Naples is undisputedly the birthplace of the pizza, and if you're in Naples and you don't get a slice or two of its famed food you're better off just shooting yourself. For first-time visitors to Naples me and my friend had really little idea of where to go for a good pizza, and so we consulted Tripadvisor.com and decided on Restaurant #1: Ristorante Pizzeria Da Donato.
When I say Pizzeria Da Donato is a humble eatery, it really is, not only because of the simple and slightly old furniture and interior but also the fact that there's only two menus in the house. Famished as we were, we waited impatiently as a Chinese couple poured leisurely through their menus, and then ordered as fast as we could once we knew what was on offer.
Bread
In most restaurants in Italy, bread does not come complimentary. Here, these few pieces of cold and very tough bread came up to €2 and was something we didn't quite touch after a couple of tired bites.
Margharita Pizza
Hands-down one of the best and most authentic pizzas we had in Italy. We actually ordered this as an appetiser to share, and I suggested we test the pizza out at its most basic. Authentic wood-fired pizza at its best, thin on most parts and fluffy where necessary. Worth the price too since it's slightly over 10inches. Delicious.
Ragu Neapolitan
My Ragu Neapolitan pasta tasted better than it looked, and had a good measure of al dente cooking that kept it firm to the bite. The ragu was a very good and hearty meat sauce, though I wished there was more!
Carbonara
James, the Italy travel buddy, wasn't all too impressed with his Carbonara pasta though, but he reminded me to add in this post that he has never been much of a fan of carbonara anyway! He was forced to choose this because there weren't that much meat options available for the day. He made his pasta more bearable by stealing some of my ragu sauce, which I was happy to share since it was quite good.
Service
Warm and friendly, but there was quite a bit of a language barrier. We tried our best and it came out alright.
Price
€2 for the serving of bread
€3 for the margharita pizza
€4.50 for the ragu neapolitan pasta
€4.50 for the carbonara pasta
€1.50 for a bottle of coke
Place
Ristorante Pizzeria Da Donato, 26/28 via San Cosmo fuori Porta Nolana,
Naples, Italy.
Pictures taken with the Canon Ixus 80 IS.
15 Foodie Comments:
Wow the cabonara looks like the good, old authentic type without the heavy cream. Maybe girls will like it more than guys :)
May 27, 2010 at 1:46 PMFinally! I've been waiting for this. I agree with PY about the carbonara. Love your shot of the pizza! And price wise, it's pretty good and affordable!
May 27, 2010 at 2:51 PM€3 for the pizza? you got a great deal!
May 27, 2010 at 8:07 PMIs that buffolo cheese I see in the pizza?!
May 27, 2010 at 10:43 PMLa nonna does an awesome rendition of it too but I'm sure yours must have tasted better :P
Did you go to Siena and Capri? They were my favourite places in Italy
PY: Oh you're quite right, no heavy cream at all :)
May 28, 2010 at 12:50 AMLoraine: Yeap, Naples is one of the cheaper places to dine at, compared to like Rome and esp. Milan!
Angeline: Great deal indeed, for a whole pizza. Then again, it's pretty plain pizza haha...
Oysterdiaries: No indication if it was buffolo cheese, and I'm not so good at identifying cheese heh. I didn't go to Siena and Capri because of time constraints... always another time! ;)
Oysterdiaries: Hey I reread your comment and yes I think I will try La Nonna one day... I was thinking about Al Dente Trattoria at HV/Esplanade because I remember it was promoting its wood-fired pizzas, but reviews haven't been the most encouraging.
May 28, 2010 at 1:35 AMOysterdiaries: I didn't want to post this comment on your introduction post, but coincidentally, my canon dslr is called rachel too! Haha!
May 28, 2010 at 1:40 AMYou named your dslr? :O Hahaha. I just got a canon EOS 550d and I really love it! Can't wait to put it to good use when I go Hong Kong next week.
May 28, 2010 at 8:54 AMI like the woodfired pizzas from la nonna and ricotti. Ricotti is having 1 for 1 every weekday starting from 5 and the whole of sat! I had really good memories about that place because I went with a lot of friends and we ended only paying around 7 bucks each for our meal so I might be a little biased :P
Of course, once you get a canon, you'd love your canon and nothing else (cameras I mean). I'm glad my 500d is still holding strong at $1299, the difference is more or less 3mp right haha.
May 28, 2010 at 12:03 PMI will try more wood fired pizzas next time. Timbre is good for a thin crust pizza but its side crusts don't end the same way as you see in Italy.
Waiting to see your HK posts, esp since I'm planning to head to HK sometime again this year :)
€3 pizzas!? lucky youuuu!!! the food is SOOOO much more affordable than the places I went! I probably can only find €3 sandwiches. haha.
May 28, 2010 at 8:42 PMonly naples is cheaper phoebe! the rest are all at least €10+
May 28, 2010 at 10:48 PMGeez. I'm hungry and reading this is making me hungrier. I could wolf down an entire Margharita pizza! When did you visit Italy?
May 30, 2010 at 9:53 PMHello! How are you doing Cheryl! I visited Italy not too long ago, late April to early May, for just about 12 days or so :)
May 31, 2010 at 12:07 AMI could wolf down an entire pizza for supper, and I did! Hehe
I am glad you tasted what REAL pizza is about! Now, forget it in Singapore :) You can find the northern one, not the Napoletana one!
June 12, 2010 at 10:40 AMit's a beauty isn't it, the pizza. in singapore so far the only one that i like is spizza for friends, using a wood fired oven :)
June 12, 2010 at 11:07 AMPost a Comment