Sweets and Other Eats in Amalfi
In search of a café while K’s family napped in the afternoon, we stumbled upon one in front of Trattoria da Barracca. We didn’t get the name of the café as we primarily chose it to order water and coffee, as well as to take advantage of the free wifi signal. Though, we were pleasantly surprised by the dessert K ordered, the torta ricotta e pere. The ricotta and pear cake is apparently a local dessert, originating from a small pastry shop in Minori, along the Amalfi Coast. It’s basically a pear and ricotta cream filling sandwiched between two sponge disks of ground hazelnut. Since this is totally K’s type of dessert, I didn’t plan on having more than a bite. But after the first spoonful, I couldn’t help myself from taking more. I probably had more than K wanted me to.
Because of the scorching heat, we often wanted granita di limone, or Italian lemon ice instead of dessert. A’ Sciula in Amalfi served the best lemon granitas as they specialize in lemon-flavored gelato, sorbet, yogurt, etc. Their sorbet and yogurt were also worth trying.
The best gelato EVER goes to the gelateria across the beach and bus terminal by the port. I think the name is Bar Savoia. I mistook the sign, “Gelato Artigianale,” as the name. It turns out that it means handcrafted gelato. Anyway, their flavors were ridiculously fresh tasting and strong, as if you were having the real fruit or nut. Over two days, we sampled strawberry, coconut, peach, coffee,
and pistachio. I wish I could have tried them all.
Another place we ate was Ristorante e Pizzeria “La Perla”. K and I shared an octopus salad and linguine with sea urchin. Both were good and the prices were fair. We loved that it was tucked in a small alley parallel to the main strip.
At La Taverna di Masaniello, K and his sister both ordered pizza, while I ordered the homemade pasta with eggplant and mozzarella. The food was mediocre and inexpensive so it’s fine if you want a cheap lunch.