Milan restaurant suggestions
 

My wife and I, in our mid seventies, will be using Milan as our base and traveling by train to visit various cities. But, we have a couple of evenings free in the Milan Centrale area. We need a couple of local, reasonably priced restaurants for dinner. Good food wins over tuxedo wearing waiters.

Thanks,

Marty

I'm topping this, as I'm interested in the same information.

Are there really no suggestions for Milan restaurants? I have done a search here with no luck and a more general search online. There aren't many recommended in the area around my hotel. I'm staying near the Last Supper. I prefer not to have to go a long way for dinner after sightseeing all day. Any ideas? Thanks!

Wade through our daily stuff in links below and we talk about both of our favorites.

We had a great lunch at Nabucco (Via Fiori Chiari, 10) in Brera.
https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...for-the-weary/

We enjoyed two excellent dinners at a neighborhood restaurant called Osteria La Piola, Viale Abruzzi, 23, 20129. Spectacular Risotto Pere e Zola (Gorgonzola and Pear Risotto). Not in Centro, however, but only about ten minutes by taxi.
https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...edral-rooftop/

((H))

Thanks Tom, I did read your report. The places you talked about sounded great, but as you noted, they're not anywhere near my hotel. I did note down a couple you went to for lunch that I might be able to use. Lots of other good info in your report, too!

I'll listen too

One of our favorite restaurants in Milano is the Osteria Mama Rosa in Piazza Cincinnato, 4. The place is upscale and serves my favorite linguine and clam sauce in Italy.

Buon viaggio,

Thanks rbciao, that one looks great, but again, it's a long way from my hotel. Looks like around 3-1/2 miles (and that's as the crow flies). Hoping for something closer to S. Maria Delle Grazie.

No idea if they are near your hotel but we enjoyed Risoelatte, Antica Hostaria della Lanterna and Osteria dell'Acquabella. For what it's worth we found it easy to get around Milan. I don't think any of these were that close to our rental apartment.

Thanks, valgachi, Risoelatte is in the ballpark and looks good.

We had one day (Christmas Day) in Milan over winter break and really enjoyed Osteria Brunello http://www.osteriabrunello.it on Corso Garibaldi-- maybe 2 miles from Santa Maria Delle Grazie.

Here is my journal entry on the meal:
We wanted a fabulous and festive meal, but not much is open on Christmas in Italy. Osteria Brunello was close to our hotel on a charming pedestrian street filled with Christmas lights with a small temporary skating rink surrounding a monument at one end. It was festive and filled with Italian families. Italians are good at outerwear- everyone was bundled up and looked elegant (the adults) or charming (the children).

The restaurant was pretty and welcoming. Our waiter was charming and jovial, perfect for a festive Christmas dinner. He looked like a younger, Italian Fred Savage and seemed so proud of the food and delighted that we loved everything. His English was excellent but he was charming about helping us order in Italian. We both got the Natale special menu, with wine pairings. Everything was wonderful. I had a perfect view of the hatch where the dishes came out of the kitchen, and I had FOMO every time a perfect cotelleto Milanese came out. They looked sooo good.

The starter: Veal liver and rabbit terrine with pistachios, served beside two mini black pepper brioches with a glass of Franciacorta Brut from Entico Gatti.

The first course: Guinea fowl cappelletti in guinea fowl broth with 36 month aged Parmesan mousse whipped into it. This was so, so delicious. Like a chicken and parmesan version of Tortellini en Brodo, my favorite dish from our trips to Bologna. Served with a Muller Thurgau 2017 from Girlan.

Main: Boneless stuffed breast of capon, stuffed with a blend of dark meat capon and pork, with baby vegetables in an orange sauce, served with a 2013 Brunello de Montalcino (of course) from Fattoria dei Barbi.

Dessert was Mandarin Three Ways- a very light vanilla custard (sort of boring, I thought), a mandarin puree that was bright orange, intense and creamy, paired with the two thin, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate disks, and poached mandarin slices, along with an almond/orange crumble. Very nice and served with a dessert wine- I've forgotten the name.

The meal ended with grappa and espresso for my husband and more sparkling water for me to prevent my usual jet lag migraine.

The last time we were in Milan we rented an apartment for a week, so did our own cooking and didn't eat out much. BUT, be sure to visit the amazing foodstore Peck. They have a small café within the store where you could enjoy a lovely lunch.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. St Cirq, Peck does look great. More than I would usually spend for lunch but a good idea for a little splurge for lunch after my visit to the Duomo. 😀

SusanP

Thanks for joining. Great information.

But, as the OP, I'm still in search of a (local style) dinner spot near Centrale.

Any Centrale suggestions?

OP - I think you will need to be patient.
While there are, of course, many places to eat around Centrale, I doubt that this a part of town where many tourists would go for dinner.
Not because there was nothing to find, but mostly because there are some many more options elsewhere in the city - in a somewhat nicer setting, like Brera or along the canal.
In the meantime, you can still check out the places on Google maps near the station. Search for Centrale, then use the nearby -> restaurants function. That should at least give you an idea what you can expect in your immediate vicinity.

I think what Cowboy meant to say is Centrale wouldn't be the logical place for LOCALS to go eat, and that's true. I doubt many Milanese head toward the main train station for a night out and a a good meal. Though the cafeteria on the mezzanine level of the train station is quite wonderful and extensive (if you can plow your way through the druggies and panhandlers outside). As noted, for a good meal Brera and along the canals are good choices - or even Milan's Chinatown, which has some surprisingly good food!

We've eaten many times in places close to Centrale and never had a memorable meal, but that may be just because we're not looking hard for good food in that neighborhood - more concerned with making a train connection or getting to a nearby hotel after a long journey.

Thank you. That certainly makes sense. However, there are places, in many cities, that have good restaurants near Centrale areas. For example, when we visit Florence we will try the Bistecca Fiorenza at Trattoria dall'Oste. The main restaurant is at Piazza Della Signori but they have a branch or second restaurant located around the corner from the Santa Maria Novella train station. Both restaurants are rated very well.

I was hoping that something like the above was available in Milan and/or Bologna as well.

We enjoyed two excellent dinners at a neighborhood restaurant called Osteria La Piola, Viale Abruzzi, 23, 20129. Spectacular Risotto Pere e Zola (Gorgonzola and Pear Risotto). Not in Centro, however, but only about ten minutes by taxi.
https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...edral-rooftop/

This restaurant is a 6-minute cab ride from train station and a 15-minute east walk.