Buon Compleanno Ivan! I promised that I would write a post right away on the late night meal we had last night in Catania. Something that has surprised me with moving to Sicily has been how late everyone eats. The hockey team that I skate with is no different. They usually go out to eat after our practices, which end around 11:00pm!! My teammates have been nice enough to bring me along and show me some great food spots. Last night we went for a meal that was a little more special because it was Ivan’s birthday. All I heard was cavallo. Cavallo is horse…. and its for dinner instead of beef!!
The trattoria is called Torre del Vescovo (via plebiscito, 754, Catania, Italy) and it is right in the center of downtown Catania. This is a spot that I would have never found by myself. In the general area of the trattoria looked to be several choices for late night food. All the food was on display out on the streets with the hot grills nearby.
They ordered enough for a large feast. Every dish was delicious including the cavallo that was prepared several ways. We had cavallo steaks that were marinated to perfection. My favorite was the polpette di cavallo ( Horse meatballs)… they tasted just like the lamb that I would get in Greek town in Detroit. I don’t know how they made this taste this way, but it was unbelievable.
Im going to definitely come back to this trattoria. It was a great meal and a great time with my new friends. Also it was pretty inexpensive for how much food we had.
Please don’t judge me for eating horse!! If you tried it without me telling you what it was… you would love it too! Also my friends ensured me that it wasn’t the famous Mr. Ed.
After dinner we went down the street to a stand where they serve drinks. The most popular drinks that everyone was drinking are these seltzer water drinks, where they create sodas on the spot using fresh fruit juices. The taste blew away the artificial flavored sodas that we have in the States. Also popular were Nutella drinks, which tasted like a milkshake.
Click on the first picture below for a slideshow…
Great review of a wonderful eaterie. The heart and soul of a city like Catania is in places like these. I have met people too nervous to visit these pavement grill cafes in the via Plebiscito. Well the area is a bit rough at the edges but it’s friendly and safe and full of character. Oh – and Catanians love their horsemeat – so no adverse judgments on that from me. It’s delicious (- as are the glorious sausages (pork) on offer too, btw, for those who truly don’t like the idea of horse.)
Thanks for the comment Chris. I love this place too. Its the kind of low key place that is right up my alley. Although its probably not the place to take the wife for a nice night out! ha. Especially if you mention the specialty is cavallo. 🙂