Hmmm Milano! Not sure you are my cup of tea to be honest! (*gasps* the garmanvsfood reader) I know, I know, it is Italy! Full of architecture, fashion et al, but for me bleh?! Okay, maybe not bleh per se, I might need to spend more than 24 hours to get a proper feel of the place. How in the world you go to Milan for 24 hours only? well.. what had happened was 😆, in may 2017, we did our first road trip across Europe. The three planned stops were Stuttgart (because of Penny), Como (Neal’s birthday) and Rheims (champagne tasting). Now, anyone who has ever done a road trip knows the route isn’t always straight forward. Plus, if you are like us who love a bit of detour and the ‘scenic’ route, you end up with loads of unplanned pit stops 😄. Milan was definitely an unplanned pit stop! After a disaster with Penny (broken wheel), we had to leave the car in Stuggart to get fixed. Thank goodness too, as she could not have been in better hands! Whilst we took comfort in knowing she would get fixed properly and what not, the complimentary tickets to the museum was a nice touch.
Neal, was not impressed with his Ford replacement car. Just thinking about it now, I am cracking up…it was a shambles 😄! Anyway, we continued on our planned schedule and got to Como a day earlier than planned because Neal decided he was not going the scenic route because he didnt trust the replacement car! rude!!!! We were going to pay for the extra night / early check in but we found out that we could catch the train from Como to Milan and we did!
After about an hour or so train ride from Como we arrived in Milan! We both had never been to Milan and really didn’t know what to expect. I wish I could say It was ALL that and a bag of chips, alas, it didn’t feel that way. Not sure if it was because we were a bit wary from the driving and the palaver with penny and what not. Once we checked in to our hotel, we went exploring. First up? Food!!! because manz got to eat right? we took a wander and saw some art, sculptures and the gorgeous Duomo di Milano.
We happened to walk past Four Seasons hotel and decided to give it a go. We generally avoid the ‘commercial’ places but we were ready to eat like. Surprisingly, we did get a table and we were seated for Carta Pormediana. Let me just put this quick disclaimer here, the menu was in Italian (as expected) so unfortunately I can’t tell you figuratively what all the dishes were, only because I truly can’t remember. However, we did what we do best, and sampled all the starters 😄. What I do remember is that I had my first aperol spritz in Milan and yeah.. still a no from me, solz fam!
Our meal started with bread, olives and butter as per the norm.
We then proceeded to sample the starters from the menu – culatello (Zibello ham speciality) with cantaloupe melon. Yep, the Italians do cured meat right!
Our zucchini came stuffed in flower with ricotta, mint and tomato gazpacho! Speaking of gazpacho, just remembered another gazpacho which we had in Local. That too was yummy! I have to say the dishes were bright, colourful and darn right pretty! It was a case of eating with your eyes as well as your mouth! The caprese di bufala con pomodori which was essentially capri style buffalo milk mozzarella with tomato salad – awesome.
You lot know how I feel about a good tomato salad which is just tomato plus 3 / 4 ingredients at most. You know? not doing the most but doing the most! The perfect salad for summer, and only two other places have gotten me excited about tomato salads – Cinc Sentis & Tom’s kitchen. Our cheese board had five types of cheese, cheese biscuits and chutney. We were also presented with petit fours which were equally scrumptious!
Antipasti in Milan? Check!
cheers
Ndidi
Addendum: Just before we caught our train back to Como the next day, it happened to be market day in Milan. We killed time wondering the market, grabbed lunch and gelato! Duh? When in rome and all that. Had a pistachio ice cream from Amorimo Gelato, one word – yummy!
