So I’ve been enjoying writing about my trip so much that I thought that I would write another post. Honestly, the food in Italy was so good it’s really hard not to reminisce about it! I’m really enjoying thinking back to the awesome meals we had while we were away and what my favourites were so I can share them with you. That way it might help you when you plan your own foodie trip to Italy! I know I found blogs about the food a huge help while I was over there in finding good places to try, so if I can help other travelers by sharing my experiences it’s the least I can do.

This week I wanted to touch on the awesome food we had in Florence. We went to Florence a few times on our trip, both to travel through and to visit. We stayed their two nights and went back for a day trip when we were staying in Tuscany. I’ve always loved Florence and it is one of my favourite cities in Italy. It’s beautiful, whether you’re seeing the Duomo, the art galleries, or just walking the streets. I can’t get over the city, it’s really awe inspiring! I look at Brisbane now I’m back and wish I was back in the cobblestone streets of Florence, wandering past countless leather shops and cafes.

There is so much to see and do in Florence, and it’s great because you can pretty much walk everywhere. That’s what I love so much about it, and you get the full experience on foot as you walk past so many sights on your way to each destination. It truly is a magical experience. But the best part of Florence is the food! We had a great time experiencing the sights, but as self-confessed foodies, this was what was on our mind, and Florence was definitely up there as one of my favourite places for food.

I’ve been to Florence once before, and we went to some amazing restaurants that time around, but I wanted to share with you some of the new Foodie experiences I enjoyed this time around, because they are the freshest in my memory. If only I’d had more time to explore because I feel like I only scratched the surface, but here are my top 5 foodie experiences from Florence for you.

Coquinarius

This was a restuarant that I had recommended to me by a friend, and I realised on our first night that we were literally around the corner from it so we decided to check it out. This restaurant is located right near the Duomo down one of the side streets, and so is the perfect location for a meal after checking out this hub in the city.

The fit out of the restaurant is really nice and feels quite intimate despite being quite open once you walk through the door. It is a little hard to find as they don’t have much street signage, but we were warmly welcomed by the waiter as soon as we walked in the door as if we were old friends. It had such a nice atmosphere, even though it was a little darker than the restaurants we were going to in Cinque Terra. You wouldn’t have known it was still light out, but I liked that as you felt transported.

The menu here is absolutely incredible. Firstly, the wine list is awesome and has a huge range to try, including a lot of organic wines. But in terms of the food, there was so much on there we wanted to try, it was almost impossible to make up our minds! They have a whole section of the menu dedicated to crustinis with different toppings, and we basically wanted to try all of them. I think you could actually make a meal out of these, they sounded so good. We ended up opting for a tasting plate of six and they were absolutely delicious. The stand out was one they brought out as an extra for us to try which had baked brie, honey and flaked almonds. This was one of the top things I ate in Italy, it was so delicious!

For mains I had a slow cooked beef with beans, and it was so good! The flavours were amazing, and totally tuscan. They even brought out a little taster of some delicious cheese and pear ravioli for us to try, which made me wish that my stomach was bigger so I could eat pasta and a main course!

Honestly, the food here was so good, my partner actually asked to thank the chef. I’ve never seen him do that, so I think that is a testament to how great this meal was. I found tripadvisor quite overwhelming in Florence as there is a lot of choice, but coming from a personal recommendation, Coquinarius has to make your list! It was such a great experience with the service, the fit out, the food and the wine all coming together perfectly!

Gelateria dei Neri

I had to pop some gelato on this list, after all I pretty much had it every day of the trip! We went to Gelateria dei Neri as a couple of us had read about it on a travel
blog, and so we ended up walking from the Mercato Centrale all the way across the city to get there. Needless to say we were definitely in need of some gelato by the time we got there!

You can tell that this place is good because it is bustling with activity. There is a line almost out the door, the seats are full inside, and people spill out onto the street to enjoy their sweet treats! It’s got a line like this for a reason, and when there are that many gelato shops, you know you’re on to a good thing!

I can’t quite put my finger on what makes the gelato here so great, but it was definitely my favourite out of everywhere we went in Florence. They had so many awesome flavours to try, it was almost impossible to pick! They also have a large selection of granitas if you are feeling like something a little less creamy. I wish we’d gone back so I could have tried different flavours, because pretty much everything in the cabinet sounded good to me!

Another added bonus here is that you can get actual caramel and chocolate fudge gelato which is basically solidified sauce. The caramel one I just added to my gelato flavours, and it seriously brought my gelato eating experience to the next level. It’s definitely not advised to get a whole cup of it (one of our friends tried and they suggested she pick something else) as it’s really sweet, but perfect to add to your cup or cone once you decide what you want!

After you get your gelato goodness, take a stroll down the road to the Ponte alle Grazie. You can get a great view of the Ponte Vecchio for some nice shots with the iconic bridge in the background. It’s much nicer to go here and look back on the bridge rather than walking over it and trying to get a photo looking back.

