Antiche Carampane

Authentic Venetian cuisine

Carpaccio of red tuna, seabass and langoustine

When I visited Venice, dining at a classic, old school Venetian restaurant was high on my agenda list. After spending a great deal of time scouting on the internet, Antiche Carampane kept popping up as a recommendation from many websites, such as Time Out and Culture Trip. The restaurant has been around since 1983, a family run restaurant that prides itself in doing top-notch Venetian cuisine and taking advantage of the local famous Rialto market to sourcing fine ingredients. The menu is your classic Italian affair with appetizer, first course, second course and desserts to pick from.

Grilled octopus with asparagus and horseradish

John dory, artichokes, peas, black garlic

For starter, it was first a plate of raw seafood carpaccio, all fished from the wild. The langoustine was especially impressed, really fresh and had an elegant sweetness, along with a melting texture. Up next, it was the Venetian classic, grilled octopus. It was so moist and tender, with a lovely horseradish sauce that added a spicy and yet refreshing taste to the octopus. I can easily eat that every day. For main, I had a fillet of John Dory, cooked really well with great seasoning, the artichokes and asparagus offered a touch of crunchy texture, as well as freshness, a great fish dish overall.

Softshell crab

Tiramisu and gianduia ice cream

To sum it up, Antiche Carampane offered me a very enjoyable and comforting Venetian cuisine experience. Nothing was fancy, just rustic and honest cooking using fresh ingredients. The restaurant is also very popular to the locals, it was full of Italians on my visit, so is fair to say the food offering at Antiche Carampane is authentic. As it is a restaurant in Venice, the price is also fairly high as you are looking at about 23 Euro per course, but at least what the restaurant can promise great tastes, which many Venetian can't when charing similar cost.


Food 3/5

What I paid: 
£65 per head with wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£50

Rio Terà de le Carampane, 1911, 30125 Venezia VE, Italy

http://www.antichecarampane.com/en/