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Mea Culpa Pizzeria (Dubrovnik, Croatia)
by malibu_jenny
We headed down the steep stone stairs after an afternoon of walking the walls. Dad had M&M on his shoulders, Little Brother had the guide book in hand and I lagged behind, taking a final few photos of the magnificent sunset over the Old Town.
"Found it", Little Brother announced, directing us along the shiny ... marble paving of the Stradum. Mea Culpa was apparently the best pizzeria in the whole of Dubrovnik according to Time Out and at six, we were all ready for an early dinner. There are five Mea Culpa restaurants in Dubrovnik in varying degrees between a café and full on restaurant and this was the Pizzeria, serving (obviously) pizza, pasta, risotto and salads. Turning down an alley, we came to the back of the restaurant and a narrow street full of seating. The tables belonging to Mea Culpa were mixed in with those for another restaurant and it took a minute to establish that the less comfortable and solid tables and chairs were unfortunately the ones we needed.
M&M flopped down into the seat, dislodging the thin hard cushion which fell to the floor. She was hungry. 'Really hungry' and 'very hungry', because every sentence is currently filled with superlatives and it had been a very long time since lunch. The four of us sat and waited, occasionally catching the eye of the waiter until I got up and rescued some menus from a nearby table. This somehow stirred him into action and he came and took our drinks order.
The drinks arrived a bit on the warm side and without ice, the restaurant wasn't busy and we had time to appreciate the surroundings before the order was taken. There was no view other than the cramped tables and it wasn't the cleanest area, with litter on the street between the tables. This in itself was surprising given that the rest of Dubrovnik is immaculate. The kitchen door opened out right next to our table and at one point during our meal, one of the metal bars from this door came loose, narrowly missing the man at the next table.
Eventually cornering the waiter, we ordered pizzas (the house speciality after all) which came huge and hot. They were nice enough, but nothing special, with the toppings whole in the centre, continental style, rather than chopped and scattered. Mine was a vegetarian one, with asparagus, the pale Croatian peppers and sweet corn and M&M and I, though hungry, only finished about half. Dad and Little Brother had a more meaty one each, which they said were ok. A plus point was that the cheese was on top of the toppings, sealing them in and keeping them warm (I hate it when they put the cheese on first in that lazy Dominos way).
M&M and Dad began to squabble cheerfully, their ongoing game of the day was for each of them to declare ownership of everything. For example 'My chair' would be countered with 'No, it's MY chair'. At this point they'd moved onto Dad saying 'It's MY fault' and M&M insisting sincerely that it was hers amid a fit of giggles. Funnily enough, I said I thought Mea Culpa was in fact the Latin phrase for 'My Fault'. I was later to find out via Google that it can also be used to mean (even more appropriately) 'My Mistake'.
It was all an ok-ish kind of meal, but of all the meals we had in Dubrovnik, this was the most hyped and least special. If this was the best pizza available, I felt sorry for the local inhabitants. In fact, the pizzas at the restaurant next door looked suspiciously better. Prices were around 80 -90 Kuna for a pizza, which compared to other restaurants was on the expensive side. For far less than we paid here for three pizzas, two lemonades and a beer, we enjoyed a sumptuous and more central three course meal the following night at a much nicer and cleaner restaurant.
M&M and I went to the toilets, only to find the one cubicle so cramped and disgusting that I opted to hold on and she preferred to change her nappy in the street. The toilet was utterly smeared and the sanitary bin overflowing. The waiter seemed irritated to be dragged away from his sycophantic photo shoot with a large group of diners opposite. Obviously he was hoping for a tip that reflected their numbers. He bought the bill without offering any coffees or desserts and we had no desire to soak up the atmosphere.
The company was delightful and the pizza adequate, yes. But based on the unspeakably awful toilets and very poor service, I wouldn't recommend it in the slightest. There are a great many cheaper and better meals available within a minute's walk.
We left, into a warm comfortable twilight, feeling full at least.
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Porta Romana Italian Restaurant (Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany)
by PeaceLoveTravel
On a recent trip back home to visit my parents we got caught up in a small cards tournament. Now, I am a terrible looser but an even worse winner. Having had a lucky streak that night I bet a dinner paid by me if I was to loose the final game. And of course I lost - and deservedly so given how cocky I had been all night.
Our ... choice fell on the Porta Romanaa Italian Restaurant in Spiesen-Elversberg. Spiesen-Elversberg is a tiny 16000 people community in the southwest of Germany. The region of Saarland is famous for its extensive broadleaf forests as well as good beers and wine. Traditional food here is, well, I would say it is very German - sausages, potatoes and cabbage. The Porta Romana is a lively Italian restaurant just off the main road through town that offers a tasty alternative to the usual German dishes.
We did not pre-book a table as we assumed that the restaurant would not be too busy mid-week. Surprisingly it did turn out to be quite full but with it being a lovely summer's night I guess most people felt more like going out than staying in and watching TV. When we arrived we were given a choice between sitting inside or in the conservatory that opened up to an outdoor area. With it being the height of summer we opted to sit in the conservatory which turned out to be very tastefully decorated and having a lovely view on the garden area. The rest of the restaurant was equally nice with light wooden furniture and plain colours. Thankfully the owner did not feel the need to use red and white checkerboard fabric or gaudy pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The waited that greeted us was perfectly lovely and had a gorgeous Italian accent. He took our drinks order and then quickly bought us the food menus. The soft drinks were all reasonably priced with around 1.50£ each for a big bottle of water and a medium coke. The restaurant also sports an extensive wine menu but with all of has having to get up early the next morning we stuck to soft drinks all night. The selection of red and white wines (mostly Italian for the former and German for the latter) were priced between 10£ and 30£ per bottle with a few cheaper house wines thrown into the mix.
