Gnocchi nosh-up
Vera Italia
ul. Sachocka 5
Telephone 823-8380
Hours: Daily
Noon-11p.m.
Credit cards and reservations accepted
There are some great food mysteries in life: Why are McDonald's hamburgers always smaller in real life; why are there always more raisins on the packet of my breakfast cereal than in my bowl; and why can't men ever find anything in the kitchen cupboard?
Well, I'd like to add another one to the list: Why are good, cheap Italian restaurants always on dark, suburban streets?
It was late one weeknight that we were delivered to ristorante Vera Italia in darkest Ochota by a man who must be the world's only one-armed taxi driver.
This part of Warsaw is heavily residential with little stores lit up like beacons at night. In the midst of it all is Vera Italia.
The interior is very "Heidi meets Luigi": plenty of pine wall panelling with matching chairs you could milk a cow from and fake vine leaves growing from pots. The lighting is bright, the artwork on the walls is rather lackluster and the tablecloths are covered in white paper to make cleaning all that nasty pasta spillage just that little bit easier.
Every table comes with its own kitsch set of ceramic salt-and-pepper shakers a garlic bulb for the salt, and an apple for the pepper. The napkin holder is a bunch of purple grapes.
"It reminds me of being at home, eating at a local restaurant that doesn't look too special but serves great homemade food," said Jim, a New York ex-pat.
And obviously there are plenty of other people in Warsaw who agree, because it should be pointed out that almost every table at Vera Italia was packed.
For a late weeknight, the flow of patrons coming in and out of this place was as swift as the Wisla River in spring: couples, young groups of people and older families with kids. Everyone was sitting down, noshing up and moving on.
Every time I looked over my shoulder, there was a different set of people at the nearby table. A man eating an enormous steak one minute, then another with a scrumptious-looking shish kebab the size of my forearm, just moments later.
The four of us were crowded around a square table that was so small it was hard for us to open our menus at the same time, but we managed somehow.
The menu is in Polish and Italian, but it's pretty obvious that this restaurant serves your typical Italian fare: basic antipasti with plenty of bruschetta options, prosciutto and melon, and tomato and mozzarella salad. There are lots of primi piatti (or pasta) choices such as spaghetti al pesto, tagliatelle al Bolognese; and farfalle with four cheeses. There is also ravioli and lasagne, gnocchi and risotto. Plus you can choose your own pasta and sauce combo.
For secondi, the eclectic list conquers a variety of tastes, such as: grilled steak, a mixed grilled-seafood plate, grilled ribs, and the oddly Polish-sounding white sausages in wine. There are also a couple of seafood options.
And of course, what self-respecting Italian restaurant wouldn't have pizza on its menu? Vera Italia serves everything from your standard Hawaiian to a simple prosciutto and Parmesan.
For starters, Magda chose the Caprese salad your classic mozzarella and tomato combo that was just perfect. I chose the bruschetta al pomodoro. When I saw it arrive, my heart sank. The bread looked like it was overtoasted and dried out, but I have to say it was just fine: the bread crisp and rubbed with garlic, and warmed tomatoes on top. Jim chose the bruschetta al gorgonzola, and he was just as happy: two pieces of toasted bread, with succulent melted blobs of the richly pungent cheese. David opted for the antipasto misto Italiana a plate of deliciously salty prosciutto, shavings of Italian sausage and mortadella. He was in seventh heaven if only it had come with a little bit of bread.
My main course, a bowl of bucatini all amatriciana, was cooked al dente and served with a rich tomato sauce and delicious chunks of bacon. Of course, as often is the case in Poland, I was disappointed in the amount of chilli in it basically none. I also ordered a plate of spinaci all'agro spinach tossed with lemon juice. It was frozen spinach, but so heartwarming and subtly flavoured, I gobbled the whole lot.
Jim's farfalle al salmone e caviale bow-tie pasta served with a light dressing of creamy salmon sauce disappeared just as quickly amid murmurings of "this is great." And Magda was also pleased with her choice of ravioli con funghi porcini. It came with a warming mushroom sauce, although she was disappointed that the ravioli didn't appear to be homemade.
David was kept quiet with a scaloppine ai funghi a plate of tender, wafer-thin medallions of veal, served with, but not swimming in, a rich creamy mushroom sauce, and sprinkled with chopped parsley. It didn't come with vegetables, but rather, as we discovered afterwards, you have to order them, along with potatoes and bread, as extras from the menu.
For dessert, there were three options that the waitress recited: the ubiquitous tiramisu, bananas and caramel, or cheesecake with fruit salad. We ordered two of the tiramisu to share. It was an unusual interpretation of this classic dessert kind of like a richly coffee-flavored trifle, covered in a thick layer of mascarpone. It passed the taste test, but was nothing sensational.
The whole meal was accompanied by a rather robust, and cheap (zl. 40), Barbera d'Asti red wine. We were all amazed at how it got remarkably better the more we drank.
And while we didn't order any pizza, the waitresses were delivering enough of them to the tables around us that makes me suspect they're probably great.
So Vera Italia is something you don't find everyday in Warsaw: a cheap Italian restaurant, just like the one near where you grew up. The decor is dodgy, but the atmosphere is good, the service prompt, and most importantly, the food, while nothing out of this world, is just fine.
Dinner for four, including too much cheap red wine, came to zl. 326 ($81.50).
On the menu:
Bruschetta al gorgonzola zl. 6
Bruschetta al pomodor zl. 5
Caprese salad zl. 12
Antipasto misto all Italiana zl. 20
Buccatini all amatriciana zl. 19
Ravioli con funghi porcini zl. 20
Farfalle al salmone e caviale zl. 24
Scaloppine ai funghi zl. 20
Pizza peperoni zl. 20
Pizza prosciutto di parma zl. 24
Spinaci all agro zl. 6
Insalata con mozzarella zl. 12
