Padova Restaurants

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Just to set the stage a bit, Mexican food is our favourite, and has been sorely missed since arriving from Canada over two years earlier. We had a number of great places we used to frequent, in Canada of course, but also during our frequent visits to Las Vegas.

This has been a big quest for us, and we finally found it. Highly praised by locals, but tucked away behind the Teatro Verdi, on a side street, Via Dei Livello, 11.

We waited patiently for the doors to open, the hours posted showed it opened at 6pm. No lights, no movement of any sort at quarter past. We wandered, we paced, until finally the gates were lifted at 6:30pm, normal, and typical for business in Italy.

Unfortunatel, we were told upon entry, that the kitchen didn't open until 7:30pm, but we were welcome to wait at the bar. We relented, but only if we were seated inside the restaurant portion.

The colours were bright, festive, Mexican decorations adorned every wall, plus the wooden chair backs were fashioned in the shape of a catus plant, without the needles.

The unisex bathroom (one) was clean, but it was the typical hole, lots of paper and soap however. I would encourage use early in the evening, as patrons often miss as the drinks are consumed.

Favorite Dish: Service was good, very friendly, and great background music. We shared a couple of very potent Sangia pitchers, and enjoyed the liquid refreshment.

The appetizer we ordered was wonderful, stuffed jalepeno peppers, but no nibblers were offered, no taco chips or salsa to slop down your shirt front.

The rest of the dinner was terribly bland, no spice to give it a sorely needed kick. The rice was dry, and was used as a plate filler, my chicken skewer was just 'OK', but Ma's vegetarian dish was plain kidney beans, cold, with lots of barely warmed rice pilaff, and a bit of corn, lettuce, radicchio. Very sad showing.

The food was less than mediocre, the atmosphere was great, and as a watering hole I might recommend it. As a restaurant, a very big NO!!

Pizzeria le Genziane is a nice little place that offers a fixed price for lunch, with a full menu in the evening including many different types of pizza, all of which are baked in a wood-fired oven.

We love the interior as it is very clean, with blue table cloths, and three TVs situated in various corners of the dining room. This allows for a relaxed conversation with friends, or a diversion if you are sitting alone.

The wait staff are friendly, always greeting us with a friendly hello and a warm smile. The owner, and pizza chef, is quick with a wave, between shifting his pizzas about inside the heated brick oven.

Since Ma Kettle and I have been going here, every staff member has made a point of stopping by our table. It appears we are a novelty, of the English speaking species, who are seldom seen in this part of Padova.

The restaurant is primarily frequented by locals, and we often see the same families in attendance. Quiet and low key.

Favorite Dish: We have tried various meat dishes on two different occasions, and each time found it to be aa bit disappointing. Pasta is good however, and pizza is great.

I strongly suggest sticking with the pizza, because the huge selection of combinations can keep you reading through 1/2 a litre of vino (2.60 Euro) We have yet to be unhappy with our choice of pizza, and the service is 'outstanding'. Let me repeat...The service is 'outstanding'.

GOOD service, the key to 'great' customers!!

Latest visit was Sept/05, but we tend to stop by at least once a month. Summertime is great because you can sit outside and enjoy the evening air.

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Ma Kettle and I have attempted to dine here before, but we were either too late for lunch, or too early for dinner.

Fortunately, we lucked in the other day. As we entered, we hesitated for a moment, as it looked expensive, with white table cloths, and, a glass floor, through which we could observe the huge Koi swimming lazily below. This was a treat.

Service was quick and efficient, and all in all, it was a pleasant meal. The menu is quite extensive, the food fresh, and each dish has a distinctive flavour, unlike many Chinese restaurants we have visited over the years.

The prices are very reasonable, portions are a good size, and served with a smile.

Total price for three antipasta, two primo's, and two secondo's, plus pot of tea, bottle of water, and coperto...29 euro.

Favorite Dish: The shrimp dumplings were wonderful. In fact, every shrimp dish was wonderful.

They serve very fresh, succulent, lip smacking good, extremely plump shrimp, in larger quantities than you might normally expect. We were pleased.

Hours 12.00-14.30 / 19.00-24.00

BTW....Ma Kettle and I have been here a number of times now, and have brought others as well. Each visit has been a delight.

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We had one of the most amazing and wonderful evenings imaginable at this restaurant. It was our first meeting with 5 other VTers so we along with BerniShand and husband Carl were taken here by Ma and Pa Kettle and Paola all three of whom live in Padova. This is a great case of the advantage of local knowledge. The place is very unimposing from the outside and it would be easy to mistake the front part for a run of the mill pizza bar. However, the main restaurant (and all the action) is in the back part. It is run by a no nonsense lady whose focus, thankfully, is on providing a wonderful meal.

