Rick Steves really put the Cinque Terre on the map twenty years back, at least that's how I found out about this part of the Italian Riviera when I hiked the trail the first time in 1994. For my return visit, my dear friend Linda, who is Italian to her core, strongly encouraged Jamie W. and me to try Il Ciliegio for dinner since we were staying in Monterosso al Mare. Far be it for me to not trust an Italian's culinary viewpoint, especially one that cooks so well, lest I find a horse's head in my bed. She forewarned us it was outside of town in the hills above the harbor, so it wasn't a matter of a simple stroll from our hotel.
As it turned out, since no one at the restaurant speaks English, we had to ask the hotel clerk to make a reservation for us at which point we were told we needed to wait in the town's central plaza for the restaurant van to pick us up at 5:30PM sharp. We waited...and waited. By 6:30, I decided to walk back to the hotel to ask the restaurant where the van was. Apparently, the owner was in a tavern up the street and explained mostly in hand gestures that he told the clerk to tell us to meet him at the bar. Hmmm, that's not what the clerk said. By this point, we were famished but still had to trudge up the street to his van at which point we were driven on a dark, meandering road for quite a while until we saw a single light on the side of the hill. We arrived.
I have to admit I was disappointed that we missed the sunset up there and what must be quite a pastoral setting. We could make out the lights surrounding the harbor in the distance, but otherwise we were in complete darkness. When we entered the restaurant itself, it looked like one large dining room with one small party at a large table and at another, a Japanese couple who obviously heeded the advice of their Italiophile friends. The menu is comprehensive, and the execution, as it turned out, was fresh and straightforward. We started with a lovely plate of fresh seafood marinated with extra virgin olive oil - anchovies, calamari, sardines (see photo) followed by a delicious breaded and stuffed prawn and a clam made to look like its fraternal twin (see photo).
The abundant pasta dishes were next, and neither was terribly adventurous. The first was a housemade cheese ravioli with a thick meat sauce, and the second was trofie with a light pesto sauce (see photos). No complaints about either as they were clearly made fresh that evening. A generous plate of lightly fried seafood followed with calamari rings and crayfish dominating the proceedings (see photo). It needed only a squeeze of a fresh lemon wedge to satisfy completely. To cleanse our palates more thoroughly, we were served a standard green salad of lettuce and tomatoes (see photo). Naturally we indulged in dessert since Monterosso gets very quiet at night.
First up was the sweet dessert wine which had a distinctively peachy flavor (see photos) and then two sweet concoctions. One was the semifreddo which unfortunately tasted like it came right out of the freezer that was standing right behind my chair (see photo). Much better was the housemade almond cake, which was moist on the inside with a nice crust that made it taste almost like a biscotti (see photo). It was a lovely, low-profile evening, and our only dilemma at that point was getting the owner's attention away from his own intense table conversation in order for him to drive us back to town. He had one of the busboys take on the chauffeur responsibilities as it was a mad dash back. In case you're wondering, the total bill came to 76 Euros, or about $110 before tip. We will definitely come back for the full vista view next time.
FOOD - 4 stars...fresh seafood and pasta, abundant portions, just a few kinks
AMBIANCE - 4 stars...homey feeling inside, just wish I could have seen the view outside
SERVICE - 3.5 stars...waitstaff was attentive, but that mix-up about the van was rather suspect
TOTAL - 4 stars...a most unusual find in the Cinque Terre and yet so fitting...most worthwhile to explore read more