9 Places you have to try in Turin!

SONG: Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You) by Bombay Bicycle Club

I’m back! This week I thought I’d talk about some unmissable spots and amazing finds that I have come across so far in Turin. So without further ado, this is my list of top bars and restaurants in Turin…

Bars...

1. Al Vej Bicerin

I found this place when my parents were visiting; we were just looking for a spot to have a drink on our first day, and true to themselves, the only criteria was somewhere away from the tourist traps. Al Vej Bicerin was just around the corner from Piazza San Carlo down a little side street next to a few lunch spots, and it was here that I found the best Aperol Spritz in Turin’s central city: and trust me I’ve tried plenty! During the late afternoon and evening, this little bar also offers a very well-priced Apericena, which was a smorgasbord of nibbles and canapes to enjoy with your drink. The culture of Apericena is rife in Turin, most bars offer a drink with as many returns to the finger food buffet as you can manage. It has taken the city by storm and is how most students spend their evenings with friends. Needless to say, the Aperol Spritz and Apericena were both top notch and I have been a repeat customer for about a month now. Give it a try and you won't be disappointed! (Al Vej Bicerin also serves a daily lunch menu which starts from €7 for a pasta dish, also good but it still remains on the Bar list purely for that Aperol Spritz - it’s just THAT good!)

2. Le Panche

Okay, so this had to be included because it’s not long since I was a student and everyone can appreciate the worth of a €1,50 Aperol Spritz. This little hole in the wall is a hub of energy: my best friend and I were following google maps to find the fabled bar that served €1,50 Spritz and before we found the bar we were welcomed by the atmosphere: the bar which doesn’t have a single seat in it serves you your spritz in a plastic cup and everyone sits out in the square drinking and smoking to their heart’s content. Naturally we bought 4 upon arrival at the bar and took ourselves to a little area in the square with a very quaint view of the river. The whole thing was very reminiscent of Botellón in Spain, and I loved it. Now of course if you are not so fond of sitting on grass sipping cocktails from plastic cups, then this is not the place for you, but honestly if you are looking for a cheap bar with an amazing atmosphere then you’ve got to search it out!

3. NAt Cocktail House

I had to include one bar from Piazza Vittorio Veneto. Not only is it the most desirable setting for a bar (in my opinion), but the square is always full of people and is definitely the central hub of bars and restaurants in Turin. NAt serves a very nice selection of cocktails and drinks and instead of an Apericena offers a tagliere containing plenty of meats, cheeses, breads and olives to keep your drinks company. Sip a cocktail in the sun with the river as your backdrop. For location alone, this bar had to be included but the Aperol Spritz is indeed one of the better ones I’ve tried, even though it is served in a tall tumbler rather than a large wine glass or a Copa de Balon (popular with gins nowadays) as other bars choose. If anything, the drink feels like it lasts longer!

4. Menodiciotto

Not so much a bar, in fact a gelateria; but a gelateria that serves a drink with a very interesting twist. At Menodiciotto, you can order a drink and a scoop of gelato together for €7, and they will serve you a scoop of gelato on top of a slice of blood orange balanced on the top of your glass - the straw is very daintily poked through the flesh of the orange so that drink and gelato can be enjoyed simultaneously. All I can say is that I’m disappointed I didn't have this idea! It is ingenious. Considering the average going rate for a Spritz in the city is between €5 and €8, to be able to get a scoop and a drink for €7 you’d have to be crazy not to try it. For those of us who love the gram, it is so instagram-worthy but it's also such a cute gimmick that everyone should try at least once! Not only that, but both gelato and Spritz were of very high quality, although I would warn that it is best to eat the gelato quickly or your drink will begin to change flavour! There are about 5 drinks to choose and all number of gelato flavours, so you can experiment and mix and match.

