A Week in Naples and Sorrento, Italy
I miss the blue skies and sunshine. And all the delicious foods of Italy. It's almost February and I have spent the past month studying and taking exams. Thank goodness my last one is on Monday and then I'm off to Spain for a little trip...but the Belgian weather has me dreaming of my Italy trip with my parents over New Years. I haven't shared much about it, so here we are.
My parents and I flew from Brussels to Milan then to Naples the day after trip to begin our Italy trip. We stayed in Naples for 4 days then went to Sorrento through the beginning of the year and back to Naples for a night and then all the way back to Brussels. Naples often gets a bad reputation and I can see why, it's crowded, lots of grafitti, slightly dirty but it has a certain charm to it. Not to mention, I had some of the best food of my life there. My parents really loved Sorrento–don't get me wrong, I liked it and thought it was beautiful!–but was definitely catered towards tourists. Overall, we had a wonderful time in both places. We went to Pompeii for a day (via the circumvesuviana train which is also the cheapest way to get from Naples to Sorrento) which I personally thought was a bit underwhelming...but that's just me.
The food, in my opinion, is the best part of any trip if you haven't already noticed so alas, all the spots to hit up for the best Italian food in Campania
Naples
We began our trip with a food tour of Naples through Airbnb. This was incredible and I highly highly suggest it. Luca, our host, was so sweet and knowledgable about the area. We ate a lot of food. I couldn't believe how much food it was hahaha. My favorite part of the tour was going into a local bread factory and hand rolling traditional savory biscuits called Taralli.
Before we get into the actual restaurants, I just want to bring to your attention that the pizza in Naples is CHEAP and incredible. For a traditional margherita pizza, the standard price is around 5 euro for a pizza that can be easily split between two people....it's amazing.
- Pizzeria Ntretella – really good pizza. We just got it to go for a snack but it looked like a really good place for a sit down meal as well
- Osteria della Mattonella – little local restaurant with really good pasta. Known for the local dish, pasta genovese, which is essentially penne pasta with stewed onions. If you like onions, get this pasta
- Pizzeria Brandi – a bit pricier (like 10-12 euro/pizza) but really nice atmosphere and maybe my favorite pizza of the trip. There were a lot of Italian families eating in there so I'd like to think it wasn't a total tourist trap :)
- Cavoli Nostri – vegan fooooood. We went here for dinner because I was craving something veggie focused and not so carb heavy. It is right by the water which would be nice once it's warm outside. I had a really good baked rigatoni with cauliflower and tomato sauce but they also had veggie burgers, seitan, etc. if you want to go more the traditional vegan route
- Il Gelato Mennella – I dream about this gelato. I don't think I've ever tasted something so delicious. I went twice on this trip and both times got peanut cream and almond which is essentially peanut butter gelato aka my personal heaven
- 'O Barett – cute little café with good coffee, tea, and pastries
- Jamón Tapas Bar – great for a drink and apparently really delicious sandwiches
- Ecomesará – oh man this place was good. It focuses on local, seasonal ingredients and traditional dishes with a twist. We had delicious pasta, a cod appetizer, and plate of fried goodies (arancini, croquettes, etc)
Sorrento
- Il Leone Rosso Ristorante Pizzeria – this place is right next to the Sorrento train station and is definitely geared towards tourists but I don't care because it was delicious. I got the special of the day which was linguine with cherry tomatoes and freshly caught seabass. #ProTip: When traveling, I usually always order the special of the day because a lot of times it is fresher and always delicious
- Puro – really good gelato this place also makes crepes!
- Accènto – really really good dinner. The service was amazing. We got the eggplant parm as an appetizer, then I got the special of the day seabass with lemon potatoes, and chocolate lava cake ahhhmazing
- Ristorante Fuoro – we went here for a pre-fixed menu on New Year's Eve not expecting it to be much...but it was such a great night. There were 8 courses (so...much...food) and somehow they timed it out so every table in the restaurant was done by the time it got to midnight. We celebrated the new year with music and dancing, it was really nice. I won't say this was the most amazing cuisine I have had but it was made with love. I felt like I was celebrating New Year's Eve with my extended Italian family which was so comforting
- Ristorante Basilico – this place was recommended by our Airbnb host and it doesn't look like it would be good but it was delicious. We got pizza which was delicious and the pasta looked really good as well.
I'm not going to lie, the Italian know how to eat. My parents and I couldn't handle eating pizza for lunch and pasta for dinner. By the end of the trip, we basically chose either lunch or dinner for a big meal and just snacked for the other. All of the food was incredible and I am so lucky that I no longer fear foods like gelato, pizza, or pasta and was able to fully enjoy them during my time in Italy. But it was a lot of carbs that my body wasn't used to so it was a bit tough finding the balance that would make my body feel the best. Happy to report that after being back in Belgium, I am back to eating more plants and working out and my body feels back to it's normal self :)
Here's to a year of continuing to travel the world!
