Winning tip: Porchetta, central Rome

Family businesses; idiosyncratic service; simple but world-class food: Italian food has a few core stereotypes. It’s an unexpected delight, however, to find somewhere like this one minute from the chaos and greasy pizza slice stores of Termini. Er Buchetto serves very few things and is smaller than my student bedroom was, but I’d consider a trip to Rome without lunch here a wasted journey. Normally hating pork, I was reluctant to follow a friend’s advice and try this porchetta bar, but went for a simple sandwich: porchetta, crusty bread. I ordered a glass of wine to go with it – altogether, under €5. Most people have had that meal that caused them to sit back, nod their head and silently think about how everything’s all right, really. This was mine. I finished my sandwich and immediately asked the owner for a second serving – this time, the full porchetta plate. He smiled and nodded – he’d definitely seen this happen before.
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prostak

Small but perfect, Umbria

Bevagna is a tiny village in Umbria, 25 minutes south of Assisi, Despite its compact size, there are more than a dozen restaurants housed within its medieval walls, the best of which is Antiche Sere Osteria Enoteca. It sits next to the Porta Garibaldi on the edge of the village with five or six tables outside and another four inside. One of the entrances leads you directly into the kitchen, which is smaller than you’d get in an average semi. Out of this walk-in wardrobe space, the chef serves up a range of regional dishes using the best of local ingredients – game and the ubiquitous truffle feature prominently. An antipasto of truffle omelette, followed by a main of pigeon, rabbit or guanciale (pig’s cheek) and ending with a chunk of the softest ricotta dripping with local honey is the perfect combination after a day in the Umbrian sun. The service, provided by a single waitress, is friendly and personal – when things get busy, the chef steps out of his alcove to take a few orders and suggest recommendations. Prices for starters peak at €10 with mains between €10 and €15. Perfetto.
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Addison DeWitt

Vegetarian tasting menu, Liguria

An Italian Riviera holiday promises plenty of relaxation and seaside adventures, but those in search of authentic Ligurian cuisine should head away from the coast and up into the hills. After leaving the autostrada at Lavagna, a short scenic drive brings you to Campo di Ne and the charming Trattoria La Brinca. This family-run restaurant specialises in the foods and wine from the surrounding area, and both the meat and vegetarian tasting menus are good value and highly recommended (€50, including four wines). Specialities reflect the simple, peasant traditions typical of the area, such as fresh ravioli filled with herbs in a spicy meat sauce, chestnut flour panella (fritter) with wild fennel, and slow cooked or stuffed meats, including rabbit, veal and guinea fowl. Cheeses are from neighbouring farmers, and the desserts are designed to showcase seasonal fruits and berries, local hazelnuts and honey. Sergio Circella is a generous host who manages the front of house and the abundant wine cellar. His brother Roberto and wife Pierangela are the outstanding talent in the kitchen, with other family members serving guests in the dining room. Reservations required.
• labrinca.it
Servethepublic

An oasis of local delights, Avellino

Halfway across Italy and just off the Naples-Bari autostrada, the marvellous one-Michelin-star restaurant of Oasis Sapori Antichi in the remote but charming village of Vallesaccarda rewards the detour with superb dishes from the hills of Irpinia, an aptly named oasis of antique flavours. There are delicious and original specialities conjured with home-produced olive oil, soups, pasta and bread, such as an amazing ravioli with burnt garlic and walnut filling, with seasonal variations bringing truffles, mushrooms, baccalà (battered salt cod) and locally sourced meats including rabbit and boar, rich cheeses and expertly chosen wines. That’s not to mention starters with miraculous hams and mozzarella and homemade ice creams among the desserts, all served with impeccably warm family hospitality and exquisite taste at very reasonable prices.
• oasis-saporiantichi.it
dorisyeltsin

