
I-gio: This is possibly the most trendy of the Korean restaurants. The restaurant is elegant. The food was okay but I didn’t find it good enough to finish or take home. I would not go back.
Galbi: This was another strange frankenstein of a place. The menu is made for Italians. If you want the food served more Korean style, the owner will do so. I wish him good luck, but I would not go here for Korean food. I might go back to grill steak on the mini grill for an Instagram video. Would not go back.
CLOSED: Biwon: Sad. I did not finish the food and I left quickly. Now called Sura, much better.
There are two other restaurants listed on Google but…
Kumkan-san: way outside Rome, near Ciampino airport. Temporarily closed.
Rist.coreano: Outside the ring road around Rome. I think this is only for organized tour groups and I don’t think this is really open to the public.
And then there are places with Korean food on the menu:
Raviolieri: It’s not Korean but while many restaurants are trying to get a piece of the “Korean chicken wing” action, this place actual has several pages of Korean items on their menu. The items are fusion Roman-Korean.
Most of the restaurants now make “Korean chicken” wings but they are not. They are chicken wings. Some have sauce. It is not the same as the ethereal rice flour wings of real Korean chicken wings.
An digestif made from arugula. I can’t recall what the other one was made from.
As they say, what does not kill you, will make you better. I am always suspicious of things that are supposedly really good for you or things that will increase my sexual stamina. Usually these things are things that are terrible tasting.
Often, you are offered a limoncello at the end of the meal.
Italians have an obsession with their intestinal and gut health. Drinking a little digestif, digestivo, is something many of them are accustomed to.
“Amaro” is bitter. No kidding.
Digestifs are usually an alcoholic beverage that you enjoy at the end of meal. It is not meant to be downed like a shot. As with many things in Italy, most of the Italian digestifs are bitter. Oh how they love bitter here!
I have tried a few. Some made from walnuts and some made from arugula. The one made from arugula is a specialty of Ischia, an island near Capri.
If they are not too bitter, then they are often too sweet. When I tried the Ratafia, I was delighted because while sweet, it at least tasted good.
While there are many local specialties that everyone will recommend, like orecchiette in Apulia, I want to mention some that do not get mentioned as often.
Egg soup, Salina: A soup with poached eggs and vegetables.
Egg soup
Fried cheese, Abruzzo (and other areas): This fried cheese is a bit like haloumi in Greece, but not as salty. Served melted from the oven. In Salina, it is deep fried.
Fried cheese
Pizzeli (wine cookies): Most regions of Italy have round hard not sweet crackers that are for dipping in wine.
Egg cheese balls, Abruzzo: These were like a cheese egg souffle in a round donut hole size and shape. Served with red tomato sauce.
Raw artichoke salad: Actually, try any of the salads and vegetables that you have never tried before like raw fennel or artichoke.
Fried egg tart, Campania: A frittata which is then deep fried.
Taralla (Napoli): These are another baked bread twist. Many places in Italy make them like a small ring but in Naples, they are longer.
Fish balls, Salina: On this island off of Sicily, one can try tender fish balls. Try them. They are surprisingly good.
Fish balls
Pizzette (small pizzas), Rome: Many bakeries sell mini pizzas (many with no cheese or red sauce as a pizza just means a type of bread). These pizzette are often served at happy hour.
Pane Cunzatu, Salina: This is like a giant garlic bread. The plate-sized bread is toasted and smothered in toppings. Absolutely awesome!
Cunzatu
The melon-cucumber of Apulia: I wrote about this before. When in season, it is served as the “vegetable” but only to locals so make sure to ask!
The Aeolian islands are called the gourmet islands. I think they may have styled themselves as this as a tourist attraction. Conde Naste Traveler magazine called them this and based the article around a female Michelin star chef who owns Signum on the island of Salina, the second largest of the Aeolian islands. Lipari is the biggest.
The upstairs of the catamaran.
Getting to the islands is by boat or catamaran. Of helicopter if you want. The catamaran from Milazzo on Sicily took under two hours. The port restaurant at Milazzo is really good. Best bread I’ve had, excellent sandwiches, good beer, and well, overall better than they need to be for having a captive audience. The ferry from or to Naples from Salina is about six hours and I wouldn’t recommend it. The air conditioning only worked well on one side and because the Italians have a severe fear of upsetting their digestion, those that had sat over there were wearing their jackets and scarves but refused to move. Even in the windy cold side of the boat, it was still only 80 F or 27 C. The hot side of the boat was 99 F or 37 C (I carry a thermometer with me for just this sort of situation). When I opened up some of the vents to get more air, I had many fingers waggled at me to stop. The toilet also became somewhat of a fetid horror.
A view from one of the Relax Salina Boats.
