The food in Venice was okay, but lacked the pizzazz and wow that we experienced in Florence.
By the time that we arrived in Venice it was already 12:30 and we could not check into the hotel until 2:00. So to kill some time, we grabbed a couple of paninis at a snack shop near St. Mark’s Basilica and proceeded to walk around the square.
For supper that evening, we wanted to try a place that we read about in Rick Steve’s Italy. In the book, it states that place opens at 6:00. It was 6:30 when we got there and the place was gated shut with a guy inside on the phone. Although disappointed, we consulted Rick again, and found a place near our hotel that has a relaxed atmosphere and great fish. So, we get there a few minutes after 7:00 (we don’t have the recommended reservation so we are hoping for a table) and are quickly seated at one of the 10 tables in the restaurant. We ordered a plate of Cod to start and Penne with Crab to split. After the waiter/owner takes our order to the kitchen, he returns to ask if we would like to try the chef’s specialty, fresh Gnocchi instead of the penne. Sure, sounds greats! 15/20 minutes and half a bottle of wine later, the Gnocchi shows up. This was delicious, melt in your mouth pasta with a sauce to die for! Wait a minute, what about our cod? Oops, he forgot about it, he’ll go get it now. Before he brought it out, we were expecting a plate of fried cod… Nope! It was a plate of cod salad (you know, shredded cod with cream sauce all mashed together like you are going to spread it on a sandwich) and three squares of what we finally concluded were grilled potato of some sort. Although hesitant, it was very good. I am beginning to like eating outside of my box! As we were finishing up with our delayed cod plate, the restaurant was full; not an empty table in the place. Wait, they can squeeze in a few more groups… Any table that had four chairs but only had two people sitting at it started to receive guests at their table. Ours included. He sat another couple from Switzerland (???) at our two empty chairs. What an evening of oddities, but the food was good. [We keep forgetting to take pictures of our food, so no pictures to make your mouth water.]
The following day started with more of the same: a roll with meat and cheese for breakfast and a panini for lunch. This time dinner came with a recommendation from our hotel. We arrived and were promptly stalked by our possibly hung-over 40-something waiter until we ordered. Carson started with a macaroni dish and I started with ham ravioli in a cream sauce. Both were very good, although Carson’s came out looking like penne instead of macaroni so we’re not sure he got what he actually ordered, nevertheless, it was still good. For the main meal, Carson had Filet Mignon, and I had Veal in a Lemon Sauce. Both of which were OK, but nothing to write home about. We did finish with dessert this time, a “truffle” that came in the form of a very liquored slice of white cake. [Of course we forgot to take pictures of the most interesting part, the pasta. Here’s the second course.]
On to Cinque Terre!