[July 2024] In Procida, an island in southern Italy, we went looking for Ristorante Gorgonia, a restaurant in the old town recommended by Carlo, the taxi driver who toured the island.
From the point where we got off the taxi, we walked down a narrow alley.
The houses along the way were, of course, colourful, and the laundry hanging out to dry was very photogenic.
We were taking pictures, so we didn’t move forward very quickly.
At the end of the alley, we were facing the port, lined with restaurants.
We had been told that the restaurant we were heading for was a pink building, so we wandered around looking for pink.
When we looked out at the sea, we saw fish everywhere.
We found Ristorante Gorgonia before it opened, so we looked into the souvenir shop just behind it.
The bright yellow sugar that said it was limoncello-flavoured sugar was unusual, so we bought it as a souvenir.
However, this was a failure.
We tried it when we got home, but it didn’t taste like limoncello at all, it was a weird thing.
Now, to the restaurant.
Because we were the first customers, we were able to sit at a table outside in the shade.
First, we each had a glass of Prosecco, and for starters, we had Insalata di Mare.
This is just chopped octopus, squid, and shellfish, and is eaten with a squeeze of lemon.
We enjoyed the strong flavour of each fresh seafood itself.
For the main course, we shared Tartara di Tonno and Mazzancolle.
The Tonno (tuna) was delicious even without soy sauce, but it would have been better if it had been soy sauce.
I had imagined the Mazzancolle to be saltier, but it was just regular grilled.
I realised that I had thought that mazzancolle was the name of a dish, but it was simply a type of prawn.
A long time ago, when my parents went to Italy for the first time, they had grilled mazzancolle with a strong salty flavour, so they assumed that salted prawn dish was called mazzancolle.
And after that, they called salted grilled prawns mazzancolle at home.
At this restaurant in Procida, we also ordered a salad, which contained raw carrots and was delicious to crunch on.
For dessert, we had lemon sorbet.
They were generous with three scoops.
And the best part was the setting.
The sea was right in front of us, and it was quiet and relaxing.
However, as more and more people came in, the view became blocked unfortunately.
We had wine by the carafe and the total cost was €87.
