I expect many of you will disagree with this post but having had a summer of too many restaurant meals I have been giving some thought to this area of our lives.
I love food, there is no doubt about that and we have a huge number of places to choose from to eat here in Italy and on the whole it’s not too expensive. What it is though is mostly variations on a theme. Antipasti, (cold meats, cheese, olives etc.,) Primo (pasta dishes) Secondo (meat or fish) Contorni (sides, salads, veg, potatoes etc.,) and dolci (desserts). The meals are humungous and it takes about three hours to get through them. We, that is The Man and I have come to the conclusion that if we eat out in Italy we want to do it at lunchtime so that by the time we go to bed the food has had time to be partly digested. If we eat out in the evening then invariably we can’t sleep and suffer from indigestion. I know we’re getting on a bit but that’s not necessarily the problem.
Apart from the lack of variety in the Italian restaurants there are very few if any other types of restaurant other than Italian in this area. Fine if you’re on holiday but when you live here? We need a little more choice and I did find something different in October…
I’m not a lover of burgers and American food but we had visitors who I took for a walk along the seashore at Grottamare one lunchtime. Neither of my guests wanted to eat seafood and most of the restaurants by the sea serve predominantly fish. I remembered I’d see something about an American Food place opening in San Benedetto only a few kilometres down the road. A quick phone call (thank you India) and off we went. It was brilliant. What a change it made to eat something different. I feared it would be quasi American with pasta definitely showing somewhere on the menu but no, Caesar Salad, burgers (real), pancakes, maple syrup, (yum) American Cheesecake, it was like being in New York and I was frantically texting my daughter in Brooklyn, I don’t think she could understand why I was so excited.
I really enjoyed my lunch and felt it was worth every cent…
Recently, last week in fact, we went to the UK. The choice was huge, Italian, English, French, Thai, Indian, Moroccon, Mexican and that was just in Lyme Regis! (joke). I suffered from indigestion nearly everyday, a full stomach, a few pounds heavier and an empty wallet by the end of the trip.
In Bristol we had; a disappointing curry (3/10), fish and chips, very good (9/10) it was in the top 100 fish&chip shops in the UK. One lunch was taken at the Waterfront, watery soup, salty mussels and not so good fish pie (4/10)
In Bournemouth a fish restaurant we went to was very good (8/10) but quite pricey and afterwards we decided they were trying to be too fussy and less fancy would have been preferable. A bit of indigestion kicked in around 11pm. We did have a fantastic breakfast though in our hotel, a Full English (10/10) from which we are deprived here and although I cook it at home, the bacon is not right, the sausages just not the same and baked beans are about 2.50 euro a tin!
Not only do I love food, I love cooking and have come to the conclusion that eating at home is actually much better than eating out at a restaurant. Years ago, eating out or getting a takeaway (only pizza takeaway here) was a special treat and now it has become the norm for many people. At home I can conjure up most things, I bring over spices from the UK so that we can have Thai curries, I make shepherd’s pie, roast dinners (with all the trimmings and lashings of gravy), soups and fish dishes. I also cook pasta. The Man loves my cooking, it doesn’t cost us much and we don’t get indigestion!
I’m not dissing all restaurants and I’m not saying I never want to go to any again. I love meeting up with friends and going out. But, I have to say that it’s mostly better if you meet up at someone’s house and take a dish or two. Sharing is caring. Also you get to speak to everyone that way. When you are at a big table and go out to dinner you can only really converse with your immediate neighbours. I think a romantic dinner in a restaurant is a great thing to do on a special occasion, except on Valentine’s night when they hike the prices up everywhere.
My favourite restaurants locally.
I Piceni (romantic dinner) Fab desserts.
Mamma Rosa’s (family and friends) Nutella pizza anyone?
Parco Galeano (family and friends) good homemade bread gets thumbs up.
Re Squarchio (family and friends, or romantic for two) quality cooking
Ristorante Roma (a must for Sunday lunch…although you won’t get roast dinner!) Definitely a family favourite! (their site seems to be down at the moment so I’ll add a link later)
Best meal out this year was back in April in Taverna Del Lupo in Gubbio where we had the tastiest and most beautifully cooked lamb we’ve eaten since being in Italy. Oh and of course the wine is good and soooo much cheaper here.
Off to Thailand in December, I cannot wait to sample the food. Maybe I’ll change my mind about eating out?
You’re making me hungry!
Sunday lunch will be served in one hour…. tutto preparato in casa! (All prepared at home 🙂 ) Pull up a chair and open a bottle of red.
Only I Piceni lives up to the standard of Nins home cooking – how lucky am I to still be only 95 kilos!!
what about the curry restaurant near Termini in Rome? – that was a find
Sunday lunch by the way was the supreme manifestation of Nin’s legendary cuisine – and all done with no apparent effort and hardly any mess – I cannot think of anywhere I have eaten that would create anything close … certainly not One Kew Road in Richmond where we went en masse to be badly disappointed earlier this year!!
Buon appetito tutti
Congratulations on your honesty! I know what you mean and would only add that, as my daughter says, you are very unlikely to get a disgusting meal in Italy, though you may get an uninspiring one.
thats true enough! the only places you will ever eat badly in italy (and you will have to be an unlucky tourist) are Rome and Venice – coincidentally these are the 2 places where the tipping culture is most prevalent!! I don’t think there is any doubt that across the country the cucina is uniformly wonderful – its just that … well …. its uniform!