Tag Archives: Restaurants (Milan)

Last Weekend

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Obviously, we’re back online :-)

I’ll be adding posts written in the last few days and here is one:

26/7/11
Well, that was all rather nice. I think they enjoyed it. We didn’t seem to do much except eat and drink and do a little tourist stuff and a bit of shopping and then eat and drink.

My perfect holiday.

We did go to Bagutta, a restaurant in Milan, just behind Via Montenapoleone. We ate in the garden. It wasn’t so hot and there weren’t so many mosquitoes, which was good (although it could have been hotter for me, of course).

The waiter was funny (as in funny, ha ha not funny, strange) but he did bring us fried courgette flowers to start which were delicious. It was the first time that I’ve had them like that. Before they’ve been filled with ricotta cheese or something. I had some culatello (meat – like ham, thinly sliced) with figs. F had prosciutto with figs. I tried some. I should have had that.

I had penne with a ragù sauce (which included peas). We skipped main courses because this was enough! However, I saw that they had raspberries and wild strawberries so I asked for a mix of those with some cream. It was lovely (even if the raspberries were not as tasty as those we had the other week in Cararra.)

We had wine and water and mirto or limoncello at the end. It is expensive, coming to over €270 for the four of us but really nice and the food and service were excellent.

The night before, we had gone to Porca Vacca. F is so taken with that restaurant now that he suggested to An, when we went out for a drink with her on the Sunday night, that we should go this week. So we are going on Wednesday night, apparently.

But the main thing was that D&S enjoyed it – which I think they did.

Enocratia

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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.

Giacomo Arengario

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I’ve lost the review completely.

But I just want to say:

Service – very poor.
Food – fantastic. Pieces of Quail wrapped in smoked pancetta – to die for.
Atmosphere – much like a dining hall. Too noisy.
Views – without the enormous columns, it would have been wonderful. As it was it was OK.

Overall – go once and be on the terrace. Once will be enough, I would think.

Summary: Not Giacomo.

Grumpy old sod?

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I suppose I should mention it. After all, tomorrow is a special day.

Oh, yes, and some posh bloke is marrying some ordinary woman and they’re making a rather big deal about it although the Guardian is being funnier about it all whilst the Daily (Hate) Mail is getting it’s knickers in a twist one minute and all overly-excited, the next.

I will be at lunch whilst it’s all happening. At a vegetarian restaurant, of all places!

But, still, I have this annoying thing in my brain that will mean I shall probably try and find some coverage on the Internet when I get home. It annoys me because I shouldn’t (and don’t, really) care – but I am intrigued. And, I too, want to see ‘the dress’, even if it will be, after all, just another dress.

It makes me feel stupid. I am just thankful that I am not in the UK. I guess I would have stopped watching the news a few weeks ago.

Or am I just a grumpy old sod?

Angolo di Casa and Piccola Cuccina – although we only went to one of them, of course!

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He had talked about another one. One that he used to go to with S. It was a single room with about 10 tables. He said it was very nice.

But that wasn’t where we were going.

It was another one of the Groupon vouchers. €50, for which I paid something like €20 or €25. But we understand it now. We expected to pay at least €50 – €100 on top of the voucher.

To start, I had some kind of Cod mousse. He had pulped broad beans with bits of octopus or squid. Then we shared a sea bass with an orange and fennel salad. Then we both had the same chocolate thing. And nice wine. And a mirto each. It was OK. The branzino (sea bass) was lovely. Being done in salt, it usually retains its moisture (unless it’s done badly) and this one was excellent. F’s pulped broad beans with bits of octopus was nice too. The rest of it was, well, nothing amazing. And, for the price it should have been amazing.

The place was nicely done. I liked the warm colours of reds and yellows. F says that red is not good. Too aggressive. He’s a visual person. I love red. I wanted to say that it was the red in my hallway that I loved at first sight – and still do. But I didn’t. I didn’t want to hear that he didn’t like it, I suppose.

It was, as F would say, very ‘fashion’. We got there at 8.35 or so. The place was empty. For me this didn’t bode well. However, by 10, the place was full. This is the Italians going out on a Saturday night. Arriving at the restaurant at 9.30 or 10. Too late for me, really and, luckily, also for F, even if he is Italian.

