Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

Don't believe a guidebook or website that tells you that a particular
restaurant has not been discovered by tourists. Be even more sceptical
if you read the claim in more than one place. In the unlikely event
that it was true when written, it's guaranteed to be untrue by the
time you read it.

It's not surprising that seafood is a speciality in Venice. Those who
prefer meat might find their choices are somewhat limited in some of
the places we visited. We ate well, if a little expensively. Before we
went, we collected a number of restaurant recommendations from a
variety of sources -- far more than we would have time to check out in
the course of our five day visit. One simple way to shorten the list
was to add ease of access as a criterion: we targeted
highly-recommended places that were fairly close to the apartment.

Trattoria da Bruno on Calle Paradiso met both criteria, especially the
second, as it was literally downstairs from our apartment. On our
first night in Venice, before we had got a feel for the local
geography, it was a particularly convenient option. We took a set
seafood menu and house wine, both of which were good without being
remarkable. The service, however, was. Our waiter knew how to make
customers feel welcome -- smiles, friendly chat without being
intrusive, good professional service. Just over €70.

Perhaps the best meal we had was in alla Testiere, Calle del Mondo
Nuovo. The place is quite small, and booking is advisable: even in
February, it was full the night we were there. We had been told that
it serves some of the best seafood in Venice. The menu seems to change
every day (something you would expect of a proper seafood restaurant)
and a good range of options is available. You need to concentrate, as
they seem not to have a written menu: the server recites it for you.
The cooking was superb, and the not-too-expensive Pinot Griggio was to
our liking. Desserts seemed good, judging from what we saw our
neighbours eat, but we were so well fed that we were unable to tackle
them. Well worth the €130 we spent.

Al Mascaron, Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa, is mentioned in several
guides. Unpretentious, very old-fashioned (authentically so -- rickety
bentwood chairs). Amiable staff. Excellent simple food, grilled fish
being a house speciality. Great value. About €60 for two, including a
decent inexpensive wine.

The Poste Vecie (literally, old post office) is claimed by some to the
oldest restaurant in Venice, and is recommended in a lot of
guidebooks. The building is pleasing, and the style of the restaurant
is somewhat upmarket, a touch of posh -- tables and waiters dressed
formally. One thing I liked is that the tables are not crammed
together to maximise numbers. The food was very good, but not
spectacularly so. Overall, however, the experience was excellent, and
well worth the €120. Note: following recommendations, we tried the
sgrappino -- I can live without it.

For our last meal, we broke our rules, in that we selected a place for
which we had no recommendations. Al Barbacani is on Calle Paradiso,
just 50 metres from the apartment. It looked nice, and the menus
posted outside suggested good value. And so it proved: fairly
palatable set menu, decent wine, nice room, friendly service, all for
under €60. Worth recommending.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Re: Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

Following up to Padraig Breathnach

    > You need to concentrate, as
    >they seem not to have a written menu: the server recites it for you.

I wish places wouldn't do that, I like to linger over a choice.
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Re: Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:47:44 +0100, The Reids
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >Following up to Padraig Breathnach
    >> You need to concentrate, as
    >>they seem not to have a written menu: the server recites it for you.
    >I wish places wouldn't do that, I like to linger over a choice.

Some places have no choice. We used to go a place in a small town
north west of Turin that served what seemed to be a near infinite
number of course. There was no written menu, the staff spoke only
Italian, the waitress/owner insisted on reciting what we would get
including the details of the wine, that was included in the price,
every time.

Re: Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

I will often say the words ( in the the local language if I can) "feed me,"
even in places that have menus. I am rarely disappointed -- most places,
when confronted by such a request, put their best foot/food forward. The
bill never seems out of line.
rjf

"The Reids" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Following up to Padraig Breathnach
    > > You need to concentrate, as
    > >they seem not to have a written menu: the server recites it for you.
    > I wish places wouldn't do that, I like to linger over a choice.
    > --
    > Mike Reid
    > Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can
email us@ this site
    > Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a
spamtrap

Re: Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

Following up to Bob Fusillo

    >I will often say the words ( in the the local language if I can) "feed me,"
    >even in places that have menus. I am rarely disappointed -- most places,
    >when confronted by such a request, put their best foot/food forward. The
    >bill never seems out of line.

don't try it in Zamora Parador unless you like the bits of pigs
only generally of interest to pigs :-)
--
Mike Reid
Wasdale-Thames path-London-Photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" <-- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Re: Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:01:54 +0200, nitram wrote:

    > On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 11:47:44 +0100, The Reids
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >>Following up to Padraig Breathnach
    >>> You need to concentrate, as
    >>>they seem not to have a written menu: the server recites it for you.
    >>I wish places wouldn't do that, I like to linger over a choice.

So do I in the evenings, but at lunchtimes I almost always go for the menu
du jour in the local restaurants here.

    > Some places have no choice. We used to go a place in a small town
    > north west of Turin that served what seemed to be a near infinite
    > number of course. There was no written menu, the staff spoke only
    > Italian, the waitress/owner insisted on reciting what we would get
    > including the details of the wine, that was included in the price,
    > every time.

That is how it works here too. They recite the menu and if there is
anything one doesn't want (I tried Andouillette (sausages made from unknown
(to me anyway!) bits and pieces, langue de boeuf (beef tongue), and tete de
veau (calves head), once each and that was enough!) there is almost always
steak or pork steak as an alternative. For example, on Tuesday we had:

Vegetable soup
Salmon and leek quiche with salad
Boeuf bourgignon with carrots
A help-yourself selection of cheeses
Apple clafoutis (sort of a cross between egg custard and yorkshire pud)
House wine, as much as you like, and water
Bread, as much as you like
Two large coffees

For the grand sum of 22 euro for two! The same restaurant has an excellent
and varied evening menu, but for lunch the menu du jour can't be beaten.

--
Holly, in France
Holiday home in Dordogne
http://la-plaine.chez.tiscali.fr

Re: Venice, Part 5: Dining
 

We love Alle Testiere! Glad you had a great meal - they also serve
lunch during late Spring & summer, but I'm not sure of the exact dates.
The recitation worked for us - he was very patient & repeated over &
over at our request til we were finally clear on each choice. The best
razor clams of our lives!