I dined here with my friends recently and was very impressed with the whole experience. One of my…read morefriends had already dined here twice before and raved about how good the food was. So with that being said, my expectations were high. We came under a reservation, which is almost required in order to eat here (I recommend getting one up to a week in advance). Papà Raffaele is an Italian restaurant that primarily serves pizza, along with some shareable, salads, and desserts. They offer a great selection of drinks as well. The service was good and the food came out all freshly prepared. All the pizzas are made with premium ingredients imported from Italy and are cooked made-to-order in a wood-fired pizza oven from Naples. This is probably the closest you will get to authentic Italian in Lille.
To start, we ordered the Spritz Almalfitano Pitcher and burrata to share. The Spritz Almalfitano was essentially their version of a limoncello spritz. Although it didn't have a strong lemoncello taste. The drink was very strong and we were genuinely feeling "drunk" after splitting it amongst the three of us. I would recommend ordering it though as it was a lovely cocktail with great flavor, just very, very strong. The burrata was simple, but flavorful nonetheless and a perfect way to start the meal. For my pizza, I ordered the Dolce Diavola which consisted of tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, spicy spianata, onions
red, ricotta, pepper, mint, honey and olive oil. This was a wonderful combination of flavors that all worked together harmoniously! Very unique and like nothing I'd had before, it had some heat, smokiness, and sweetness. You could really taste the quality of ingredients as it was evident in the amount of flavor all the food had. This was easily one of the best pizzas I've ever had, hands down. To round out this fabulous meal, we ordered the Fat Sundae and Tiramisu to split. The Fat Sundae included milk ice cream, Nocciolata (chocolate-hazelnut spread), salted butter caramel, salted peanuts, crushed cantucci, and cocoa. I thoroughly enjoyed this as it wasn't too heavy and was the perfect way to end the meal. The tiramisu was also very good and I would recommend! One thing I will note is that if you opt to have your food come out separately (starters then your pizza), they will only put your pizza in the oven once they take your starter plates away. This can make your meal time longer.
Overall, I was very pleased with my meal at Papà Raffaele. It was easily one of the best, most memorable meals I had in Lille. All the food was sensational, the quality unmatched, and the flavors authentic. The service was great and everyone there was extremely pleasant. I absolutely loved my pizza and see why it is such a popular eatery. This is a must-eat if you are in Lille and I highly recommend making a reservation to dine here.
