Trattoria Mario

Tuscan steak house in Florence

Bistecca alla Fiorentina steak

Trattoria Mario, the family-run steak focus restaurant in Florence is considered to be one of the hottest dining spots for any real foodies and meat lovers. Renown for its legendary bistecca alla Fiorentina steak, the giant T bone steak that Florence is so famous for. Opening for lunch only with a no booking policy, this restaurant would get packed out within minutes as soon as it opens its door at noon. Trattoria Mario offers a small selection of pasta dishes, with a wide range of steak cuts, and that is what most people are here.

Tomato salad

Steak time!

As I know the T bone steak is seriously big, at least 1 kg in fact, so I decided to skip the starter and dive straight into the steak, with a tomato side dish for freshness. My steak was seriously massive, at 1.4kg for two to share, the bone weighed about 0.2kg so that is 600g meat per person! The meat was cooked medium rare in the typical old Tuscan fashion, the fillet part of the T bone was very enjoyable, tender texture with a real richness to it. The sirloin side of the steak was very lean, while the seasoning was perfect, I just found a little too chewy for my liking. 

Monster Bistecca alla Fiorentina steak

Medium rare as it should be

All in all, while the food was pretty decent, I was a little puzzled why Trattoria Mario is so highly regarded. There are plenty of steak joints that are better elsewhere around the world and I wonder if I happened to have an average cut of meat on the day? On the other hand, the restaurant is so popular so you would be expecting to share a table with strangers. The restaurant is also tiny so it can be very noisy with hardly any room to move about even on a Monday. 


Food 2.5/5

What I paid: 
£35 per head 

Average cost without drinks and services:
£25

Via Rosina, 2r, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy

http://trattoria-mario.com/Site-2013/index.php