We were enjoying our evening so far and I was pleasantly surprised by the low volume of the music. I just hate places where you have to scream to be understood over the cheesy pop music coming from the radio. Here we all really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere with people having a laugh during a good night out. There were a few children eating there as well but nobody minded and the restaurant is spacious enough to not be bothered by the conversations on the tables next to you. Porta Romana is certainly a more casual place with a homely atmosphere. No need to dress up to enjoy your pizza but still nice enough for a more fancy night out or a date.
Choosing food from the extensive menu was rather difficult given all the excellent sounding options. There is a big selection of starters, salads, meat dishes and of course pizza e pasta. We decided on a Chef Salad - I asked for a started size which was not on the menu but they were happy to prepare it for me; escargots in garlic butter and tomato bruschetta. All starters arrived within ten minutes and were all certainly much bigger than expected. My parents were happy with their choices and my salad was simply divine. The big bowl contained a mixed leaf salad with cabbage, carrots, salad cucumbers and boiled eggs. The whole thing was topped with grilled chicken stripes and warm mushrooms. The meat was perfectly flavoured and the mushrooms are certainly classed as an all-time favourite of mine from now on. However, the highlight of my salad was certainly the creamy dressing. By this point I was certainly regretting not to choose this as my main course.
The mains turned out to be an equally hard choice. Eventually we settled for Tortellini a la Panna (filled pasta in a creamy sauce with ham) for my mother; steak and peppercorn sauce for my father and Rigatoni a la Chef for me. The wait was a tiny bit on the long side but they really did have a busy night and the waiters were doing their best to work as efficiently as possible. We were having a great time and with the enormous size of the starters the half hour wait went very quickly. The mains arrived all at the same time and were - just as expected - huge. I guess this is very typical German; portions are very hearty and quite big. If you are on a diet than a holiday on Germany is certainly the wrong choice.
Anyway, back to the food. My pasta dish was one of the nicest tasting pasta dishes I had tasted outside Italy. The rigatoni were perfectly al dente and the creamy sauce incredibly tasty. It was flavoured with some sort of dark spirit (whisky, maybe brandy?) with grilled steak bites and mushrooms. No word of complaint here and even though it was a struggle I did finish the whole portion of it. Given that I was hardly able to walk back to the car after the huge portions I had that night it was a good thing that there was not more pasta on my plate.
My mother enjoyed her pasta as well but found the dish to be slightly on the rich side. She did like the sauce a lot but said that she would probably choose it with an unfilled type of pasta to make it a bit lighter. Although my dad enjoyed the sides and the peppercorn sauce a lot he found his steak to be too well done although he ordered it medium rare. To be honest, I am sure that they would have prepared him a new steak if he would have complained about it but he was a bit stubborn and ate it anyway. Both of them finished their dishes and we agreed that there was no way of fitting any dessert into our well-filled tummies anymore.
Towards the end of the evening we did not feel rushed to leave and staff did not push us to order further drinks or dessert. The bill came promptly when we asked for it. With under 50£ for three starters, three mains and various soft drinks we really could not complain about the value for money. All dishes were very tasty and prepared with fresh, high quality ingredients. I am not completely sure but I would say that all the pasta was home-made as well. The portion size was more than generous, making it almost pointless to choose starters. Next time we go we will probably have a couple of starters or a salad between us so we don't spoil our appetite for the main course.
Porta Romana is definitely one of my favourite restaurants in the area and we will certainly go there again. Although it is a bit out of the way of bigger cities it is certainly worth a detour if you find yourself in the region looking for a good dinner option. The great food and the relaxed atmosphere made for a very enjoyable and not too expensive evening. Staff had been kind and attentative throughout the entire night.
A couple of things that I would criticise are the toilets that are down a flight of step stairs. I pulled my calf muscle the week previous to our visit and manoeuvring the stairs was not fun. So unfortunately that is a No for wheelchair friendliness. My main complaint would be the lack of on-site parking. With it being a busy main road it can be a bit tricky finding a parking spot close-by.
Quick info:
http://www.portaromana.de/
Neunkircherstr. 70
66583 Spiesen-Elversberg
Tel.: +49 (0) 6821 740880
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Nant Eck Restaurant (Berlin, Germany)
by grahamt
When you've just spent several hours exploring a great city and have already seen many of those sights about which you've only read, the time eventually comes when you think about refuelling for the second half. Slices of orange were definitely not on the menu but by the same token, we really did feel that in the centre of Berlin we ... should be looking for something traditional rather than the inevitable International pizzerias or burger bars.
What we chose was purely at random. Unter den Linden has any number of restaurants from which to choose but Nant Eck Altberliner Restaurant, to give it its full name, was the first that we saw that looked like a traditional German restaurant. We took a look at the extensive menu outside, walked in through the door and immediately felt comfortable with what we saw.
We were warmly welcomed and, although the place was very full (Berlin was full of football supporters, up for the Cup Final), a table for the two of us was found. Menus were brought for us and, whilst we decided what we wanted for lunch, a couple of delicious wheat beers (Hefe Weisbier) were brought for us. In the end my wife chose a shrimp skewer (Garnelenspies) whilst I decided on a goulash (Bierkutschergulasch). Both were excellent and exactly what we needed to fortify us for the rest of the day.
Together with a coffee for my wife and another beer for me, the total came to a very reasonable 30 Euros. Good service, excellent food, enjoyable surroundings; what more could you ask for?
Abbreviated version posted on Tripadvisor.
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