missypie

We'll be visiting Rome, Florence and Venice with our three kids in about a month. Can one find good "ethnic" food in the historical centers of any of those cities? If so, what kind? I've had great Indian food in London and great chwarmas in Paris. Anything (besides great Italian food) we should try in Rome, Florence or Venice?

nessundorma

For better or worse, Italy hasn't had an empire for quite some time, so it hasn't had a lot of former colonial subjects bringing their cuisines into the captials.

But there is immigration, and an increased interest in international food in Italy. Rome is probably your best bet for a variety of non-Italian cuisine. Venice your least promising. I have seen kebob shops in Firenze, and you will see Irish pubs in all the major tourist places, and I assume some of them serve pub grub.

If you were going to Milano it would be easier, because the immigrant neighborhoods there are closer to the tourist neighborhoods, and Milan is much more of a global-oriented city.

tcreath

There used to be a Viennese Bierreria near the Spanish Steps in Rome that had pretty good Austrian/German beerhall-type food. I'm not sure if its still there or not. Otherwise, to be honest we found very little in the way of ethnic food in Italy. Not saying that there isn't any; just that we really didn't see any.

Tracy

ira

Hi m,

In Florence, I can recommend Salaam Bombay, Via F. Rosselli 45r
Where the locals go if they want something exotic. A good, inexpensive Indian restaurant. Excellent nan.

ira

Is Italian cooking considered "ethnic" in Italy?

Is French or Austrian cooking considered "ethnic"?

Is Carciofi alla Giudia "ethnic"?

missypie

After a lifetime of eating Italian food in the US, it will be interesting to try to find restaurants that serve what normal Italians actually eat.

The first time I was in Paris, we stayed in the Latin Quarter, and it was very difficult for us to find anything that seemed like "French food" anywhere nearby. I recall eating Italian, Middle Eastern, and Vietnamese food there.

LoveItaly

missypie, I am sure you will be surprised to find that what Italians in Italy eat is quite different than the "Italian" food served in the US.
I hope you enjoy Italian food in Italy, mangia!

aeiger

Hi
I realize that it may not be the "ethnic" food you're looking for but check out the Jewish restaurants in the old Jewish Ghetto of Rome. Especially the artichoke.

missypie

I am so looking forward to the artichokes. Are they common on menus, or hard to find? (I remember being in coastal Maryland and finding it hard to find a restaurant that served "Maryland crab cakes.&quot

j_999_9

Artichokes (carcioffi) are fairly common. On the "ethnic" question, it seems as if I saw a fair number of Chinese restaurants in Florence (but didn't eat at any of them).

aeiger

HiThe artichoke is common on the menus especially in the Ghetto.

Eloise

Artichokes are in season now. They should be available everywhere.

The two chief ways they are prepared in Rome are alla giudea (flattened, crisply fried, but with a soft center; this is the version that predominates in the Ghetto but is also available elsewhere) and alla romana (braised and served with oil and herbs; available pretty much everywhere).

Artichokes are also used in many other ways, but alla giudea and alla romana are the most common.

Sampaguita

IMHO most of the popular restaurants frequented by tourists in the big 3 Italian cities serve pretty much standard "international Italian" cuisine which you can find in New York, Hong Kong, London etc etc, so beloved the world over.

I would look for the little trattorie and osterie which serve regional Italian cuisines, all regions in Italy have a different type of food, wine and cooking styles, i.e Piedmontese, Friulia, Sicilian, Marche, Calabrese etc, and this is the real joy of the Italian table. Check out www.made-in-italy.com/ for details on the regions.

And www.slowfood.com has a huge list of traditional mom and pop restaurants all over Italy, you have to subscribe for the English list, but the Italian one is free, and not difficult to navigate.

montrealvic

we went to an indian restaurant in rome. I believe its called maharaja one of the best meals i have had!

alanRow

"great Italian food"

There's an underlying assumption that throughout Italy you'll get the same food.
Therre's not a single Italian cuisine in Italy except for the "international" *(ie American) style that you get in most tourist areas

katiekb

We asked a Roman friend this (just for curiosities sake) and his reply was to list popular dishes from other regions of Italy that you could easily find in Rome. When we asked him about other countries he really had to think, but did say there were Chinese and I think Vietnamese, but he had never eaten in them. He also said he had heard a rumor that there was even a Mexican place in Rome!
-Katie

Kate

Katie pretty much hits the nail on the head. Italians are perhaps the most narrow-minded nation I've come across in terms of their eating habits. They tend to stick not just to Italian cuisine, but to their own regional cuisine (the same is true of wine - they drink a far higher percentage of italian wine than even the French drink of French wine).

Whilst you can certainly find 'ethnic' cuisine in the major cities if you look for it, there isn't any great tradition of ethnic cuisine and I certainly couldn't vouch for the quality on offer. Any worth a mention will probably be mentioned in the relevant Time Out City guides, which I find very good for restaurant recommendations.

I guess MacDonalds is ethnic cuisine in Italy!

DeborahAnn

missy, Baires, Restaurante Argentino at Via Cavour 315 in Rome was fabulous. My lamb secondi piatti was the best lamb I can remember. It was a welcome break from all the regional Italian food we had been eating. Deborah

missypie

Thanks everyone. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something (like eating Indian food in London.) Didn't want to come back and have someone say something like "You mean you were in Florence and didn't eat ANY Thai food?!"

Joelleinitaly04

Best Chines food I ever had was La Perla de Oriente in Venice. What we found interesting was that it was served Italina style---so you got your egg rolls as "anitpasta", then stir fry noodles would be served as though a "pasta"...and then you got your sweet and sour pork as a "prima"

It was really good.

J