Eating
Owl.Bee.Eating in Italy
It’s finally time to resurrect the two categories of the blog that I’ve been neglecting lately, eating and exploring! For starters, I will be updating the ‘Eating’ tab each month with different places to eat that we have visited to try a different type of cuisine. Twelve months, twelve cuisines to enjoy and I can’t be more excited! I’ll post photos and explanations of what we ordered, as well as a general feeling of the place—atmosphere, service, quality for the price paid, etc. Mini reviews with lots of delicious food! Get ready to taste the cuisines of the world with us!
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In this blog post we are going to Italy! For me, Italian cuisine is all about pizza and pasta. Very well known and loved by everyone, this type of food is one of my favourites, for sure!
This is the time to mention that whenever we go out for dinner, I want to have pizza. For me, eating out means ordering pizza. I take pizza very seriously and always enjoy and savour it, as I can’t prepare a decent one at home (yet!). My go-to is a Margherita pizza with vegan cheese.
In January we went to Franco Manca in Edinburgh, as we saw that they opened a new branch in Stockbridge—in the historic building with the iconic clock tower, the one that used to be the home of the previous Pizza Express. I’ve always taken photos of that place and when we realised that it had become a Franco Manca, we decided to go. There was no option for a reservation, but as it is a very popular area, we thought our best shot was to go early and find a table while it was still quiet. I was already starving at 5:30pm, so at 6:15pm we had already found a table by the huge windows in the back room. The place was empty except for two or three tables, but soon it got pretty crammed. Around 7pm all the tables were taken, even though we visited on a weekday.
Our table was really nice, overlooking the river flowing (rather fast and furiously) below, but it was a shame that it was so dark outside and we couldn’t enjoy the view in the same way as if there had still been daylight. Nevertheless, as we were seated in a back room, it was a tiny space separated from the main hall and the rest of the tables, it felt very cosy and intimate. We were very much at ease, not rushed in any kind of way and the staff were very helpful and polite. They informed us about all the vegan alternatives and our food came pretty quickly (then again, when we ordered, the restaurant was still not at its full capacity).
caramelised onions & wild mushrooms
Finally, the food! They serve sourdough pizzas, so naturally, we ordered two: I got the organic tomato, mozzarella & basil but with vegan-cheese instead (surprise, surprise!) and my boyfriend asked for roasted cured ham, mozzarella, ricotta & wild mushrooms but asked the mozzarella and ricotta to be swapped for vegan cheese and caramelised red onions. We knew we’d be pretty full in the end, so we didn’t order anything else, although everything on the menu sounded awesome! Apart from pizzas and dips, they have small bites to start, such as burrata on toasted sourdough pizza bread, aubergine parmigiana, garlic bread with light tomato base, etc. Then there are salads (served as a side or a main) and the post-pizza stuff. Our choice was great and we finished every single bite! In terms of pricing, I think it’s not so expensive, compared to other pizza places in town, and for the price you pay you get a delicious and filling pizza.
Stay tuned for the next gastronomical adventure! Where should we go next?
In case you need me… #owlbeeeating!