And it was very ‘fashion’. Just before we were leaving a couple came in. F explained that the woman had been on Isola di Famosa and he was something on television (I forget what, now). I’m really not that impressed, to be honest. Is that wrong of me? I mean, it’s someone from the telly – and here, that could equally (and is probably more likely to) be someone with no talent. Not that the UK is much better but here they still have dancing girls in the middle of game shows so I’m sure you will understand.

And the bill meant that it was €72 per head. We both agreed we shan’t be going back to Angolo di Casa in a hurry – voucher or no. The food was not really fantastic. F said that he would much prefer Porca Vacca for the price and for the service and for the food. And I agree.

We left and started walking up Viale Piave. As we walked within a couple of doors was the other one he had mentioned. I stood on the step to look inside. It looked delightful. I agreed that I would like to go there. It’s mostly meat but there is one fish dish. F said that it would be fine. And, so, although I can’t write about it, our test of this restaurant meant that we found Piccola Cucina.

So not a wasted evening.

As an aside, yesterday (and today), I am wearing sandals. Yay! This means it is warm. And, yesterday as I was walking the dogs because F was cleaning my kitchen, including the dogs’ toys, the dogs’ basket, etc., I realised that I was out at about 6 p.m. still in sandals. Not something I really ever did in the UK, except for occasional times in the height of summer. And it reminded me that this was one of the reasons I love to live here. And the washing gets dry quickly. And it’s time for salads. And it’s only the very beginning of April. And today is the same and about 2 we shall go to the park with the dogs and stop and get something to eat as well.

I adore my life.

Porca Vacca!

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Tick ……. tick ………. tick ………. tick

The sound seemed so loud. I cannot hear it now but then, at 4 in the morning, it was so loud.

I am in the kitchen. It is dark. It isn’t exactly my fault that I’m up. As I said to F at the time, it was very nice but a little too salty. In fact, it was very salty and I am now paying the price. Damn the Italians and their seemingly passionate affair with salt. Why? It’s not necessary and it does take away from what would, otherwise, have been truly wonderful.

We had been to Porca Vacca, near my flat. I had a Groupon voucher. Of course, this voucher was not so fantastic. Only €40 off the meal. So, by the time we had finished, we still had to pay nearly €100. Still the food was lovely, beautifully presented, etc. The wine was good. But the salt in the main dish, for me, just far too much.

And so, here, at 4 a.m., I sit trying to take away my raging thirst and unable to sleep because of it. Damn, damn, damn (which seems appropriate given the name of the restaurant).

Update May 2015. Sadly, Porca Vacca has closed. We haven’t yet been to the restaurant that took it’s place – although we keep saying that we must go – as it’s the closest restaurant to us and is now a Tuscan restaurant!

Lo Strapuntino

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I didn’t mention the place that FfC and I went to for lunch. It was in quite a touristy area and it’s not that likely that I’ll go back there but ………….

I wanted wine. FfC didn’t. I didn’t really want a glass since I might have wanted more than a glass and it’s kind of annoying so I asked for a half litre. He said that he would open a bottle of wine and I would only have to pay for what I had. I was dubious about this but I was with FfC and I thought ‘Oh, what the hell. Why not?’

I’ve just looked at the bill. I had, more or less, a half of the bottle and they only charged me €5!

The food was not bad either.

We both had one of the pasta dishes of the day which was the shell pasta with a ragù sauce of wild boar (which I particularly like). The sauce wasn’t the best I’ve ever tasted but it wasn’t bad at all – and was only €5 a dish!

We did have sweet though. They had meringhina (it’s a soft cake thing – typical Milanese) and so we had some. With ice-cream. Very nice although they could have warmed it up a bit more – and I don’t think this is the right season for it. Still, very nice. It was the first time FfC had ever had it but as soon as I saw it I wanted it. F got me onto it.

Just in case, the place was called Lo Strapuntino, near Corso Garibaldi. Worth a mention, anyway.

So, maybe I will go back there again as it was all very reasonable.

No Diet – Day four and other things.

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Well, that was all rather lovely.