Getting to and from the islands is fairly easy as there are ferries and local boat companies that stop at the various islands including Stromboli, famous volcanic island. Ask at your hotel or B&B. Everyone knows everyone on these islands so they will all have a cousin or brother or son who has a boat.
The social media director was way fly and hip looking.
But, the islands are famous for their food scene. The restaurants I liked in Santa Marina on Salina were Lo Schiavo, nni’ Lausta, and Mamma Santina. Down in Lingua, there is a restaurant, Il Gambero, on the harbor which runs a shuttle (the dad runs it) to Santa Marina. Try the local speciality called “pane cunzato” a sort of large garlic bread with various toppings. I loved it because they used raw garlic. Although seafood is the speciality, there are vegetarian options on all the menus.
Imagine this fresh tuna from the fish shop.
If you have an opportunity, buy the fresh tuna tartare at the fish shop, Pescharia A Lampara (there is only one fish shop). It’s so fresh and glistens like rubies.
Linen in all sizes.
While resting between meals, buy linen and crochet. If you can afford it. Some of the nice dresses were handmade and cost 700 euro. Be aware that this is small town life so many shops close for lunch. But a few don’t and most have air conditioning. The people are generally friendly. The main street of Santa Marina is mainly pedestrian making for good shopping and eating. And people watching.
View from Hotel Mercanti di Mari
For happy hour, go to the Hotel Mercanti di Mari by the harbor where they have a make your own bruschetta station. Drink wine and admire the view of the harbor.
Unusual bread at the local bakery.
If you want a nightclub, go to the Porto Bello restaurant by the dock. Just be aware that any shenanigans you take home with you will be known all over the island. If you don’t mind adding to the local action, then never mind.
The main street in the morning when the delivery trucks are allowed in. Nni’ Lausta on the left has a secret garden.
The reason many go is for the food and one could just visit Salina and eat well. But, stay a while longer, and become part of the local soap opera scene… I befriended a local, not knowing that he was a local passionate about more than fish. When I described this local casanova to the manager at the place where I was staying, she said with a wise nod that she knew who I was talking about . She added, “he is busy busy all the time”… on an island with as many bikini clad tourists as this one, one can see how he constantly had a fresh “catch.”
One of the many gourmet food stores.
Otherwise, sit back and enjoy chatting with the locals and soaking up the local. If you imagine a BBC feel-good romantic comedy, then you get an idea of what I saw in this little island buzzing with flashing smiles, bronzed arms, and twinkling glances.
Nni’ Lausta’s upstairs terrace is perfect for an assignation. Or just a rest from the heat of the day.
The best pickle I’ve had in Italy but is it worthy of a Michelin star? Signum.
Some of the worst meals I’ve had in Italy have been in fancy expensive Michelin star restaurants. Some people get super excited about Michelin stars and deem those restaurants better than others. I do not get it. The Michelin star system started out as a way to get the tires worn out. Italy does not need these fancy restaurants. Actually the Michelin star system has nothing to do with how fancy the restaurant is but solely the food, cooking, and constituency of those things. The general public seems to not know this. Michelin is not even all over the world yet (they say that they are taking is slowly). Michelin has not reached South America yet. Imagine that! There are restaurants in Lima that should have a star, but Michelin hasn’t gotten there yet. If consistently making good food was really the reason to give a place a star, then many more would have them.
Eggplant parmesan with anchovy from Mamma Santina, Salina. Not by a Michelin chef. But stellar nonetheless.
The food in Italy is already natural, local, and delicious. The various types of Italian cuisine (there are many) are based on local, simple, and delicious. Michelin seems to go for innovative, expensive, and small portions. Add to that how hard it is to get a reservation at a Michelin star restaurant, and it is just not my idea of a good food experience. Some of the finest dishes I’ve tasted were not by a Michelin star chef.
One thing that many people like about small portions is that it allows them to try many things and it is a form of portion control. You can try that anyway in Italy. The portions of appetizers and first courses are not necessarily that huge. Or share with a friend. Most restaurants will even split the dish onto two plates.
Bao at the Michelin star chef’s place, Signum.
The last Michelin star restaurant experience underlined why Italy doesn’t need Michelin Star restaurants. One of the dishes “invented” was a bao, a steam Asian style bun. But it wasn’t as good as the authentic ones and I do not think it highlighted the ingredients. Then we had an appetite stimulant of pickles which were the most sour I have had in Italy. I can see how this was innovative for Italy where sour is not sour. One dish was a roasted escarole (half an escarole head). It cost 38 euro.
Caponata at Signum. One of the normal dishes there.
I guess my biggest peeve with these restaurants is that they are so pricey and pretentious. Most of the places on my list are not expensive, and not pretentious. Nothing makes food taste bad like attitude.
