Ventimiglia Restaurants

Having travelled much of the world, the one place your expectations are near zero is a railway station buffet. Think again.

OK, its not Maximes, but the station buffet at Ventimiglia is really welcoming and stylish. The cappucino came out of one of those black and chrome fifties things that hisses and splutters at pressure of 200 pounds per square inch and tasted better that a hundred anodyne Starbucks at a fraction of the price. Sandwiches looked appetising filled with Milano salami and emmentale, or roast vegetables and goats cheese. The hot food looked terrific too.

I guess in England we are too used to over-priced pre-prepared "marketing formula" food. The railway infrastructure operators screw the food franchise operators, who in turn screw the public, and everybody loses.

How different things can be. Nice one, Italy. I salute you.

Now all you have to do is get the trains to run on time.

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Pizza and Pasta and a selection of others, but the Pasta is done to perfection with Italian pride in doing it right. Full of noisy talking Italians a testament to that. Easy going atmosphere, very low prices.

Favorite Dish: Pink Frizzante chilled, the Arrabiatta, and Profiteroles with cream. Sounds ordinary, but its anything but.

UPDATE: This restaurant has closed. Nearby one also closed due to a mysterious fire. Usually a symptom of being reluctant to pay protection to the local hoodlums. This is Italy you know.

Instead super restaurant along the sea front direction San Remo, called "La Grotta"
Pastas are brilliant, with rose frizante, and go for the profiteroles - with cream.

Favorite Dish: Pasta and Profiteroles

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On our day trip to the Italian town of Ventimiglia during a holiday in Nice in May 2009, I was determined to indulge in Italian pizza, Italian wine and Italian ice cream. With the first two ticked off at lunchtime at Pizzeria La Vecchia Napoli, that just left the ice cream to find.

We found Il Gelato, a small ice cream vendor, on Via Stazione immediately outside the train station. You’ll recognise it by its red canopy and the large ice cream cornet shaped waste bin out front.

Il Gelato offers 20 or so different flavoured ice creams and sorbets. A cornet with 3 scoops of ice cream costs 3 Euros, so my girlfriend and I set about deciding which 3 flavours we’d have.

I opted for peach, a very refreshing lemon sorbet and a strong tasting red cherry.

My girlfriend had meringue flavour (which she particularly liked), crème caramel and a very tasty pistachio.

Italian ice cream near the train station!

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My girlfriend and I ate lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria La Vecchia Napoli during our visit to Ventimiglia in May 2009.

We were visiting Ventimiglia for the day from Nice in France, and the fact that we had crossed the border into Italy had me longing for pizza, wine and ice cream. In my mind, I had visions of a nice little Italian pizzeria, home-cooked pizzas and chilled white wine. This place was just what I was looking for.

La Vecchia Napoli enjoys a peaceful location, separated from the town centre by a bridge that crosses a narrow inlet of the sea. The beach is just metres away, while the snow covered mountains are visible on the horizon. The surrounding buildings perfectly fitted my stereotypical image of urban life in a small Italian town – faded walls, washing hanging from the upstairs windows, small flower-filled balconies, scooters parked out front.

As you’d expect, the menu is dominated by pizzas and pasta dishes. I had my heart set on the former, so I only briefly skimmed the latter. There was the usual array of spaghetti, tagliatelle, penne, lasagne and tortellini dishes. The choice of pizzas was fairly extensive, and featured the usual toppings, especially local items such as Italian prosciutto ham, buffalo mozzarella cheese, seafood, tomatoes and black olives.

Large pizzas cost between 6 and 8 Euros, somewhat cheaper than the prices in Nice where we had come from. The wine was considerably cheaper than in Nice.

I opted for:

Capricciosa pizza - Cost: 6.50 Euros

A large, thin based pizza topped with mozzarella, tomato, ham and mushrooms. This was unmistakably Italian pizza, and I was impressed!

My girlfriend opted for a pizza topped with cured ham (larger, thinner, more raw looking slices of ham than on my pizza), mozzarella and rocket. Cost: 7.50 Euros.

White wine - Cost: 6 Euros

We shared a half pichet (50cl) of local white wine. It was chilled, slightly sparkling, but not too fizzy. Perfect!

Good pizza and chilled white wine, between the beach and the mountains. A wonderful family-run pizzeria and the perfect place for lunch in Ventimiglia. Highly recommended!

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One of my favourite place near Ventimiglia is Balzi Rossi restaurant.
Overhanging the cliff just a stone’s throw from the French border. The elegant dining room seems suspended over the sea. There is a spectacular view from the terrace over the Cote d'Azur.
The cuisine is classical Ligurian and seafood dishes.

Be aware that this is not an Osteria. It is more a grand chique place. The food is extraordinary as the price, ranging 75-100 euro.
One star on the Michelin Guide.

closed from 8 to 25 January, Monday, Tuesday at midday and in August also Sunday at midday

Here you can see lot of pics of the restaurant (and an Italian review).

Favorite Dish: Seafood

My boyfriend and I were staying in Nice, France and decided to drive the coast. We first drove to Canne, had lunch, and then proceeded towards Monaco. The drive was fantastic! We made a snap decision to enter Italy for dinner, not really knowing what to expect. We ended up stopping in Ventimiglia. What a wonderful surprise! We stopped a woman on the street (wearing Christian Dior sunglasses) to advise us of a nice restaurant. She recommeded Marco Polo. The restaurant was situated on the beach. It was so quaint and the service was excellent. We ordered Fruite de Mare as one entree. The chef prepared it tableside. The bread was served warm with intense green olive oil. The wine was simply perfect. We received the most personal attention and had a romantic meal on the beach!

Favorite Dish: All of the dishes were prepared perfectly and were fresh.

A fantastic station cafe - you would actually choose to go here for reasons other than convenience. The food looked really nice and it's very clean.

Favorite Dish: The hot chocolate is divine! Less than 1.50 euros to stand with it. It's really thick and gorgeous.