I knew people came to Cinque Terre more for the beaches, hikes, and amazing views than for their restaurants, so I tried to temper my expectations after being spoiled in Rome and Florence. Convenience was the main factor for our meals in Monterosso, so we just walked down the path from our hotel and randomly scoped out restaurants. None of the menus really blew us away, so we just chose Piccolo Diavolo mainly because it looked cute inside haha. They had a sort of all white wooden décor, and looked like one of those country style brunch restaurants. A bunch of people entered when they opened, but we had no problem getting a table.
Food: The prices were a bit on the higher end, which is not surprising considering how touristy Cinque Terre was. It also wasn't surprising that much of the menu was seafood-centric. We each got an entree and split an appetizer.
Appetizer - To start off, we got an "appetizer" of fried dough, salami, and stracchino cheese. I was thinking it would be a normal appetizer portion, but when it came out it was just massive. The order came with two plates: one plate just covered end to end with 4 types of salami and a big ball of fresh cheese. Then there was also an entire second plate with a pile of fried dough. The dough was hollow inside, so it was the perfect pocket to stuff with meat and cheese. They were freshly fried too, so the heat from the dough warmed up the meat and melted the cheese a little bit. The only problem was that it was so massive, it stuffed us right at the start of the meal haha.
Trofie pasta with prawns and spicy tomato sauce - Trofie is basically a local Ligurian specialty pasta. They were small braids of pasta that sort've looked like little worms. They were pretty dense considering their small size, a lot like the gnocchi. When it came out, I knew it was the right choice for me. The sauce was super creamy, and not too spicy. Maybe I'm too used to eating Red Lobster and didn't really know what fresh seafood was supposed to taste like, but this shrimp had a really creamy consistency, and wasn't firm as it came out of the shell, which made it a little hard to extract. Also, all these years I thought a prawn was just another term for jumbo shrimp, but these things were huge. It looked like a shrimp and a lobster combined.
Stuffed Calamari - My girlfriend got the the stuffed calamari from the daily specials. In both of our minds we were picturing deep fried calamari rings that were stuffed with breading. But after we ordered, we started to think...would a coastal town really be serving deep fried calamari? These were gonna be the full on real squid. When the food came out, we guessed correctly. Once the plate hit the table we both saw a plate full of 4 fat ass squids stuffed to the max, and covered in a shit looking brown sauce with peas. Not gonna lie...it did not look appetizing at all. When we first tasted the sauce though, it was actually tolerable. Then she cut a piece of the squid and it was ok, especially the breading. I actually enjoyed the breading, which was like typical stuffing from Thanksgiving. This dish wasn't bad, but we probably wouldn't order that again haha. To be fair though, the table next to us also ordered this dish, and absolutely loved it.
Overall, Piccolo Diavolo was pretty decent. It was a nice looking place that served generous portions of authentic Ligurian cuisine. read more