Oh dear...it would seem as though I'd forgotten to speak about the food we had in Venice until my other half and I had a moment of reminisce for one of our favourite spots. And so here I am about half a year later to virtually relive the best parts of our travel: All the things we ate around Venice.
Now, here's a disclaimer: On the days leading up to our trip to Venice, I reached out to an Italian ex-colleague for tips on how to spot the best places to eat. Her response was that anything that had a 4.6 star and above review on Google was considerably "local" while anything below was probably a tourist trap. It was simple enough to understand, and off we went!
Fried Land
Oh to be able to eat you again, Fried Land
Now if there was something we'd keep talking about from Venice, it was this masterpiece of a place called Friedland around the Canneregio area. True to its name, this little hole in the wall is best known for their fried seafood - their shrimps and squid in particular. Made fresh to order and served in a paper cone, it's hard to believe that this item only costs €4.99! The dish is served with nothing but a lemon wedge and though you'd think it's lacking sauces in the beginning, you'll very quickly realize it's best enjoyed as is.
Shoutout to the squid ink pasta I'll never be able to forget
But aside from their ridiculously good fried seafood, it was their fresh squid ink pasta that really got us going back again and again. The pasta noodles were said to be made in-house and was always cooked to the al dente perfection we couldn't find elsewhere. It also had a spicy tang with every bite, and the portion was always good for two.
In the end, Fried Land became our staple spot throughout our week's stay as we kept returning both for lunch and dinner despite it being a 20-minute walk from our hotel. Some patrons would find the service a tad bit slow, but they really need to understand that Fried Land is being run by just the one man who takes your order, cooks, and serves alone. Other reviews on Google noted that it was "oily" but it's literally a place that sells fried things, so I'm not sure where you're going to find somewhere that fries something without oil? People are ridiculous sometimes.
Side note: I know I said earlier in this post that anything about 4.6 stars on Google was safe and Fried Land has a 4.5 star review but hands down, I would recommend Fried Land in a heartbeat if you're looking for something to eat in Venice. Shoutout to my other half for insisting on giving it a try!
Nevodi PizzaLab
A pizza I probably won't be able to taste again
So, you can't quite say you've been to Italy if you didn't have pizza and that's exactly how we felt when discovering Nevodi PizzaLab. Set around the Castello area, this unassuming establishment does mostly takeaways with the smallest row of counters if you want to eat in while standing. Still, the locals can't seem to have enough of them and this was evident with the amount of people coming by to drop their orders then returning 20 minutes later to pick it their food up.
Yep - you read that right! Because of their made-to-order system, all orders take approximately 20 minutes before you get your food and they usually ask that you come back later after you've ordered. But one bite into their pizzas and you'll know the wait is worth it because it was a pizza experience I've never had in my life. What I had is called the Petto d'oca which was a pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, ceps mushrooms, truffle oil, and the most surprising of all - goose breast meat?
Thought slightly oily, the pizza still had an equal split in crunchiness and soft doughiness that I truly enjoyed. Priced at €13, I would say that the portion was good for 2 but you'll find it hard to share something this delicious. The use of ceps mushroom was also an interesting choice as it was juicier than any other mushrooms and I thoroughly enjoyed the aroma of the goose breast meat.
A special: Deep fried Iberico pork chop served with fries
Off the menu, we found their special deep fried Iberico pork chop that was served with fries and mayo for €13 as well. The portion was astounding and my better half even found himself struggling to finish this, but because it was too good to let go, he still cleaned the box up. I'm the most sensitive person when it comes to smells from dishes like pork or chicken, and I'm happy to report that this pork chop was possibly one of the best.
For something that was deep fried, the meat was still juicily tender while the thin, crunchy crust added a texture that was unique enough for us to dream of it even till today. Unfortunately, this seemed to be a special dish for the month so I can't be sure if it'll be on their permanent menu.
Gelateria Gallonetto
I had SO much pistachio gelato in Venice
Aside from Fried Land, Gelateria Gallonetto is presumably the other shop I've visited the most in Venice because their pistachio gelato is just unmatched. Equal parts creamy and intense, the gelato proved itself to be top tier in comparison to all the other gelatos I've had during my trip. It's no wonder they've existed since 1895, and unlike other gelato brands, they didn't have too many flavours to pick from.
Not kidding when I say I kept going back
According to the staff, the pistachios they chose to use to make their gelato is also of premium quality and I really liked that it wasn't too sweet. Despite looking pretentious on the outside, Gelateria Gallonetto was surprisingly affordable at €1.80 per scoop, though you have to fork out 50 cents extra if you want the pistachio flavour. Spoiler alert: Pay for it, you won't regret it.
