Last night we had to go out again. I had a Groupon coupon and it ran out today. So I booked it. The place was Enocratia.

The voucher, for which I paid €49 was to the value of €110. Based on our other Groupon coupons, we expected the total bill to be close to €200. But, OK, it’s my birthday weekend. It’s quite new. They obviously did the Groupon thing to generate some business. They have a wine bar on the ground floor. It was busy. They had what looked like quite nice food for the aperitivo. There are two ‘dining areas’. One below ground in a vaulted cellar – not huge but well done. Very simple with white walls and exposed brickwork. We were shown upstairs to a half balcony. About 10 tables. Modern tables and chairs but, here also, exposed brickwork on the arches.

It became clear, during the meal, that we were not the only ones using Groupon coupons. In fact, it seemed that everyone (about 6 couples) were using them. This was the ‘Groupon dining area’.

The waitress was so nice. Really helpful and enthusiastic. The difference between this and Giacomo Arengario couldn’t have been more obvious. We were given a glass of prosecco and a small glass of some fishy stuff. It was just a mouthful but nice.

We had a limited selection. For once we couldn’t have the whole menu although she did point out that if there was something we really didn’t like, she would be able to suggest an alternative. There was a choice of two antipasti. We took them both, of course. F’s was cod with thin slices of fried or dried polenta. It was lovely (we had half of each). Mine was a ring of asparagus mouse with a cooked egg yolk in the centre. It was lovely. They chose a wine for us. It was a white, slightly sparkling wine from Tuscany. It was lovely but she didn’t leave it on the table (maybe they had no ice buckets?) but took it downstairs to keep it cool. However, we never ran out of wine in our glass as she was very attentive.

Primo piatto was this thick spaghetti (that I don’t really like – not for the taste but because it is far too difficult to eat in the normal way and I usually get sauce all over me) with a Neopolitan ragu sauce. I absolutely love that sauce. And this was excellent, if a little too salty for me. But not so that it really spoiled it. Secondo was a plate with baby pork, some pieces of horse , some green veg and potatoes. F didn’t tell her that he didn’t like meat! Therefore I ate very well. There wasn’t a huge amount but it was enough. There were no bones in the pork and they even had a kind of crackling which I do miss here. I found the horse a little strong but it was all very nice, really.

Then there was a choice of sweets. F chose a mouse surrounded with dark chocolate and a sauce of orange. It was fantastic. The orange bitter enough to contrast with the chocolate. I had the apple tart. It was OK. I’m grateful that we did the sharing thing though as the chocolate and orange sauce dish was wonderful.

And, then, at the end, we only had to pay for the wine. The rest of it was included in the voucher. So we had a rather excellent meal for €49.

Overall, the only problem with this place was the location. The other side of the Duomo. It’s a bit of a trek to get there. If it was closer we would go often. As it is, we both want to go again (so their Groupon offer worked, then). The food was very nice. On the full menu they have raw tuna for antipasto and cod as a main course – so perfect for F. And they do a LOT of meat, so perfect for me. Yes, we shall go again. And, as the service was so good, it would be worth it.

It was after we finished our meal that they showed us the other dining room. Nice place. And not expensive. A three course meal would put you back less than €100 assuming either antipasto/primo, secondo and sweet.