Baccalà and nothing but, Rome

The time-warped sign on the facade says FILETTI DI BACCALÀ, and that pretty much says it all. Tucked into a piazza in front of Santa Barbara church, Dar Filettaro is a Roman legend. Locals queue for a seat at the outdoor trestles or in the no-frills dining room, where the tablecloths are paper and the service is efficient bordering on brusque. Choose (quickly, they need your table) from a spartan menu of baccalà – battered salt cod – and a few accompaniments: chicory shoots, anchovies, bruschetta, beans and draught beer. Do not expect comfort or glamour; do expect to eat brilliant cucina povera in a rarefied atmosphere thick with tradition, cholesterol and Roman magic.
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ID3208844

The lovable chaos of Naples – in Genoa

Pizzeria Kebab SoleLuna in the Nervi district of Genoa. Embedded in the fishing community just off the the remote yet angelic coast of the Nervi district of Genoa, this Italian restaurant ticks all the right boxes. Famous for its pizza and kebabs, the internal decor features some of Naples’s most famous faces, including a certain eccentric footballer. Naples is famed for its beautiful, chaotic ambiance, so in a northern Italy city that holds a close bond with its southern counterpart, a beautiful balance is struck. One can dine here well for around €20. The staff are serious about their food and there is plenty of great beer and wine to accompany the best pizza in Genoa/Naples.
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Jason O’Callaghan

Meltingly good meats and polenta, Lake Como

Mediocre schnitzel-peddling osterie cling to the glacial waters of Como like frogs around a pond. Head to the Osteria Il Pozzo in Menaggio for some cheap cucina povera of princely pedigree. There really are only two dishes to be eaten here: the osso buco (veal shank) and the rabbit. At all costs avoid the tired and grey vegetable sides and go guiltlessly for the cheese and butter-rich polenta taragna, an extraordinary puddle of joy studded with gritty little buckwheat husks, which hails from the beauteous mountains of nearby Valtellina. The lunch service begins at midday so arrive early to avoid the queues. After your postprandial nap, head back out to the esplanade, grab a gelato from Il Gabbiano (the best in Menaggio) and on to the Conad supermarket on Via Marconi. Enjoy a humble plastic cup of nebbiolo (red wine) on the rickety pier behind the ungainly Camping Europa. Why? Far from the crowd, the mountains at sunset and the expletive serenade of the Menaggini fishermen is a rare and unmissable thing.
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Alex Witt

Perfect pizza, Naples

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele only serves two options: margherita pizza or marinara pizza, but don’t let that put you off. This thin, authentic raised-crust Neapolitan pizza is perfect in its simplicity. The lightly bubbled dough, fresh tangy sauce from locally grown tomatoes and rich mozzarella make for a memorable experience that soars above much more expensive and complex dining affairs I tried in Naples. It gets very busy, especially after featuring in Eat Pray Love (Julia Roberts’ character enjoyed the pizza as much as I did, apparently). The pizza costs only €4 and the drinks, including a good light beer, are also reasonably priced.
• damichele.net
Julia O’Connor

The locals’ trattoria, Rome

I was recommended family-run trattoria Trattoria Da Simonetta, tucked away in a small suburb of Rome near San Giovanni Basilica, by our elderly B&B owner. It’s not much to look at from the street, but inside it offers all the charms of Italy without the gimmicks – pizza ovens, pasta kneaded in the open kitchen, red-and-white-chequered table cloths and baskets of fresh bread. The English-speaking owners easily translated the all-Italian menu and offered recommendations of their own. It was full of locals, which might be why prices were cheaper than any others I encountered in Rome, with one-litre carafes of wine for just €8 and pizzas and pastas for about the same.
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livvilee

Food with a view, Tuscany

La Grotta Trattoria is a restaurant cut out of the rock in a tiny hilltop village called La Sassa in Tuscany. The nearest town is Volterra but it’s not very near. If you have a car or a motorbike, though, La Grotta is about 30 minutes drive from the campsites along the coast south of Livorno. There’s no menu; the food consists of antipasta, three pasta courses (at least one of which will involve wild boar), a main of wild boar and wood pigeon and the dessert of the day, often semi-freddo. I don’t remember a wine list – we just drank the excellent red they brought to the table. I’ve eaten there several times and each time was wonderful. At the end of an evening meal, you emerge to the most magical view out over the Tuscan hills. A gem.
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Jan Burnell