Taverna Scalinetto
Risotto with gò and katsuobushi
On our final night before flying back to Amsterdam, my better half decided to that we should splurge a little more for what we branded as a farewell dinner in Venice. The pick of the evening became Taverna Scalinetto that was just a 5-minute walk away from our hotel. They specifically needed us to make a reservation, so we got lucky that he booked us in for 6pm that night. At seating, we were served with (not pictured) bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, all of which I quickly gulped down because it was so majestically soft.
I then ordered the risotto with gò and katuobushi - the former being a small Venetian fish breed that was literally so small I couldn't actually locate it in the dish. The katsuobushi that you'd typically find in Japanese dishes gave it an interesting Italian - Japanese fusion, and though it probably sounded weird, had flavours that worked very well together. Despite its €22 price tag, I did think this risotto dish was well worth what we were paying for, considering it wasn't something I would have thought to be able to enjoy in Venice.
Pistachio tiramisu
We closed off the evening with a pistachio tiramisu just because I saw the table next to us have one, and I regretted nothing. The soft pistachio mascarpone layered within the coffee-soaked ladies fingers were so good, and the crushed pistachios added such textures I never knew it needed. I recall this being €6 however, which was on the higher end of dessert pricing but it was good enough for me to think it was worth it.
Other foods
Throughout our week, we obviously tried a variety of things all over Venice and its neighbouring little islands. Unfortunately it was much like what my ex-colleague said where food really wasn't the main focus of this tourist city, but rather the sights and sounds of the rare gondola singers. But I figured since I'm talking about "all the things" we ate, then I might as well list as many of them as possible.
Suso Gelatoteca
SUSO was the first gelato store we visited when we arrived Venice and it was simply because there was a huge line outside the store. While the pistachio gelato was good, it really didn't blow our minds and was quickly downgraded from our recommended list of foods to eat in Venice after we tried Gelateria Gallonetto.
Baci & Pasta
Baci & Pasta's pumpkin potato gnocchi was something we picked up after our free walking tour at Campo Santa Marina, mostly because I really wanted to try gnocchi. I ordered this with the carbonara sauce as recommended and it cost us a whopping €10 for a disappointingly small portion. Flavour wise they were just acceptable and honestly I wouldn't recommend it unless everything else around you is closed.
I Tre Mercanti Tiramisu
Positioning themselves as an artisanal tiramisu store, I Tre Mercanti featured a variety of interesting tiramisu flavours in-store. We opted for the original and the pistachio to share, and thought it was just sub-par. They cost us €4.50 each, which I thought was decently overpriced but I would have rather paid a little more for what I had at Taverna Scalinetto. Would I recommend? Well, maybe if you just want to try some authentic tiramisu but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.
GROM
GROM was yet another gelato shop we chanced over while hunting down mask shops around Venice, except this time my other half ordered an affogato instead of plain gelato. I'd say a pistachio gelato affogato was something I never imagined would work for me, but it really did at GROM and I would 100% recommend you try it too. Unfortunately there were far and few GROM stores around the areas we were staying at, so I couldn't try their gelato on its own but boy do I miss that affogato sometimes.
Pasticceria Da Bonifacio
Pasticceria Da Bonifacio was an accidental find when my better half and I woke up at half past 5 AM to catch the sunrise one morning. The little mom and pop bakery was one of - if not the only store open at such wee hours of the morning, but it was quickly filled by the locals hoping to catch a quick bite and gulp down some coffee to start the day. Their croissant with pistachio cream was surprisingly good and so was their take on the pain au chocolat. Prices were extremely reasonable too, so I could see why their customers just kept coming.
Dal Moro's Pasta
Finally, if there was an award for the most disappointing pasta around Venice, I'd probably give it to Dal Moro's. It was something we wanted to try since they claimed to be the "original" pasta-to-go in Venice and it was such a waste of my calories. Despite being told that our pasta was made fresh-to-order, our meal was dished out in less than 3 minutes so your guess is as good as mine on whether it was just reheated pasta that was cooked in large batches. The pasta was also really soft and the sauce rather bland - overall just please avoid even if it's considerably cheap at €7.
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And that's on all the things we ate around Venice! I can't believe it took me nearly 5 months to realize I never wrote about the food we had in the city, because it did feel like we had a lot to eat within our 5-day visit. One of the things I didn't mention though was that we mostly had the free breakfast that came with my hotel booking (something I also have just realized I never talked about???) just to save money and well...because it was really good. I hope this post would help you if you happen to be visiting Venice and you're hungry. Oh and please for the love of God, go visit Fried Land for me!
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