Location: Milan, Italy
Address: Piazza Gramsci, Milan, Italy
Rating: 2 out of 10
Eating spaghetti vongole in Italy is always a tense affair. It is after all the dish's ancestral home and should, most of the time, be of a higher standard than elsewhere in the world. Like sports cars, opera and organised crime. Others do it, but somehow you expect the Italians to do it better, and with more flair.
So the pressure is always on. You want it to be the best, for your taste buds, your guest or host and for the restauranteur who has openly declared that his is the best spaghetti vongole in Italy. National pride is at stake. But there lingers in the back of your mind the faint fear that it might not be. If it isn't, then disappointment ensues, followed by embarrassment and the the meal is tainted.
Such was my recent experience in Milan at a restaurant called da Giulia. I outed my mission to find the best spaghetti vongole on Earth and my Italian hosts promised me something special. A "wonderful" little seafood restaurant in Milan's unremarkable Piazza Gramsci.
When the vongole arrived, I was immediately disappointed by the size of the portion. Far too small. But the presentation was good, which often bodes well. It was classically turned out with an oily sheen to the spaghetti, clams of a good size and the right balance of colour on the plate. However, the pasta itself was rather too al dente and the flavours were bland. There wasn't enough juice left over for ritual "mopping up" and the experience was broadly underwhelming. Had it not been for the good wine and company, the evening would have been lost.
Had this been in a restaurant outside of Italy, I might have given a 3 out of 10 rating, but I've dropped it to 2 as when in Italy, pasta must play to a higher standard.
PASS
