Eat Italian

Isa - I need suggestions…

This time, we’re craving Italian.

It’s impossible for me to recommend somewhere without mentioning the Pretoria Italian Club (must try if you love good food & want to experience Italian community - the linguini marinara is my go-to), I have come across a few restaurants that I can suggest.

Il Contadino the quaint restaurant is the perfect spot for a Sunday lunch. For starters, try the chicken liver pâté served with farm bread & homemade chutney, and their grass fed carpaccio🥖On our recent visit, there was a special menu which included crayfish tortellini😻 I can recommend the acorn fed wild boar ragu with extra bread to eat up the sauce!

Sotto Sopra for mouth-watering dishes! Two dishes you need to try are the Rissotto di Gamberi (prawn risotto made with a prawn bisque, infused with lobster 🦐🦞) and the Cartoccio di Cornuti (tomato & white wine based seafood pasta with calamari, prawns and mussels🍝). It doesn’t matter how long the chocolate fondant takes to make, it is worth the wait 🍫The molten chocolate that oozes from the warm chocolate cake is the most divine I have ever tasted (may have broken all etiquette rules and used my finger to get the last bit of chocolaty goodness)🙆🏻‍♀️

Saint if the ever-changing roof of this restaurant wasn’t enough to put stars in your eyes, the food will🤩Can’t go wrong with the arancini & saffron aioli, Margherita pizza or fillet pasta (even the steak tartare is *chef's kiss)🍕🥩For those with a sweet tooth, try the Amaretto crème brûlée or Saint apple pie 🍏🥧 I’ve also discovered the Paradiso cocktail -made with passion fruit, vanilla purée, coconut & pineapple🥥🍍The bar area is very popular with all their events & DJs, so be prepared to stand & sip on your drinks🍹

Cafe Del Sol for angel hair wrapped prawns, crumbed squid heads, Nonna’s ragu, vodka salmon pasta & seafood risotto. Definitely a place to bring you comfort food🍝

Tortellino Doro a sweet little Italian deli where you can dine amongst shelves of pasta & other delights for sale. They had me at cassata - one of my absolute must-try Italian 🍨

Modena - anywhere that serves burrata makes me happy! & they win with their burrata & Quattro Stagioni pizza🍕 as well as the Rigatoni alla Salsiccia - a delicious pasta with Italian pork sausage cover in tomato, cream and red wine sauce.