I HAVE MOVED MY BLOG TO WWW.WORLDFOODIEGUIDE.COM. PLEASE READ THE REST OF THIS POST THERE. IT’S EASIER TO NAVIGATE THE NEW BLOG AND THERE IS NEW CONTENT THERE TOO! THANKS! HELEN YUET LING PANG
I had worked out my Bologna shortlist of restaurants two months before the trip, and all the restaurants for lunch and dinner had been booked one month in advance. Our last meal in Bologna was to be at Nicola’s, which supposedly serves the best pizzas in the city. I hadn’t actually wanted to eat pizza in Bologna, but in deference to vegetarian husband’s request, a pizza restaurant was added to the list.
The reservation was for 7pm, but when we arrived, it was closed. No lights were on inside, and we were very disappointed, to say the least. Reasoning that even if it wasn’t going to open until 8pm, they would still have to open up to get the oven going, we left to wander the streets in a daze.
Eventually we came across Il Ducale, after checking one last time to see if Nicola’s had opened in the meantime. As it was Sunday, a day when many restaurants are closed in Bologna, we really didn’t have much choice.
For a while, we were the only ones in the restaurant, but when we left, it was busier. There were a couple of tourists, but there were also locals tucking in to their pizzas and seafood pasta (the latter seems to be a speciality there). The menu (as you can from their website) is enormous, with over 50 pizzas to choose from. And then there’s the normal restaurant menu, with primo and secondo piatti.
What we ordered:
For some reason, we ordered pasta followed by pizza, even though we knew the pizzas would be large. Vegetarian husband was starving, and I thought I’d keep him company while he had his tortellacci porcini, rucola e grana, with mushrooms, cream and rocket (9 Euros). So I ordered tagliatelle alla bolognese (7 Euros), just to have a bit more of the meat sauce.
This was too salty, but it was meaty, with plenty of sauce, just the way I like it. However the portion was too large and I couldn’t finish it. We found minute bits of ham in the tortellaci sauce, and the waiter had no problems whatsoever in returning it to the kitchen for a new, ham-less sauce to be prepared.
Husband’s quattro formaggi pizza, with pecorino, grana, emmenthal and fontina (6 Euros) arrived. It was far larger than the plate it was on, but somehow he managed to finish it. He did confess though that it was ‘too cheesy’! My calzone farcito, with pomodoro, mozzarella, prosciutto, funghi and carciofi (6 Euros) was horrible. It wasn’t piping hot inside, just warm. I played around with it and ate the filling, but left the thick, doughy exterior.
The verdict?
The bill came to 43 Euros without service charge. I think we should have shared a pizza, as other locals were doing, while having another separate dish each. The Italian man next to me did just this, sharing a pizza with his partner, before tucking in to a very large dish of seafood pasta. And this did look amazing.
So our last meal in Bologna was rather disappointing. To top it all, when we walked past Nicola’s, it was open. Not only open, but full of happy diners. By then, we didn’t have the energy to ask why they gave us a 7pm reservation when they weren’t opening til later.
Have a look at the summary of our trip and other restaurant recommendations in Where To Eat In Bologna…
10 - Perfection, 9.5 - Sensational, 9 - Outstanding, 8.5 - Superb,
8 - Excellent, 7.5 - Very good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 - Average
Contact Details:
Il Ducale
Via Oberdan 24/2
40126 Bologna
Italy
Tel: +39 (0)51 239 615
www.ilducale.com
Closed Mondays
Nicola’s Pizzeria
Piazza San Martino 9
Bologna
Italy
Tel: +39 (0)51 232 502
