CombatCritic's TravelValue™: trattoria

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Showing posts with label trattoria. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Alvor (Algarve) Portugal: Pizza, Pasta, Meat, Fish, Or Salad, You Cannot Go Wrong At Pizzeria & Trattoria Napoli

Pizzeria & Trattoria Napoli

EM531 1 5a

8500-013

Alvor Portugal

Phone: 937 696 093

Prices: €€€€

Our doggy has cancer, so he needs a CT scan in Portimáo every 3 months, so we stop by Pizzeria & Trattoria Napoli for lunch while he has the procedure and wakes up.

I found out that their 'winter' hours (likely October through April) are different from my last visit in August, so we had to wait an hour until 12pm when they now open for lunch. No biggy!

I brought my wife this time as she recently returned from Napoli, the city in Italy, where she has been taking care of her mom. Gianluca greeted us once again and the two of them chatted in Italian about Napoli, his hometown, while I sat there and picked up some of the conversation ... Italians talk too fast for me to catch everything.

As it was one of the rare warm, sunny days in the Algarve, NOT, we sat on the patio. The service was fast and friendly and the food, once again, delicioso ... Mama Mia ... HOOAH!

I knew how big the portions were, so we did not go nuts with the antipasti, ordering one Bruschetta (€5) and sharing the four pieces, one with tomato, two with marinated, grilled melanzane (eggplant), and the other with melted gorgonzola and parmigiano. Very nice.

My wife had the Fettuccine (€14) in a gorgonzola and rucola pesto with pancetta, mushrooms, onion, and walnuts. It was superb!

It is not easy finding weal dishes anymore, so I got the Veal Parmigiano (€11) with a side of spaghetti tossed with their wonderful ragù instead of the chips (aka fries) and side salad, which was huge. The large cutlet was coated with breadcrumbs and perfectly fried, then topped with ragù, grated parmigiano, and fresh mozzarella (upon my request) before being baked until melted. I was in heaven.

One of the great things about Napoli, beside the excellent food and fair prices, is the fact that they are very willing to work with you on substitutions. My wife hates tomatoes - yes, she was born in Sicily and grew up in Naples - so they altered the normal bruschetta toppings. The veal parmigiana comes topped with parmigiano, not mozzarella as I became accustomed to in the US, but Gianluca did not flinch when I asked him if could add it and did not even charge extra.

Gianluca's dad came out after our meal and reminded me about my promise to bring him some Antico Toscano cigars, made famous by Clint Eastwood in his 'spaghetti' westerns like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, which were actually filmed in Italy. I promised to bring some cigars from Ayamonte, Spain (much closer to where we live than Alvor) where I buy my Toscano cigars and much cheaper than in Portugal, but I forgot ... OOPS! I will try to remember next time.

In a nutshell, excellent, authentic food at very reasonable prices with great, friendly service, that's amore, I mean Pizzeria & Trattoria Napoli ... OOH-RAH!

CombatCritic Gives Pizzeria & Trattoria Napoli A Very Rare 10 Bombs Out Of 10 And A Spot On My 'WALL OF FAME' ... More Bombs Are Better!

Ten Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians:

HOOAH!: "Phonetic spelling of the acronym HUA, which stands for 'Heard Understood Acknowledged.' Originally used by the British in the late 1800's in Afghanistan. More recently adopted by the United States Army to indicate an affirmative or a pleased response." - Urban Dictionary

"The Department of Military Science and Leadership, University of Tennessee claim HOOAH 'refers to or means anything except no' ... Regardless of its meaning ... the term is an expression of high morale, confidence, motivation and spirit." - WarChronicle.com

"The U.S. Air Force stole 'HOOAH' from the Army because we were part of the Army until 1947 and rather than waste a bunch of time coming up with something new and unique like "ROO-YAH" or "HAL-A-LOO-YAH", we said 'screw it, let's go with HOOAH' ... thanks Army ... HOOAH!" - CombatCritic

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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories: Bob Vila Would Absolutely Love This New House

Casa Nova Trattoria Francescana
Manger Square, Bethlehem
Palestinian Territories
Website: CasaNova-Bethlehem
Prices: ₪₪₪₪

We decided to take a bus to Bethlehem (which is a Palestinian Territory), finding out when we got off the bus that there had been a skirmish about 15 miles north in the Palestinian city of Ramallah early that morning with four dead, two Palestinians and two Israelis. The tension in the air was thick and we were bombarded by a taxi driver wanting to overcharge us as soon as we exited the bus. After politely declining his advances, I told him very firmly that we wanted some space, to which he replied: "oh, maybe you are Jewish to talk to me in this way". His friend then stepped in to play "good cop", kindly reprimanding his friend (bad cop) and explaining all of the things that we needed to see in Bethlehem for a mere ₪150 ($40). We politely declined, walking about 15 minutes to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity and being the ONLY TOURISTS ON THE STREETS OF BETHLEHEM.

Casa Nova is an oasis in a desert of eateries in Bethlehem. We saw the sign from Manger Square as we were headed toward the Church of the Nativity and the birthplace of Jesus. "Trattoria Francescana" caught my eye, an Italian restaurant in a hospice for Franciscan pilgrims ... sounded good to me after nine days of humus, falafel, schnitzel, shwarma, and pita bread.