But first I must thank all of you for kindly answering my call after I shamelessly prostituted myself for comments. I no longer feel quite so gay knowing that straight men like Mars bars too :-D.

On to last night. B was up in Milan and so we went to Sento as I predicted and wanted. It has been so long since I had sushi and it was divine. Even now I can picture the boat of bright red, pale pink and white fish laid on that particularly nice bit of sushi rice.

And I had the grilled beef. The wine was lovely – dry, crisp, white wine. Sake to finish. Sparkling water and sparkling company. B did seem so well and I was so happy to see her. We even made tentative plans to all go up to Pallanza for the weekend of Easter. Yay! Since last night I have checked with F who is also keen on this idea as long as it includes the bambini, of course and the opportunity to play cards.

Of course, as last night was all Japanese food, none of it is fattening in any way and so I already feel slimmer :-D

We talked and talked. Actually, as is usual with B, it felt that I did most of the talking …… again. She also came up, beforehand, to see the dogs, especially Rufus who has always been her favourite.

We also talked a little about V and I explained about the defriending on Facebook and so on. I explained that I was disappointed, which is true ……… now. I admitted to being a bit angry at first. After so long together, how DARE he just cut me off! But now I am just very disappointed.

And she talked about how she searched for her old boyfriends again – after all, if you were with someone for however long, they meant something, they had something that was attractive and one should never let that just disappear. And I’m with her on that. Perhaps I should make a little more of an effort to get in touch with M?

So, I just broke off to do just that!

And, for reasons that escape me (although it may have been seeing B last night or knowing that we’re going away this weekend or the fact that it’s Valentine’s Day on Monday), I feel incredibly happy. Which is in direct contrast to last week!

And so, I wish you all a very good weekend too. I hope you’re doing something special too :-)

Some restaurants I should have mentioned

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Of course, since the ‘tidy up’ of the kitchen, I am no longer ‘allowed’ to have random bits of paper on the kitchen table, near the computer. I had moved it all, temporarily, to my chair in the bedroom and today, whilst sorting out (and putting away) the Christmas presents, I also sorted the bits of paper.

Amongst the things I ‘found’ were some cards from various restaurants I have visited in the last few months. Unfortunately, for one of them, my mind is a bit hazy as to exactly what I had – but that’s OK. I still have the impression from them all.

So, the first one (and oldest re: visit) that I have is Kapuziner Platz in der Stadt. This is the one in Viale Monte Nero. This is a German ‘pub’. The beer is, erm, German. The food is, erm, German (with an Italian touch, of course). Unfortunately I have forgotten what I had. I know F had a cottoletta milanese (wiener schnitzel). I suppose I had lamb – or beef. Anyway, the place is nice, the food was good (not fantastic but good) and I seem to remember it was reasonably priced.

The second one was Momà  Restaurant. The only link I could find was one through Facebook. We went there with Al and R and a friend of theirs. The meal was wonderful. OK, so it’s not so cheap but the antipasto (including burrato) was very, very good and the meat (Al and I shared a plate of meat) was fantastic. The wine we had with it was exceptional. One word of warning – don’t have antipasto and primo and secondo. The portions were very generous and to have all three would mean you would be unable to leave the table! I would go back there in a second.

The final one is outside Milan, in the ‘Hinterland’. And, unfortunately, this was dreadful. This was lunchtime and is in the town where I work. We had gone in on a public holiday to do some stuff and, for lunch, went here (as there’s not so much choice). It’s supposed to be good and, I have to admit, I have been there before when it seemed OK. This time, however, it was awful. The restaurant is Papillon. They’re supposed to have their own website (it says on the card) but it doesn’t work. A little like the restaurant. We all had pizza. Mine was (to be on the safe side) Diavola – with spicy salami. It wasn’t the very worst I’ve tasted – but it was close. The service was so slow and people who came in after us got served before us and, for what we had it’s expensive. Avoid it like the plague!

There – now I can put these cards away too :-D

Given a second chance the restaurant serves up a good meal

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I’ve tried to find it but I can’t – unless I didn’t give the real name, of course.

