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> SlowTrav > Italy > Restaurants > Reviews > Venice Santa Croce: La ZuccaPonte del Megio 1762 , Phone: 041.5241570www.lazucca.it Closing day: Sunday Reviewed by: AnnieNC from USA, review #3652 When: 2010
I had lunch here on my first full day in Venice. Was able to walk in without a reservation, probably because it was November. Even in winter, you need a reservation for dinner though. I had the famous pumpkin flan (flan di zucca con ricotta stagionata) and radicchio di Chioggia in agrodolce. Both were great. For dessert, I had this persimmon pudding thing (I didn't write down the Italian name) with spicy chocolate sauce. And the sauce was very spicy; I loved it. La Zucca is still my favorite place to eat in Venice; I love the menu, the food, the people who work there, and the neighborhood (Campo San Giacomo dall' Orio). Reviewed by: Gene8499 from VA, review #3585 When: 2010
La Zucca is mentioned favorably everywhere - here on Slow Trav, in guidebooks, and on other websites. And it's good, and in serving only meats and vegetarian type dishes, different from the normal Venetian restaurant, which typically focuses on fish. And it still gets quite a crowd, with two different seatings each night. (And we noticed at least 3 separate parties being turned away since they did not have reservations). That said, I thought that the restaurant may be resting a bit on its laurels. Maybe that's because they messed up my order, which maybe occurred because the waitress had a bad night. As I said, the food is good. And the waitress was pleasant and helpful in walking us through the menu and in suggesting a neat red wine, Phigaia, which may be a merlot blend from the Veneto region - not bad and was a perfect accompaniment to the meats and veggie dishes we all had. There were four of us dining. For starters, 3 of us had the pumpkin/farro soup, which was great (I had a sample). I ordered a mushroom souffle with the in season porcini - it was great too, once it came out. The only problem was that the waitress had entered the order wrong, and my entree came out first with everyone else's soup, instead of the souffle. When I mentioned the mix-up, my entree was whisked away, and about 15 minutes later, my souffle came out. When the secondi were served, my secondo looked amazingly like the plate brought out about 30 minutes earlier - held under a heat lamp, perhaps? Too bad, because even in its warmed-over state, the roasted pork was pretty good. One other entree, the roasted vegetable platter of the season with curried rice, sounded great to my wife, but was basically boring and not very flavorful. I mentioned that the waitress may have been having a bad night - we noticed that she had messed up at least one other diner's order before us, and she disappeared from service shortly after the mistake with my order - sort of like the starting pitcher being relieved in the second inning. Desserts/dolce were good, and as I said, the wine was nice and not something I would have ever picked out or had available in the States. So, overall, a good restaurant, but not great, at least not up to praises sung in the reviews of others. For the four of us, with wine and water and coperto, the total in dollars came to about $195 at current ($1.37) exchange rates. A little pricey for somewhat sloppy service and good-not-great food. Too bad - I really wanted to like this restaurant more. Reviewed by: Robert Rainey from CA, review #3574 When: 2010
Directions: San Stae vaporetto stop La zucca is not only a vegetarian restaurant. My wife did have the excellent pumpkin soup. Salads were fresh and tasty. I had meat ragu pasta which was good. Wine list reasonable with some good local wines, house red drinkable. Prices about "average". Reviewed by: Monica Pileggi from USA, review #3508 When: 2010
La Zucca (meaning pumpkin) is one of the few restaurants in Venice that serves interesting vegetarian dishes. I dined with three friends in June 2010. I started with the tagliatelle pasta with chopped pistachio nuts in a gorgonzola sauce. It was rich, creamy, tasty, and filling. Next I had the baked eggplant, which was actually a side dish, but plenty for me after the pasta. We shared a liter of house red wine. For dessert, I had vin santo (a sweet dessert wine) and cookies. 23 euros total for my portion. This was my second time at La Zucca and I highly recommend it for the unique menu. Someday I’ll order something with pumpkin! This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com. |
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