It was our first night in Italy so my expectations were high. With all the hype I have been hearing about, I was excited. We went straight to see the Duomo while singing Styx's Mr Roboto in my head, of course, but we did not know where to eat. After walking around the area for a bit, we decided to eat here. I suggested KFC beforehand, but I just got a weird stare from my love :). And, we did not want to eat at a fancy smancy place especially near the Duomo since we expect it to be a tourist trap, and I am just too cheap.
Anyway, this place is very hip. It is quite small with just a few tables and chairs. Thank goodness we came here late so we had a place to sit down especially after all that walking. It is a counter service and have all their sandwiches on display. I was so thrilled to be able to taste the Italian panini. Surprisingly, a panino just means a sandwich. I thought it would be grilled pressed sandwich. I felt so silly expecting my sandwich to be grilled. Oh well.
The disadvantage of being near the closing time is that the kitchen was already close. So, they could not make the panino that we wanted. Thankfully, there were still some on display. Since we were hungry, we settled on Panino 19 and Club 01.
Starting with Club 01, I would not order this again just because it was not very filling. It is grilled chicken with some veggies. It was in Italian so I was not sure what it was at the moment. It was adequate, but nothing different from a chicken salad sandwich.
As for the Panino 19, that was a different experience. My first thought was why in the world we do not have a sandwich like this back home. Then, my second thought was thank goodness we do not have a sandwich like this back home since I would definitely going to get fat. The bread was just superb. It has a nice crunch and hard enough to hold the contents which was layered of coppa di Parma and some parmigiano reggiano. Even though the bread was thick, the meat packs with flavor that filled my mouth with happiness. The taste was indescribable and surely this is the only time that I would be able to taste something like this. This was a great experience.
However, looking back, this panino was not the the best thing we tried. It is just that food in Italy is on a different level.
As for our drink, we ordered cappuccino with golden milk and cappuccino with ganoderma which is suppose to be coffee with some strange Chinese herb. I do not even know what a golden milk is, but the cappuccino turned out good. It turned the cappuccino to green. It was a weird cappuccino to look at, but it taste like one. They were different but still familiar.
Overall, this place was a good choice to start out food adventure in Italy without breaking our bank. It was a wonderful experience and immediately set our expectation high. So, if you are around the Duomo and tired of fancy and expensive food, go over here and you will not be disappointed. read more