Spending a week in Bilbao, we found ourselves tired of standing around in crowded pintxo bars and instead, were craving table service and a quieter atmosphere. That is when we stumbled upon La Nicoletta. Although I could tell it was not necessarily a "hole in the wall" place, the Italian menu and white tablecloths drew me in.
We were immediately brought tomato tapenade and olive oil and vinegar served with a tasty bread basket on the side. Yes, you will be paying for this later, but it is worth the price. Whether you want pizza or pasta, they have both and plenty of variety. I was in the mood for a salad and although nothing completely captured my attention, I ordered the spinach salad with chunks of cheese, walnuts, and a honey dressing (after all, I knew I would be sampling my dates spaghetti bolognese). The unopened bottles of Lambrusco decorating the restaurant got to my head and I couldnt help but order us one which was a perfect compliment to the meal.
They brought the salad out first to get us started. It was definitely enough to split between two people and although I felt like it was missing something, it was satisfactory. Next came a hefy serving of spaghetti that was cooked al dente and slathered in sauce that we were able to soak the remainder of our bread basket in. We were too full to go for dessert but happy all the while.
The service was not anything out of the ordinary but the atmosphere was comfortable and definitely a nice break from the bustling Bilbao streets. read more