Wednesday 9 October 2013

Ischia day 3 - Ristorante O' Pignattello, Lacco Ameno

We wanted to go to the restaurant on Monday but it was closed. 
They have quite a long menu and there were quite a lot of option - both traditional dishes and adventurous dishes


Amuse bouche - Courgette parcel with a little piece of fish in the middle. 


Bruschetta made with Tomato from Mt Vesuvius 
Have never seen tomatoes THAT red! 
It was slightly too salty though

White fish carpaccio served with red wine sorbet. 
On the side, they also gave us two salt grinder - one with pink Himalayan sea salt, another with blue Persian sea salt
We wanted to try and taste the difference so we sprinkle half of it with one and the other on the other half.  
We were a bit too greedy :S so it turnt out to be slightly tooooo salty.
I feel the chef should have done it for us instead.  

Pasta of the day - with white fish, little courgettes

Fresh pasta of the day - Gnocchi with octopus

Ischia rabbit tempura
The rabbit was moist yet crunchy on the outside. 

How can we not have a dessert :p - Lemon custard with layers of waffers and berries.

Ischia Day 3 - Da Pasquale, Sant'Angelo

We were going to visit the Mortella garden near Lacco Ameno
However, we learnt that it's closed on wednesday.
The staff recommended us to go to Sant' Angelo!
We took the smelly and crowded bus again till the final stop.




We found this little pizzeria hidden behind on the back street.  

Stuffed pepper with minced beef, olive and capers.

Shared a pizza with olive, artichoke, ham and pepper.
It was nice but slightly wet we thought.  

We attempted to walk up but the stairs up was blocked.



Stopped by for an espresso 

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Ischia Day 2 - Indaco, Lacco Ameno

Indaco has been highly praised at tripadvisor.. so we thought we should drop by while we were there :p 
It has also been awarded 1 Michelin star recently.  


We had a difficult time looking for the restaurant as the hotel has 2 different restaurants and Indaco's entrance is quite hidden. 
There were about 6 tables only.  I think they can extend to the outside on a nice day but we went there on a stormy night..so we sat inside.
I love their automatic door that connects to the kitchen lol - abit like those at the space station as featured in the sci-fi movies lol 

You can tell all the ingredients used were veryyyyyyyy fresh and carefully selected. 
The chef also worked very hard to get the most out of them.
We REALLY enjoyed the dinner and was very tempted to go again on the next day :p 



Lots of different breaddddd 
We love the purple potato crisps at the top..also the oregano crackers 
The butter was from Normandy - very rich 

A little amuse bouche from the chef - Tuna spaghetti.. 
yes.. it is tuna spaghetti!!  not sea urchin :p 
In the middle - it's chopped blue fin tuna, coated with charred spaghetti, served with potato cream.
loveeeeeeeeeeeee it :) 

Starter
Red king prawns and chicken from Bresse with blueberries, rosemary and walnuts 
- The prawns were very sweet, coated with chopped walnut.
Chicken was perrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfect - slightly under so it was soooooo tender and moist.  
On the top left corner, it's not really a walnut but that is actually a piece of mozzarella in disguise :p 

Seafood salad with mashed beans and Provola cheese sauce
- Scallop was sweet and soft. very tender octopus
I prefer this one over the other starter

Main
Ravioli stuffed with rabbit from Ischia with clams and seaweeIt's so cute that they have made it like little sweets! 
The clams were embedded underneath and you can really taste the sweetness of the sea. 
Very small portion though.

Pasta from Gragnano with raw and cooked fish and Barilotto cheese
So you have chopped raw tuna filled in a little pasta hoop at the top, raw squid perfectly dressed with a little piece of octopus at the top, raw prawn at the bottom.  
The pasta there was the best very have ever had! 

We have watched about Gragnano pasta from the bbc tv series - two greedy italian ( from 16.42) and have always wanted to try it out. 
Apparently it costs 5 quid for pack in London :p so we bought a few at the Naples airport for 3 euro to try it out. 


A little pre dessert - looks a bit like a little brown cherry tomato :p 
we can't remember what it was though :p 

Pine nuts creamy pudding with Criollo chocolate, raspberry and soda powder 
It was nice but not very exciting. 

Petit "four"
- My favourite was the fruit tart, the cigarillo and creme brulee pudding at the top.

Ischia Day 2 - Castello Argonese

We didn't enjoy riding the bus at Ischia at all - it's very crowded and the buses themselves are very rundown.
Can't imagine what it would be like in peak season
We took the bus from Lacco Ameno to Ischia Porto anyway and walked to the Castello Argonese. 
It's stunning! 


Thankfully we didn't have to walk up! There's a lift! 
(you can walk up if you want .. but we didn't of coz :p )
Most part of the castle is free but it costs you 10 euro to gain entry to the part which gives you the best views.  


Little courtyard

Cafe



We had lunch at the restaurant right at the top.  
It was a little windy but we couldn't miss the amazing view! 
You can see Capri from there! 
I also love the mosaic table




They have quite a simple menu
We were there at the end of the lunch time ( around 2-3pm) so quite a few of the stuff are sold out :( e.g. gnocchi.

Cheese and ham Fritata

Tageliatelle al ragu

Chicken and ham

A little halo above Capri




Monday 7 October 2013

Ischia Day 1 - Lacco Ameno - San Montano Spa & Resort

From Amalfi, we took the Sita bus to Sorrento train station.  We got ripped off by a local taxi driver (we believe he did a little detour) to get to Marina Piccolo - costed us 20eur!  Then, we took the hydrofoil from there to Ischia.  

Sorrento looks very different comparing to last time when it was pouring in rain! 
A lot more pleasant :p Though we still think there are many better spots to visit along the Amalfi coast than Sorrento




It took 45min to get to Ischia Porto.  The hotel came and picked us up - which is handy.
We stayed at San Montano hotel - which is located on the top of the mountain at Lacco Ameno.



We got upgraded to their junior suite :) which is a two floor flat with 2 bathrooms (incl a jacuzzi!) and a little terrace with the sea view.
(I'm not a big fan of their taste on decoration / colour theme... but that's not important)


Our private little terrace

 The view from the terrace
- Day time

 -  During a stormy night! (keith had a lot of fun taking photos of lightning)

Apparently it's pretty unusual for Ischia for the weather to be so unstable.

It's amazing how far we can see.  
While we were in the pool, there was a moment where we saw rainbow on the left, storm next to it and blue sky on top of us! 

- Sunset! 

There are tons of pools to choose from - think there are 8 in total? varying temperature, with massaging jets AND amazing view!
We only just got back yesterday and we are missing them already :p 




View from the terrace bar by the pool - jaw dropping gorgeous :) 

One great thing about the hotel is that the pools are open in the evening too!!! 




Lacco Ameno itself is a quiet little village.  We walked along the coast on the first day. 





Trying out the local sfogliatelle again :p 
This time it's filled with ricotta and candied fruit 
It's nice but nothing like the one we had at Andrea Pansa at Amalfi 


We also dropped by the supermarket to stock up on some cold cut - Parma / San Daniele, Parmasen (12 mths + 24mths aged) to bring back home




Randomly walked into a restaurant by the coast since the one we wanted to go is closed on Mondays :( 

The food was very average ... 

Antipasti from the sea (i.e. cold, precooked mix seafood with a drizzle of lemon juice + olive oil)
Caprese


Grilled fish - a little overcooked I would say
Slightly too burnt

Keith had gnocchi - which was ok...