Last Meals on Ischia and in Naples

I was going to go all out for my last dinner in Ischia – could I get through perhaps four courses: antipasto, primo, secondo, dolce? I was very keen to try one of Ischia’s most famous dishes – Ischian-style rabbit. While one might think that the only food on the island is sea-based, it turns out that rabbit is a popular meat there, with farmers raising them inland. After wandering through Ischia Porto and Ischia Porte for a while, I found Da Raffaele, which was one of the few restaurants that served individual portions of the rabbit. Many other restaurants require one to order an entire bunny in advance. Good, the place looked promising and busy and the restaurant’s location along Via Roma made for some fantastic people watching during my meal.

I started with Brushetta, that famous toast lavished with plenty of olive oil and beautiful tomatoes. I liked that you could order it by the piece here, perfect for the solo diner.

Pasta time! Linguine alle Vongole was exactly what I wanted. Perfectly al dente pasta with salty clams and sweet tomatoes.

And here was my secondo of Coniglio all’Ischitana. Here, portions were stewed with olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, chilli, rosemary and parsley. It was delicious if a little freaky when served with its lungs and heart intact!

I couldn’t fit in any dessert! What a shame – I bet their offerings would have been good!

Ristorante Da Raffaele
Via Roma, 29
Ischia Porto, Ischia
80077 Province of Naples
Italy

The next day, after a slow and leisurely breakfast, I checked out of the hotel, transferred to the ferry port and while waiting for the ferry, I ogled a nearby fruit stand.

Look at those stacks of cherries!

What an amazing variety of tomatoes! I wish I could have carried some back with me.

Anyway, a ferry ride and I was back in Naples. I caught the bus to the airport and then found myself there at lunchtime. Perfect. A Fratelli La Bufala (there are branches of this Neapolitan chain in London too) pre-security was a good choice.

I started with a small plate of the vegetables on display at the front. The tender dark green leaves of the Neapolitan Friarielli saltati were perfect – dark, bitter and so so moreish. Melanzana a funghetto was not with mushrooms as the same may imply but silky soft aubergine cooked with tomatoes.

A Margherita pizza was very good. Sure, it wasn’t da Michele but it was excellent for airport food.

Fratelli La Bufala
Viale Fulco Ruffo di Calabria
Aeroporto di Napoli Capodichino
80144 Napoli
Italy

I’ll just quickly mention here how fabulous the food was at Milan Linate airport too, where I changed flights both ways. Are all Italian airports like this? Ah, not just airports I’ve just discovered but also railway stations, highway rest stops and big downtown shopping districts – it’s the Ciao Ristorante! It’s self-service and affordable and the food is very very good indeed. All the airport workers lunching there were a good sign. Here’s some of my lunch on my flight out – bresaola with parmesan and rocket and a fantastic strawberry cake.

That’s it from Italy this time! All my photos from Naples and Ischia can be seen in this Flickr photoset.

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Eating in Ischia

I didn’t have much time in Naples, the reason being a wedding to attend on the nearby island of Ischia! It’s a short ferry ride away, first past the island of Procida and in our case, arriving at the town of Forio. Our hotel was not too far away and they had sent some transportation to move us and our luggage.

We soon were back in Forio town that night in search of a place to eat. After walking round the town and finding the Chiesa Soccorso, we ended up at Il Soccorso, just at its foot and had a feast while watching an all-night outdoor performance by the town’s children. A few bits and bobs were first shared by the table for antipasti and my favourite was the incredibly tender octopus salad with chunks of potato and lots of olives.

A friend and I split two dishes. Paccheri with clams and zucchini was perfectly al dente and the combination of clams and zucchini is one I hope to replicate at home!

Scaloppine di Vitello al Limone was indeed very lemony and tender and delicious. The entire region is famous for its lemons and I certainly got my fill of lemony goodness on this trip.

A bit of a delay with the pizzas on the table (some were incredible, with ricotta stuffed crusts) resulted in chilled glasses of a local liquor arriving as an apology. It’s a dark sweet fruity liquor called rucolino…and yes, it’s made from rucola (rocket)! Fascinating!

