L'Antica Trattoria

 Traditional trattoria house in Sorrento

Octopus with light orange mashed potatoes, green beans

Located in the heart of Sorrento's old town, L'Antica Trattoria is perhaps the most famous authentic restaurant along with O'Parrucchiano La Favorita (which has a stunning fruit and flowers garden). The traditional trattoria is full of oldies charm, with its vintage open-top decor that is packed with paintings, flowers, and plants. Dining inside felt less like dining at a restaurant, but rather in a royal garden instead (all the staff is also well dressed, formal style). The cooking is traditional, with the menu in the classic Italian format of starter, pasta, main, and dessert.

Red prawns ,sardine sauce, dry marinated tomato, capers, and burrata

Spaghetti “cacio e pepe” with goats cheese, black pepper, served with beef ragout

Tagliolini Antica Trattoria with lemon cream sauce, red prawns

The octopus was as good as the octopus can get, very tender and well seasoned. The garlic and mint added a nice touch of fresh yet spicy taste, which was wonderful. The house's signature: Tagliolini Antica Trattoria was very enjoyable. The pasta was cooked just right, the mixture of caviar and lemon delivered such an interesting fruity umami taste to the dish, it was a well-executed pasta dish with bold flavour. The seabass roll was served like a soup, packed with plenty of shellfish such as red prawns, clams, and cuttlefish. I felt the seabass was a touch overcooked and under-seasoned, but strangely enough everything else was extremely delicious.

Sea-bass rolls, marinara sauce, red prawns, calamari, clams

turbot fish with lemon vinaigrette, broccoli puree, black olive

Ricotta and pear with chopped hazelnuts, sheep ricotta cream

Dining at L'Antica Trattoria is far beyond the food, it is about embracing the traditional classy charm, within an open-top dining room/garden hybrid space. The cooking wasn't the best, but the rustic and classic element does make it really comforting for me, and I generally had a really enjoyable evening as the serving staff was on top of their game too, from the hosting who guide me to my table, to the sommelier and waiters, L'Antica Trattoria's team really has master the art of service.

Food 3/5

What I paid: 
70 Euro per person with wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
65 Euro

Via Padre Reginaldo Giuliani, 33, 80067 Sorrento NA, Italy

https://www.lanticatrattoria.com/