The food and beverages were nonstop for almost 5 hours and the floor show was a very entertaining and short 2-3 hours. I will describe the floor show in a separate album as it was something to behold in itself.

Favorite Dish: Wonderful pastas for starters and then the fabulous salad bar in the photo. We could have made a meal on these two courses but they were followed by two gigantic plates of mixed grilled meats - pork, beef, sausages, pudding, you name it. All were deliciously succulent and fresh from the grille. The portion was so large that, after we had all stuffed ourselves, the two local ladies still took home sizeable bags of meats that were left. I envied them getting to enjoy it again.

Of course all of this had to be "washed down" with something so there was a veritable bevy of beverages: pitchers of wine, both red and white; mineral water, both still and gaseous; a lemon liquer followed by coffee followed by an a couple of bottles of "Liquero-Delizioso, Liquore alla Liquirizia" which was a licorice flavored liquer that sat very nicely on my full stomach. This evening may have been a record for quantity of drink for me but I was none the worse for it the next morning.

All of this and the bill came to about $25-27 per person - what a bargain!

This has got to be the most manic restaurant I have ever visited, there is no menu ...... Senora Francesca appears with pad and pen in hand, rattles off the selection in the fastest Italian I have ever heard and waits impatiently as choices are made,
take longer than 15 seconds and she is starting to think you are either stupid, or even worse, a tourist,
after 20 she knows

then the food appears, lots of it

sphagetti with a sauce so perfect that you want to eat it for eternity

you begin wonder whether it was such a good idea to help yourself so generously from the fabulous salad table

then mixed grilled meats arrive, two huge platters of it for seven people
sausages that taste so good you forget about the perfgection of the pasta sauce and decide THIS is what you`d want if you were sitting having your last meal on death row
steak sliced to show the glistening red flesh at its centre, so soft and tender that you hardly need to chew it

you eat and eat

and the wine keeps coming, then when you cant eat another thing liquers arrive with the coffee, Limoncella or a liquorice one who`s name I cant remember

If you fancy a break from Italian then there's a Chinese restaurant about a mile or 2 west of the city centre. Very good food and service with English menu (ask for one). Great feature of this particular restaurant was that it had fish swimming in the floor under clear perspex tiles so you can eat and watch the fish swim around by your feet!

Ma Kettle and I were going to the afternoon matinee at Multisala Astra, the only movie theatre in Padova offering English speaking movies.

We were early, and I was hungry, which is my normal state of mind and tummy, so we were looking for a place to sit for a bit before entering the theatre. I saw a sandwich board outside this little bar advertising 'Kabobs', which in Italy are actually Gyros. Sounded good.

The location is perfect for a quick snack either before or after the movie, as it is almost across the street. Tiny bar, not pretentious in any way.

Cost for my Gyro...euro 3,50.

Great place for a quick bite and a beer. Nice people too...

Favorite Dish: The Gyro is sliced thin from a cone of meat as you order it, and is placed inside a fresh pita bun, with tomato, lettuce, onion, and your choice of sauce. Very tasty, very filling, but very sloppy. Great value, and a nice alternative to the typical sandwich found in bars in Italy.

Bathroom is unisex, spotless, and of the proper bowl type (with seat). Lots of paper, hot water, soap.

Last visit Dec/04

I literally fell into this place. I was shopping in the centro with Ma Kettle, and her mom and sister, and stood off under an overhang to get some shade, and do what I was getting used to doing...waiting !!

I leaned against the building behind me in order to dislodge a pebble from my sandle, and in doing so, inadvertantly pushed open the restaurant door.

We had walked past it numerous times over the past year, and due to the excessive use of wood on the fascade, just never took notice of it being a restaurant. Plus, it looked expensive, especially when I peeked inside.

White table cloths, uniformed waiters, air conditioning, wonderful smell, plus, the open pit with blazing fire for pizzas was facing the front door.(inviting)

I checked the menu while I waited for 'my girls', and was pleasantly surprised. Very reasonable, for both pizza and pasta. I got a table for four, and retreived the shoppers.

Everyone was surprised to find such a clean and well maintained restaurant...very elegant, but very comfortable. No pretense spoken here.

Favorite Dish: We have had pizza (always perfectly cooked), many varieties of pastas (wonderful), gnocci (my favourite), and fish secondo's (excellent, large portions), and salads (suggest you skip them). Tiramisu (home made on premises...perfect).

I can find no fault with this place at all. The service is good, the owner is great, speaks English, and practices on me everytime I go in, and is very nice, cute waitress (blond, bit standoff-ish)(always there).

Very clean, modern bathroom. Toilet tissue, hot water.

Last visit ... Nov/04