Restaurants…

5. Bottega Baretti

Actually recommended to me by a local this pizzeria in San Salvario was out of this world. One friend ordered a burrata pizza, which when it arrived was a pizza base, passata and then a ball of burrata mozzarella the size of a grapefruit just sat in the centre of the pizza. I would never have thought to order something as bizarre but my oh my was it astounding. The burrata is so smooth and buttery that it made the best margarita you can imagine seem like a Dr. Oetker special. The pizzas here were freshly cooked and the litre carafe of red wine was very well priced for the quality of the wine (I’ve come to realise in the month I’ve been here that Piemonte wines are invariably good). San Salvario is such a cool and happening area in Turin and there are plenty of bars serving Apericenas, and lots of restaurants serving all different styles of food but Bottega Baretti was top notch for pizza - not to be missed!

6. Trattoria Alba

Just around the corner from Piazza Vittorio Veneto on a little side street, my best friend and I stumbled across an absolute gem. This restaurant has a very small menu consisting of 3 or 4 meals per course and when we arrived, every single customer in the restaurant was Italian except us, which seemed like a very good sign. We were served traditional agnolotti which is typical of the Piemonte region and a wild boar ragu with tagliatelle. Both were cooked to perfection and it is so nice to sample authentically cooked dishes. Indeed when we got the bill our dinner with *ehem* 3 *ehem* carafes of wine has only come to €27. You honestly cannot go wrong! Perhaps not for the fussier eaters as the menu doesn't have a great deal of choice, but everything on the menu is authentic to the region and cooked to perfection. It was a really great cheap spot just away from the tourist spots where you can get real Italian food.

7. La Tabisca

Again, I had to include a restaurant on the main square because if you want a meal with a view, this is the place to go. And although I have mentioned avoiding the tourist traps, La Tabisca was in fact recommended to me by a local and it has not disappointed on any of my visits (there have been a few). The restaurant is actually Sicilian, which was amazing news for me having spent 7 months living in Catania, but indeed the menu sports a very large range of dishes from all of Italy. For a very large restaurant, everything was prepared perfectly and again this restaurant is full to the brim with locals eating their pasta and pizza on the weekend. La Tabisca has the largest outside seating area on Piazza Vittorio Veneto and it's no surprise as to why: the service and quality of the food is excellent. Often Sicilian food can be forgotten compared to the well-known traditional dishes from the mainland, but La Tabisca not only did them justice, it made me want to book a trip back to Catania!

8. Taberna Libraria

This restaurant was recommended to me by my tutor at the school where I work: she told me to take my parents here and so I did. I had no idea what to expect and had booked on the recommendation alone, but the cosy taberna surprised all of us when we noticed that it offered 3 tasting menus each with 4 courses, as well as a full “off-piste” menu. You can choose from a fish, meat or vegetarian tasting menu: I went for fish and my parents both had the meat. The waiting staff here were some of the friendliest I have met in the city and nothing was too much trouble especially when we had difficulty understanding what some of the things on the menu were! Taberna Libraria got 6 thumbs up from my family! Everything was absolutely delicious and all the dishes were so well executed. I know both my parents hugely enjoyed their tasting menus, but I could not recommend more highly the fish menu: the prawn and lemon gnocchi was some of the lightest and most subtly flavoured gnocchi I’ve had the pleasure to try.

9. L’Osteria di Pierantonio

Last but MOST DEFINITELY not least is L’Osteria di Pierantonio. Quite serendipitously, my parents and I came across this restaurant while browsing for restaurants near their hotel one evening when we decided a long trek into town was not on the cards (Lingotto is a way from the rest of the city). I am so very glad we found it though as it was the quaintest restaurant experience. Hidden down a little side street near Lingotto metro station, this restaurant serves a daily menu based on what treasures the owner can find at the market or indeed what she picks from her garden on that day. This family-run restaurant felt really special and everything felt like it had been cooked with love by the owner. My father still boasts about the gnocchi he had here, cooked with speck and leeks, which were the best he has ever had. Really authentic Italian food cooked well and for 3 people the bill only came to €55. Go a little bit out of your way to search out this hidden gem. Every night is a new adventure!

So that is it for my places you have to try in Turin, I hope to inspire some of you to try out at least a few of these and hopefully to have offered experiences a little different from the normal restaurant or bar experience. Until next time!!