Monday, July 4, 2011

Ristorante L'Insalatiera, Rome, Italy

Ristorante L’Insalatiera (also goes by "Taverna Vegetariana") is a restaurant that offers many vegetarian and vegan options. It was great and seemed to be a family owned restaurant. The woman waiting all the tables was very nice, but didn’t speak much English. Also, the menu was only in Italian. I had looked briefly at the menu online and had translated it, so I already had an idea of what I wanted. Had I not looked ahead of time online, I might have been confused. Also, the menu online clearly marks what is vegan (Vegetariano Vega), vegetarian (Vegetariano), and everything with meat (Contiene proteine animali).

This restaurant is very affordable, and if you are fine with walking (if you're in Rome I hope you are), it's a relatively short walk from the Vatican. We went here 2-3 times during out stay in Rome because we loved the restaurant, the owners, and the food so much.



http://www.tavernavegetariana.it/
Via Trionfale 94, 00195 Rome, 063-974-2975

La Zucca, Venice, Italy

La Zucca, which means "The Pumpkin" is a busy place, and it may be best to try and make reservations ahead of time if you want to go here. However the area it's in is nice to walk around so you could always give them your name and then walk around for a while.

La Zucca is a vegetarian friendly restaurant, and when we went they didn't have any vegan items listed on the menu, but after talking with the waiter he said they could put something together. They made me a bit of a sample plate which was displayed nicely with rice in the middle and 5 or 6 vegan dishes surrounding the rice. Some of the sides had more flavor and some had less. My favorite was the beets with a spicy mustard. It was a little bit more expensive here, but it is a very nice place for a romantic dinner and I really appreciated their willingness to make me something not on the menu. I believe their menu is constantly changing, so it could be some nights they will already have vegan items on the menu, you will just need to talk with them to make sure.

http://www.lazucca.it/

Calle del Tintor, Sestiere Santa Croce, 1762, 30135 Venice, Italy 041-524-1570

As with all places in Venice, be sure to map it out on an application like google maps and make sure you know how to get there, as it is very easy to get lost.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Bar Sport, Venice (Island of Burano), Italy

This would not be my first choice for where to eat since it really is not geared for vegans. However, you will night find anything better if you are traveling around the islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello when you are visiting Venice. We had packed food, but with all the walking around we decided to try and find something else to eat. This restaurant has many pastas, and after checking with the restaurant I found the Spaghetti al Pomodoro to be a suitable option, just make sure if you go there to ask about the food and make sure nothing else is added, and that the pasta does not contain eggs. The pasta and sauce were good, and at 6 Euro for a large portion, it was very affordable.
The seating outside is in a little square and is a very nice place to have a bite to eat and relax.

041-730-003; San Martino Sinistro 286;

Gam Gam, Venice, Italy

Gam Gam is a Kosher bar and restaurant located in the Old Jewish ghetto of Venice. While it does have meat options on the menu, there are vegan items on the menu or things which can be adjusted to be made vegan. When we were there the menu did not mark vegan items, but the waitress was very helpful. I had the potato latkes with applesauce which was very good and some falafel balls with hummus, which was just okay. The falafel was good and what I was used to, but the hummus tasted very different than how I usually make it. I noticed the hummus was like this though at another Kosher restaurant in another town, so it could be this is what hummus is supposed to taste like, and I just wasnt' used to that.
The prices were reasonable, but the food we ordered was more like appetizers. They also have a nice seating area and the outdoor seating is along a small canal.
You can find information about the restaurant at the website www.jewishvenice.org however this is not just a website for the restaurant so you will have to look for the Gam Gam listing on the webpage. Cannaregio 1122 - Venezia; 041-523-1495.
I would make sure you are looking up the restaurants location on something like google maps and then pinpointing that on the map of Venice  you might carry around with you, as it is very easy to get lost in Venice