I can make mistakes.  Well, sort of mistakes.  I remember going, one time, with A.  Not long after it opened.  I suggested it.  It was an alternative to K2 since I never rated K2 that highly.  I came away from this one disappointed too!  For me, it seems that Tuscan restaurants outside Tuscany were, in some way, lacking.

An has been over.  She is Milanese but has been living in London for the last 6 years or so.  She came over for an interview for a job here, in Milan.  She got the job.  So, Friday night we went to the Imperiale for L’s birthday.  An came too.  We had a fabulous evening.  L and her partner, D, were fabulous hosts and, anyway, it was the Imperiale – what could possibly go wrong?

In a word – nothing.  It was fabulous.  By far the best Chinese in Milan ……………. AND, I live round the corner!

Saturday lunchtime An was leaving to return to the UK.  Unfortunately (for those of you in the UK), in case you hadn’t noticed, they’ve had a bit of what we could call ‘weather’.  The UK was almost closed.  No problem, the flight was delayed.  It would be leaving at 8 p.m.  To be honest, reading about what was going on, I didn’t think so – and I told F that.  He decided not to tell An.

So, about 7 p.m., she returned to the airport.  She was back about 9.  The flight had been cancelled because the crew had to go off shift (which is what I thought may happen).

Sunday she re-booked whilst we went out with the dogs.  Then F suggested we go for a plate of pasta at lunchtime.  He asked me where would be open.  I love that I can advise Italians who live a stone’s throw from me what is likely to be open and, mostly, give an idea of what might be good.  I remembered that the restaurant would be open and that it was Tuscan.  I told him that I thought it was a bit expensive but that it was OK.  To be honest, I didn’t remember it that well.

We walked up the street (since it is in my street) and looked at the menu displayed by the door.  F said that it wasn’t too expensive (and he was right, really).  We decided to go for it.  And, so, we entered Alle Colline Senesi.

It was full.  It is only a small restaurant.  Probably about 30 places.  There is a couple before us.  We, on the other hand, ‘are in three’.  A table for 4 becomes available and so we get to have it.  We offer to share with the couple but they really don’t seem to do that here, very much.

The menu was tempting – as was the food we saw being delivered.  We decided on some mixed antipasto.  Followed by some pasta for me, some soup for F and some melanzane parmigiana for An.  F asked about having some mix of meats but he also wanted crostini (small slices of bread with, usually for Tuscany, some rough liver pate or meat or tomatoes).

The meat arrived.  It was good.  the prosciutto was hand cut so was thicker than usual and much more like it would be in the UK.  I love it.  F was a little bit worried as the crostini (which, we were told, would come anyway, without the need to order) didn’t appear.  Then I remembered what was the worst thing about this restaurant – the service.  So slow.

We had finished the meat and were about to ask about the crostini – when it appeared.  F was happy.  The crostini consisted of one each of the rough liver pate, lardo and tomatoes with garlic.  Wonderful.

Then the main course came.  F’s soup (brodo) was thin and clear with huge pieces of ravioli; An’s parmigiana looked like something the cat had thrown up (but tasted wonderful) and I had pappardelle with cinghiale – a kind of roughly cut up lasagne or larger tagliatelle with a wild boar sauce.

The food was fantastic.  After, rather than have a main course (the portions having been more than a little generous), we had sweet.  F had zuppa inglese (like a tiramisù without coffee and with chocolate instead), An had the chestnut (or as she says, chesternut) tart and I had the poached pears.  The tart was nothing special (to me) and the poached pears could have done with cream or mascapone, in my opinion – but still, they were nice.

The whole lot, including a bottle and a half of house wine (quite good) and a bottle of water came to about €90.  Not bad really.  The service was so slow but, as F pointed out, it’s not the waiting staff that are causing the problem but that the kitchen was making everything (more or less) at the moment of serving and the waiting staff had to wait until it was ready.  And the tastes were great.  I think I could have eaten the roast pork chops with potatoes as well but I was full enough.

The thing is not to expect your meal to be done and dusted within half an hour.  We were there a couple of hours – but for a Sunday lunch that is perfect.  And, if you are prepared, for an evening meal it is fine too.  Worth the effort and I only give it 4 stars because it was a bit too slow for me.