Alba Restaurants

We were exhausted and walked in aroung 1.15p.m. But we couln't get a table, the place was packed. The owner asked us to wait about 30 mins and we would surely get a table.

Well i'm glad we waited.

Old wooden tables and chairs, young and very helpful staff. Toilets very clean.

We sat down and the chap came along with a plate of pancetta and salami, bread and "grissini", Nebbiolo wine and mineral water (that we ordered on our own).

From then on it was one appetizer after another. And then a pasta, we couldn't eat more than that. So no meat dish, but we did get dessert, a home made caramel that melted in your mouth. Coffee and then shopping.

Vincafe is an extremely popular wine bar on the main drag of Alba. Tables are packed close together, full of customers sampling their wide array of wines, cheese and coffees. There is a large aperitivo buffet that attracts the see-and-be-seen crowd. We stopped by for a plate of eight different cheeses (from a possible selection of about twenty) and glasses of local wine.

Favorite Dish: The selection of local wines, and the relative expertise of the staff, is great.

Osteria dei Sognatori was recommended to us by a woman working in a more posh, fully booked restaurant. We went for Saturday lunch and found it to be a bustling, home-style restaurant just off one of the main roads in Alba. It had the feel of a family-run restaurant and was full of locals. At this restaurant there is no menu- instead they cook whatever is fresh and suits your taste. They were easily able to accomodate my vegetarian diet in creative and traditional ways, and we didn't feel any pressure to hurry through our meal. Instead, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch.

We each had a plate of antipasto (including vegetables, polenta and sausages for my friend) and a bowl of pasta, and shared two carafes of wine, bottled water, coffee and a dessert. Our total bill was EUR 32. They are closed for Monday lunch and all day Wednesday.

Favorite Dish: The fresh, homemade pasta was delicious!

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Enoteca Conte Rosso stands in a small street, Via Pierino Belli, close to Via Vittorio Emanuele. It is a very quiet place.

Favorite Dish: I will add more on our menu later (I must look in my docs !).

We had raw slices of "porcini" (bolets) with white truffle and sprinkled with some olive oil (second photo, sorry, it is a bit blurred). That was delicious, the raw bolets have a wall nut taste that they have not any more once cooked.

Of course, we had also tajarine with white truffle !

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It is a nice place for a cheap meal but very good

Favorite Dish: Farinata is dish from Piedmont. It was originally a poor's food. It is made with chickpeas floor turned into a fluid paste with water and some olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper and rosmarin. It is cooked in the same way as pizza. It is a kind of pancake, a 5-6 millimeters thick that is eaten hot, just out of the oven. In France, in Nice, the Socca is almost the same but thiner. Also in France, in Menton, it is named Picha and in the Var region, Cade.

They sell also some unusual pizzas : Pizza porcini with bolets and Pizza tartufo bianco with white truffle aroma.

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I usually do not rely much on restaurants of hotels but on Saturday evening, the restaurant we knew in Barbareco were packed. Moreover, Ristorante I Castelli is close to a large parking lot, the card seemed fine and the restaurant quiet. We tried it and that was a good choice.

Favorite Dish: Carne cruda is a typical dish from the Langhe. It is very soft beef or veal ground, seasoned and added with lemon juice and olive oil. It can be sprinkled with cheese shavings or truffle shavings. It is excellent.

Bagna caoda is a Piemont meal (I will add a complete recipe). It is a sauce made of molten butter (or olive oil) with anchovies purée and garlic crushed. It can be used with any kind of vegetables but is very good with Peppers.

There are a lot of selling places for buying good wine and a couple of "enoteca" (wine-tasting bar). Don't be fooled by anybody: the Enoteca facing the Municipality, belonging to the WIne Producers Coop is the one you cannot miss.

Surrounded by bottles of great wine, a comfortable place where you can taste the special local food.

Favorite Dish: I got some thin homemade fettuccine and a great stracotto. With a good Nebbiolo wine and a special aged grappa. Loved it all.

Ristorante Savona is in via Roma. This was not meal time when we passed in front of it and thus, we have not tried it. The card is appealing and we might test it next time.