This post covers bars and restaurants along the waterfront as well as places off the main pedestrian street, Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Please see my separate post for restaurants in the old town.
Gran Caffe Canasta (Intermediate B+) 58 Corso Vittorio Emanuele
This is a good spot on the waterfront to start your evening, You can sit outside and watch the sun set over the sea with a well-made aperitivo. Don’t fill up too much on the copious stuzzichini (nibbles) they give you though or you’ll have no room for your dinner, and that would be a shame.
Ciccio e L’Osteria Trio (Intermediate A-), 18 Piazza Flavio Gioia (go to 10 via Roma, which is parallel to the Lungomare, and turn right), Tel. 089 237242, closed Monday.
In 2009 I had an excellent lunch here with two friends, Nicky and Alison. The restaurant is located in a pretty square where you can sit outside and people watch. I would reserve to avoid waiting and aim to arrive for about 1.30 before it gets too busy. The menu is spoken as presumably it changes every day.
We started with a carpaccio of swordfish and tuna, poached octopus, mashed potato with more octopus and smoked eel on a bed of rocket. This was followed by Calomarata ai Frutta di Mare; thick rubber bands of pasta with fasolari and razor clams, squid and mussels. We had these dishes with a good Fiano di Avellino ‘Pietramara’ Vendemmia 2007 (A).
For the main I had a fillet steak with rocket and shavings of parmesan (B+) but Nicky’s steak with a cream and truffle sauce was even better (A). We had a great Anglianico di Vulture (Cantina di Venosa ’06) with the meat (A) with the meat. The only let down was the rather forgetful waiters who didn’t remember our bread, water or knives and couldn’t provide an ice bucket. They were still very pleasant though, especially the camp narcissistic owner who was cracking jokes throughout. Even with three limoncellos on top, he rounded the bill down to an even €100 for three, an absolute steal.
Trianon da Ciro (Intermediate B+), 22 Piazza Gioia Flavio (next door to Ciccio above), closed Monday
This is the Salerno branch of a very famous Neapolitan pizzeria. The original place in Naples is one of my top three favourites in the whole city (see my pizza post).
In 2015 I had the Margarita di Bufala (the only choice in my opinion) and two draught beers for €15. They are very busy and the service is poor, but I doubt you’ll get a better pizza in Salerno.
Cantina Del Feudo (Intermediate B+), 45 Via Velia, a side street off Corso Vittorio Emanuele
This Puglian restaurant has a very good rep and comes recommended by my former area manager who is a local and Lonely Planet who give it their ‘top choice’ accolade.
I went with my friend Dee to celebrate the last night of several weeks of work and consequently I was too busy enjoying myself to take proper notes or even to remember some of what we had!
We started with some mixed seafood antipasti which I’m sure was very nice.
I was craving rice so I had La Tiella, made with rice, potatoes, mussels, courgettes and tomatoes. It’s basically a fancier version of Patate, Riso e Cozze, a Barese classic (see my Bari posts). A tiella is the cast iron frying pan used for cooking the dish. I think it should burn the rice slightly as the crust is delicious, but this one was a bit too refined (B).
Dee had Fusilli a Ferretto, pasta with courgette flowers, ricotta and guanciale (cured pigs cheeks) which I’m sure was excellent.
There’s a nice terrace outside but I can imagine it gets full on busy days so a reservation is probably a good idea, The service was very pleasant and we got 10% off by dropping our manager’s name! (I think the bill came to €60 for both of us with a bottle of wine).
I remember the food was very good but not totally amazing, hence B+ overall. I’m sure other dishes would score an A though and I’d be more than happy to come here again.
Portovecchio (High Intermediate B), 39 Via M Manfredi, www.portovecchioristorante.com
This place is the favourite of a teacher I worked with who lives in a nearby town. It’s a sizable modern place at the western end of the waterfront in the district known as Rione Porto. It’s two blocks south west from the Villa Communale, a small park which is quite pleasant.
The area was going through a transformation when I was there in 2015 with a major construction site going up around Piazza della Liberta next door, which didn’t exactly add to the ambience of sitting on the restaurant terrace. The large group of loud Americans next to me didn’t help either.
I played it safe and went with the standards. The mozzarella I had to start was okay but I know it can taste so much better when it’s a bit fresher (B). Ditto the fresh tomato bruschetta (B).
The following Spaghetti Vongole was a bit oily but tasted good (B-).
To drink, a decent Fiano di Avellino from Terredora (B+) which was correctly priced at €20.
They charged for the limoncello as I recall but they rounded down the €47 bill to €45. The place is fine but it’s a bit out of the way and there are other more interesting options.
And a couple of places to avoid:
Zi Renata (Intermediate C/D), 170 via Roma (near the town hall)
Four of us ended up at this place when one evening when we were in a rush to eat before a piano recital that started at 9. We wanted to go to the tried and tested Ristorante Rada at #172 but it didn’t open till 8 so we made do with the neighbour rather than going further along the strip where there are at least ten other places all in a row. Big mistake.
The ridiculously cheap menu (pasta €4-7, meat €4-7, fish €5-10) and the graffiti on the inside walls should have been a warning but we forged on regardless with the time in mind. After some ‘bruschetta’ (toasted old bread with drizzled oil and oregano), the mixed starters of mussels, octopus and shredded crab stick on a bed of rocket had obviously been frozen but were just about edible (C) and the aubergines, peppers, boiled potatoes and rape that came on another plate were only just better by virtue of being vegetables (C+).
I couldn’t finish my Risotto ai Frutti di Mare (D) as the mussels were truly revolting and the rice undercooked and lacking the lovely creaminess of good arborio. Another friend had Pasta e Fagioli which was reportedly ok but another person’s Gnocchi alla Sorrentina had a horribly bitter aftertaste, once you got past the parmesan.
The best thing was the Fiano Beneventano (B+) but the following Aglianico from the same cantina (Vinicola del Sannio) was poor (C). Although the service was pleasant enough the only really good thing was the soundtrack with Aretha singing Walk On By. If only she’d told us earlier…
Kikko Sushi (Intermediate C-), 8/9 Via Tenente Colonnello Carmine Calò, at the eastern end of the waterfront
Japanese food is my automatic go to when I need a change of flavour after being in Italy for a while. This Japanese restaurant (actually Chinese owned) has a sign outside saying Kaiten Sushi. Kaiten means it’s one of those places which have a circular conveyer belt that you choose small dishes of food from as it speeds by. In Japan these are the cheapest places to eat sushi and when I lived in Tokyo I tended to avoid them as you don’t know how long the food has been sitting on the belt.
I came here hoping it would be better than my expectations but sadly they were confirmed. The Edamame (fresh soya beans) should have been a vibrant green but instead were dark and brownish and had obviously been frozen a while ago so I sent them back (D). The salmon and tuna nigiris I chose from the menu were tasteless to the point of being indistinguishable (C). I decided to go hungry and left after that. Avoid this place if you love real Japanese food.