Il Soccorso
Via Soccorso, 5
80075 Forio
Isola d’Ischia, Italy

On the day of the wedding, a few of us hopped on a bus for the town of Ischia Porto from where we would walk to the neighbouring town of Ischia Ponte where we could access the Castello Aragonese.

It wasn’t too taxing a walk to the top and we were rewarded with amazing views and a delicious lunch at the restaurant. My stuffed omelette (with ham and cheese) hit the spot. Best to avoid their pizza though.

The wedding that evening was beautiful and I’m so happy for the now married couple. And what a reception it was – I think it was pretty epic, even for Italian wedding standards! Highlights included a boat of oysters,….

…a dedicated chef for deep fried nibbles from Naples,…

… and sea bream baked in a salt crust.

I was utterly stuffed.

The next day (well… the same day…as the night was long) I woke late and could barely stomach the thought of more food. It was time for a day rest and relaxation and I hoped to achieve it at the Giardini Poseidon Terme, a thermal spa with multiple pools of  naturally heated water and water jets. But just before I entered, a man with a fruit cart (more like a fruit van?) outside had me distracted and I ended up entering the spa with a bag of the juiciest cherries and sweetest giant figs. Then it was an afternoon of soaking and napping and soaking again.

Though the food offerings at Poseidon did look very good, I thought I’d explore the beach area a bit and so for lunch (ok, I found some space in my stomach later in the day) chose a place called Bar-Ristorante Bagno Teresa, the only restaurant along the beach that advertised daily specials. I started with a classic melon and prosciutto …

…followed by one of their daily specials – linguine with lemon and scampi. This was incredible, with the shellfish as fresh as it could be and the island’s famous lemons very clear in the simple sauce.

Bar-Ristorante Bagno Teresa
Via Giovanni Mazzella
Forio, Isola d’Ischia
Italy

That evening (a Sunday), I headed into the town of Forio to find it packed with families out for la passeggiata, the evening’s promenade. Feeling only a little peckish, I joined the queues of families buying little snacky bits from stands outside on the street.

I stopped at a stand in front of a rosticceria and picked up a small pizza (average but outstanding tomato sauce that I licked up) and this excellent fried potato croquette filled with salami and cheese. It was not exactly light but it was good. I sat by the Chiesa Soccorso and watched the sun go down.

Oh, and if you see this little drinks stand below in Forio, do try their lemon granita. It was the best I’d tried on the island.

On my last full day on the island, I headed for Sant’Angelo, a beautiful town on the south coast of Ischia.

The pastries in the display case outside Bar Pasticceria Rosticceria Dolce e la Vita caught my attention. After failing to get into the Terme Cavascura (ugh, after a water taxi ride and walking through a gorge, I found it closed), I headed back to  Sant’Angelo and entered the cafe, grabbing one of the prime seats-with-a-view in the back, in the shade.

As suggested by IschiaTown on Twitter, I tried a zingara, a sandwich invented on Ischia. The toasted sandwich I ordered was filled with mayonnaise, prosciutto, cheese, tomato and lettuce. Delicious though perhaps a hot toasted sandwich wasn’t the best choice in the heat!

I was really looking forward to my sweet – a Dolci Pensieri, according to the label in the window. The wild strawberry topped confections had been calling out my name since I first saw them and I greedily chose the one with both crema and nata (or was it panna? What’s the word for Italian for whipped cream?) inside.

More specifically, it was a crisp flaky pastry cup lined in dark chocolate, filled with crema (custard), then a layer of sponge cake, a layer of nata/panna and then the wild strawberries. It was insanely good.

Bar Pasticceria Rosticceria Dolce e la Vita
Via Nazario Sauro
Loc di Serrara Fontana
Sant’Angelo, Serrara Fontana
Isola d’Ischia, Italy

Anyway, this has become a bit of a novel so my last two meals on Ischia and in Naples will be in the next post! I’d just like to end this post by saying how surprised I was that there was never a dud meal on Ischia – everything is just extremely fresh, simply and expertly prepared and delicious. You won’t eat badly if you holiday there!