Overlooking a scenic valley to the north, this 63 room inn in the center of Old Town Bethlehem has a restaurant open to the public that is probably one of the best values in Israel with both great food and service. Our server brought a basket of fresh bread rolls and a complimentary dish full of Kalamata olives right off the bat. Good start.

We decided to share a Greek Salad (₪22 / $5.85) with fresh lettuce, tomato, cucumber, white onion, Kalamata olives and feta cheese that was incredible for the price. For our main courses, we each had a pasta dish (₪30 each / $7.95), me the Spaghetti Carbonara and my wife the Ravioli di Spinaci e Ricotta. The carbonara was well prepared and tasty, but a bit on the dry side and the ravioli delicious, soft and obviously homemade, coming in a thick, rich cream sauce.

Along with a 1.5 liter bottle of aqua minerale (mineral water), a cappucino and an espresso, we paid a mere ₪120 ($31.80), including service charge, for our wonderful meal. Casa Nova ("new house") is a shining star in Bethlehem and just a stone's throw from the birthplace of another native and much bigger star ... HOOAH!

If you have the nerve to travel to Bethlehem on your own, make sure that you stop at Casa Nova for lunch or a snack. You will be glad you did!

CombatCritic Gives Casa Nova Trattoria Francescana 10 Bombs Out Of 10 And A Spot On My WALL OF FAME ... More Bombs Are Better!

Ten Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians:

Read this and other reviews of Israel's restaurants, hotels, apartments and attractions:

CombatCritic's TravelValue: Israel

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Naples, Italy: Non Ho Mangiato Bene (I Did Not Eat Very Well)

Antica Pizzeria Prigiobbo

Via Portacarrese A Montecalvario, 96

80134 Naples, Italy

Phone: +39 (081) 407-692

Facebook Page

Website: None

Prices: €€€€

I found this little, inexpensive trattoria/pizzeria after being accosted by the rude owner of a place just down the street, so I told him he was an ass (stronzo) and walked away. The place looked simple, and quaint, the kind of place where you "eat well and pay little" ("mangia bene e pagha poco"), but that was not the case here. The menu is very limited and they did not have a few of the things I wanted (Maccheroni all' Amatriciana and Gnoccho alla Sorrentina - two of my favorites), but "flexibility is the key to Air Power" ... right?

The place has an average of 4.5 Stars out of 16 reviews on Yelp (usually a reliable sign of excellence), but I should have noticed that nobody mentioned the trattoria side of the house, the pasta and meat dishes, only the pizza. Anyway, I should have had the pizza, which looked good, because my pasta and meat dishes were not good, probably the worst I have had in hundreds of restaurants in Italy.

My primo (first course), Maccheroni alla Sorrentina (pasta with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil - €4.00), was rather flavorless and the pasta not drained properly with water in the bottom of the dish. I would expect this in a bad Italian restaurant stateside, but this was a first in Italy. The pasta badly needed some grated parmigiano (parmesan), but I could not get the owner/server's attention long enough to ask for some because he was too busy running around.

My secondo (main course), the Pizzaiola (beef steak topped with tomato sauce and olive oil - €4.50) was pork, not beef, and gristly with several small bones (see photos). The sauce was decent, but there was too much olive oil and I could have used more bread to mop it up (scarpetta). Unfortunately, the server was, again, too busy to bring more than the two small slices of bread he brought when I sat down.

It seems as though the "trattoria" part of this place is an afterthought because the food was not good, substandard by Italian standards. They did not have half of the things on the menu and my contorno (side dish - cold, zucchini, bell pepper and potatoes - which should have come with my main) came before my primo with the two small slices of bread. So, if you come, order pizza, forget the pasta and meat dishes, and ask for "il conto" (the check) because I did not and got overcharged:

Maccheroni alla Sorrentina - €4.00

Steak (Pork) Pizzaiola - €4.50

1/2 Liter of Wine - €2.50

Contorno - ? (Bo? - Price not listed on menu)

Total - €11

There was no "coperto" (cover) or "servizio" (service/tip) listed on the menu, but when I got tired of waiting for the check, I gave him a €50 note, receiving €35.50 in change. My side dish must have cost €3.50, very high compared to the primo and secondo (comparatively speaking, it should have been €1.50 - €2 max), so I was either overcharged or there was an unadvertised coperto or servizio charge included, In any event, €14.50 for this mediocre meal was NOT a TravelValue.

I should have eaten the other half of the sandwich I made from the night before or gone to one of the pizzerias down the street where I could have had a much better meal for €2 to €4.50. Shoulda, woulda, coulda ...

CombatCritic Gives Antica Pizzeria And Trattoria Prigiobbo 3 Bombs Out Of 10 ... And I Am Being Generous Because I Have Had Much Worse Meals Outside Of Italy ... More Bombs Are Better!

Three Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up"

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Title: Naples, Italy: Non Ho Mangiato Bene (I Did Not Eat Very Well)

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