The current system where restaurants are listed in the Michelin guide is just like Yelp or TripAdvisor. The guide in Italy is Gambero Rosso. The Michelin guide is separate from a chef earning a star, of which there are 367 (318 have one star) in Italy. I am glad when a woman gets a star but I don’t think that makes the overall system better. The Michelin guide badge is a round red sticker that you can see on many restaurant doors alongside the ones for TripAdvisor.
I tend to use Google ratings because I like the democracy of the system. It relies on average eaters reviewing places and not a specialized team of experts who want to wear out your tires in France. In Italy, most restaurants make consistently good food. Or consistently bad. Try them for yourself.
Obviously, this list is a work in progress as I have not been to that many restaurants, not even 100. First, a word about dessert. Stick to the tiramisu. Except when you really want to try the cannoli and the young man says that they make it in house.
This list is only places that are not super super famous. But, first let me mention one famous place in Verona. Antica Bottega del Vino was recommended to me by a sommelier. It is all the pomp and atmosphere that you did not know you wanted to watch with your food. Maybe they hire the barkeeps to look like Roman gods? The food was clearly cooked by someone trained as a professional chef. It looked like that too. But was still great. I have not included any photos from there because their website shows what the place looks like quite well.
Grilled cheese in ‘nni Lausta.
Peccato del Vino, Otranto, Apulia: The owner will make you feel so welcome and the bubbly doesn’t hurt either. Her dishes are riffs on classics and not in a way that makes them unrecognizable, but in a way that makes them delicious, and distinct.
Those russet filaments of chili make my day. This is in Otranto.
‘nni’ Lausta, Santa Marina, Salina, Aeolian Islands, Sicily: of the many excellent restaurants we tried on Salina, this was the one with the most refined food.
At ‘nni Lausta, the classic caponata is presented with bread crumbs on the side.
Mamma Santina, Santa Marina, Salina, Aeolian Islands, Sicily: For their innovative eggplant parmesan, made with local anchovies but still a traditional dish. All their other food was also excellent. This restaurant is located in a hotel but don’t be put off by that. The restaurant is open air and overlooks the town and the sea.
The upstairs garden of ‘nni Lausta is an oasis.
La Tagliata Fattoria, Positano, Amalfi Coast: A recommendation. Also famous, but still on my list, not for the food which is homemade and good, but for the magical view, and the family. And the elevator.
Everything on this plate was made within an arms length of the plate.
This customized vegetarian lasagne was the star at Le Comari di Farfa.
The place that most likely not to be on anyone else’s list was a camping site. In fact, I can’t even find it on my Google maps… But, don’t judge. If the food served there had been served in a fancy place in Bologna or Verona, people would be raving about it. Their pasta alle vongole was so good that we each had our own serving. The cannoli was as gourmet as you can get (as you can see from the photo at the top) served on a slate plate and with a dusting of powdered sugar. Although cannoli are famous from Sicily, this one was at the other end of Italy… the lesson is that if your navigator (me) says to go there, then try it!
Trattoria il borghetto, Salve, Apulia: I recommend this place because the “mayor” of Torre in Pali sent us there. The restaurant is in a small hilltop village and one eats inside a castle courtyard. It has that sort of fairytale feel to it. The meal is a large one with many first courses so make sure you are hungry.
Finally, I also recommend the steakhouses (we went to one called 101 Best Steakhouses located near the train station) in Florence. Even if you don’t eat meat. Just thinking about their steak makes me weak at the knees, but their vegetarian ravioli was good too.
Was that ten? But, as I keep finding new ones… I will update this list.
The chocolate syrup is an extra touch. This one is from Naples.
When it is hot in Italy, you want to order a “caffe freddo” (cold coffee) which is sort of like a coffee milkshake. It’s a bit confusing because it is not a “frappe” which is a different drink. I include a photo here so that you can see that a frappe is a coffee which is frothed to the point where it has a frappe/froth/head on top. A caffe freddo has milk added, a frappe does not.
A frappe — not a caffe freddo.
When you see the slush machines spinning with coffee colored caffe freddo, you know that summer has arrived. A caffe freddo is different from an iced coffee or milkshake.
A caffe freddo from Otranto, Apulia.
As an aside, the milkshakes in Italy are quite liquid and not unlike a caffe freddo except that they are not always as cold. Also, you can get a milkshake most of the year but caffe freddo is a summer thing.
The English word confetti comes from the Italian word for an almond confectionary. This candy is from the town of Sulmona in Abruzzo, with a tradition stretching back more than three hundred years.
Paper confetti is called “coriandoli” in Italian. And just to be even more confusing the Italian for cilantro is “coriandolo” so a single confetti. In the renaissance, the confetti used for celebrations was coriander seeds in small pieces of paper used as a breath freshener. The almonds coated in sugar were also part of the celebration. At some point these all got mixed up.
The town of Sulmona is a pretty mountain town. But the main reason to visit is to buy almond confectionary (the confetti) and saffron.
