I have just come back from a very sunny long weekend in Venice, Italy. I managed to take a photo of everything I ate, here are the high lights!
After checking into the very sweet and homely
Locanda Giovanni e Paolo, we asked the staff where they liked to eat. We were directed across the square to
Osteria al Ponte. Make sure you find the right place as there are a few restaurants about with 'Al Ponte' in the name. Best thing to do is follow the blue signs to the Hospital 'Ospedale S.S. Giovanni e Paolo' and the Osteria is just over the bridge to the right of the hospital door.
We were the only non Italians in there and most of the visitors seemed to be local. The osteria serves traditional Venetian 'Cicchetti' tapas. We asked in broken Italian for a mix of everything and a carafe of house red. We sat in the corner and watched as friends came in had a small glass of wine, stayed for a quick chat, a bite to eat and left. We were apparently a bit of a novelty to the staff as this was obviously not a tourist place (even though Venice is totally packed all of the time with tourists) and felt very well looked after.
The food was all fish based with prawns, clams, mussels, a crab pate with toast and sarde in saor, sardines in vinegar marinaded onions.
After asking for the bill we were left with an open bottle of fizzy sweet rose wine and were encouraged to help ourselves. We were charged a flat €20 each which included a bottle opener with the restaurant logo on it by way of a souvenir.
We walked past later on at night and the place was full of locals who had spilled out into the street and were sat on the steps sipping wine and chatting. Amazing atmosphere and well worth finding.
On the same street, over the next bridge as you walk away from the hospital we visited Osteria da Alberto. This was a little bigger, a little more organised and obviously more used to tourists than 'Al Ponte'. Probably best to book for dinner as we were only just squeezed in on the last available table when we arrived at 7.30pm. As well as the traditional Cicchetti there were more recognisable dishes such as lasagna, gnocchi and spaghetti. Still heavily seafood based and with the Venetian staples of polenta and black cuttlefish ink sauces.
The total bill here for a shared starter of Sarde in Saor, two plates of wonderful, super cheesy gnocchi, 2 puddings and lots of lovely house wine was just under €50.
The other place we ate was Trattoria al Calinetto (I think the address was Castello 3803 on Calle del Dose, however the problem with Venice is that the street names don't match the maps and in some places the restaurant name has been written with an 'S' at the start).
It was definitely touristy with the menu written in 6 languages and slightly more pricey at €28 for the set menu but still good value as it included a full meal and coffee. The menu contained all of the mainstay Venetian dishes and everything was good. It was here I had more Sarde in Saor (seriously addicted to it), gnocchi in ragu and then Seppia di nero (black cuttlefish ink) with polenta. It looked awful but the texture of the cuttlefish was really soft and it had a delicate fishy taste. The polenta was really light and fluffy (apparently it goes like rubber if cooked badly).
Due to a ban on wood fire ovens in Venice the pizzas are not as amazing as what I have had in other places in Italy, but the two I had were both still better than anything I have had in the UK. Prices were €5- €10 pretty much everywhere we looked so good for a cheap lunch/ light tea option to share. We got this pizza in the little cafe between the 2 osterias mentioned above.
Of course being Italy it was cafee/ gelato at every opportunity. You would be pretty unfortunate to find a naff coffee or ice cream anywhere in Italy.
Seeing as they were invented in Venice we thought it appropriate to try a Bellini and we also had a few Campari spritzers.
Another thing we saw a lot of were super large meringues, in bakeries across the city.
On the go snacks were readily available in the form of rolled up sandwiches, some in usual bread, some in pizza bread ranging from €1-€4 depending on size, type of filling and location of the outlet.
The best thing is that due to all of the steps and walking, I actually came home half an lb lighter than when I left. Bonus!
