Eating in the Cinque Terre (cheen-kwa ter-ray)

We had some great food in the Cinque Terre. There was a plethora of fresh sea food since we were right on the coast.

Our first night in Riomaggiore we ate at a restaurant located on the top of the top of the hill. Taylor had wine and french fries.

Just kidding! That was a side! Here in Italy they bring your food whenever it is ready, so you might get your meal a few minutes before the person that you are eating with. Taylor and I usually split a pasta and then a meat of some sort so it works out well. The first thing out of the kitchen was the oh so yummy french fries.

No we did not get pancakes! We were not expecting this when it came out. They fry Linguine pasta into cakes giving it a crispy texture and a pancake-like appearance. The toppings were pesto, Parmesan cheese, and a tomato sauce. It was kind of weird eating this dish because when you put a bite in your mouth you were expecting a pancake taste, but instead it was pasta!

We also ordered a grilled fish fillet with sweet and sour veggies. The veggies were not the sweet and sour you would think, but they were good. The fish was cooked amazingly well!! It was crisp on the outside and flaky on the inside.

The next day for lunch we had pizza. Taylor's had olives, artichokes, and Wurtsel (a German sausage) on his and I had the pesto pizza. This place is known for their pesto, so I ordered something with pesto almost every meal!

The second night we had Ravioli di Pesce which was ravioli stuffed with fish and a cream sauce. It was so good, I didn't get a picture of it before we ate the entire thing! We also ordered Swordfish which neither of us had ever had. It was very good and came with some potatoes. We knew it was fresh because on the way to the bathroom Taylor looked in the kitchen and saw them cleaning the fish. Fresh by our standards, but some Italians don't consider it fresh unless they buy it at the market, alive, and carry it home in a bucket or bag. Its kind of like winning a gold fish at the fair.

Anchovies is another popular dish in the Cinque Terre. I don't know that I have ever even tasted an anchovy in the U.S., but I hear they are salty and nasty. They are served fresh here and are quite good. They have them as appetizers in a lemon juice on crackers or bread or in pasta. We had anchovy pasta the third night and it was very good (pictured above).

We also shared this dish called "Mixed Grilled Fish." I guess we didn't quite know what the word "mixed" really meant. The dish came out with octopus, squid, a lobster type thing, a prawn, and a little fish. See below.

I will pretty much try anything, but I am not a fan of eating food that can look at me while I am eating it or eat food that I've seen alive shortly before or food that looks like it did when it was alive. But, I had already had about 3 glasses of wine and was hungry and would eat anything! :) My favorite was the octopus. It was very good. My least favorite was the squid because it was too squishy for me. Taylor's favorite was the little "bait fish" as he called it. We decided that the dish should more accurately be called "Grilled Mixed Crustaceans and A Little Bait Fish." The people were very nice and we got 10% off with our Rick Steve's book! What what!

On our way back to the train station which passed an open window looking into the kitchen of a restaurant. It was so cool that we took pictures and video.

These are the clay pots that the dishes were

cooked and served in. That large metal pot

was the sauce.

Focaccia also originates in Liguria. It is kind of a flat bread, and comes with a variety of toppings. We each had a slice for breakfast on the last day. It was so good. I have had Focaccia from a nice grocery store, but it was nothing compared to this.

Overall, we were very happy with our food in the Cinque Terre and can't wait to go back and try some different sea food dishes!