Da Nerbone

This restaurant was one we went to on our Food Walking Tour on our second day. We had a great time on this tour which was held in the morning and went to some great stores, restaurants and cafes across Florence. At first I was a bit worried it wasn’t enough food, but it ramped up very quickly once we got to Mercato Centrale. I’d never been to this iconic food market, but I highly recommend it if you do go to Florence. It might seem a little touristy, but the selection of food, wines, oils and bottled deli goods was incredible! I had such a fun time walking around and exploring, and doing a food tour was a great way to do it as you got to try a whole heap of things you wouldn’t think to get on your own, such as the traditional florentine bread Schiacciata, which I highly recommend trying in the market if you get a chance!

One of the places we went to in the markets was the oldest store there: Da Nerbone. It’s been in the market since it opened in the 1870’s, and as most of the market has been redeveloped, its a little bit of history. The store is bustling and you have to really be on the look out for a table, but it’s good as people eat quickly and move on. It’s market food at its finest, and a great place to get a full meal on the run in between delicious tastings.

You can get a number of different dishes here including the lampredotto, but I didn’t feel I wanted to go that wild. The menu for pasta changes daily, and we opted for a ragu. It was one of the best ones that I had in Italy, and I was pleasantly surprised that something as simple as what we know as bolognese here was that delicious!

For a full market experience, I would definitely make sure you stop for lunch here. You really feel like you’re in the thick of it, and the food is delicious!

Tosca

The second time we went to Florence on our trip, it was our friend’s birthday, and so for lunch we ended up at the markets again. I didn’t mind this because it meant we got to explore on our own time, and also got to see the upper level of the market. Up the stairs is a bustling food court, but not as we know it. It has so many delicious looking foods to try, and is so far from fast food, you almost can’t call it a food court. You can pick up little bits and pieces to snack on here, as well as some tasty meats to take home (we got a few tastings and they were awesome).

There are a couple of restaurants that you enter from the food court but that sit above the market, and we ended up at Tosca. I think this was the biggest surprise of the trip, as I wasn’t expecting much from such a touristy location. But we were warmly welcomed, and it was really nice to be able to sit down in such an open space with so much natural light when you’ve been exploring the bustling Mercato Centrale. The waiter found out that it was our friend’s birthday and brought us a bottle of prosecco to celebrate – now that’s what I call service! He really made us feel at home, and gave us a few laughs while we were enjoying our meal!

I ended up getting a traditional white pork ragu from tuscany. This was my favourite ragu to order while I was there, as it is like a ragu we know in Australia, but doesn’t have a tomato base. It is absolutely delicious, and the one at Tosca had grean beans through it to top it off. The pasta was so fresh and delicious, and the flavours made it probably my favourite one of these pastas with ragu, and probably towards the top of the pastas I had on the trip.

There is a great selection of food here, so it’s great for a bigger group as everyone will find something. Everyone loved their meals, and I was so surprised that something so delicious and authentic could come out of a market restaurant. Washed down with a great and reasonably priced wine list, it was a great location to celebrate and enjoy a nice lunch with friends.

Il Panino del Chianti

It was hard to pick just one final spot to put, but I decided on this one because it felt so authentically Florence to me. After our food tour we went on a whirlwind trip of the Academia and Uffizi, something I would not advise to others to try and cram in to one afternoon. But we’d certainly worked up an appetite after this, despite having eaten all morning, and so we went on the hunt for a bite to eat. We ended up walking across the Ponte Vecchio as we hadn’t done that yet, and found ourselves on the other side of the river. I wish we’d had a bit more time in this area because it was full of nice little shops and restaurants. We wandered along the riverfront and almost went somewhere else, but they didn’t seat us and seemed to ignore us, so we walked back and found this cute little place right near the bridge.

It wasn’t a restaurant, and was really basic with a couple of chairs and wine barrels to sit around out front. It had a small menu of a selection of panini, and a great cheap wine list. It was really hard to choose from both, especially the food as it all sounded good with all the different panini flavours, honestly I wish I’d had a bigger stomach so I could have tried them. Once you selected your panini, they made it fresh for you from their cabinet. I had an awesome panini with proscuitto and goats cheese, and it was incredible!

The wine list was great, and this was a great place to have a couple of cheap drinks and people watch. There seemed to be a lot of students passing through to grab a bite, and the place had a great atmosphere right near the bustling Ponte Vecchio.

Although it wasn’t a fancy meal, some of the best meals we had in Italy were the simple ones, and this definitely fit the bill. It was great, simple, authentic Italian food, and with a glass of wine in hand, what more could you want?

So there you have it, my list of delicious options that I recommend trying in Florence. There were so many other places that I didn’t write about, including those I went to on my first trip which I think of fondly. I didn’t have enough time this trip to revisit them, so it will have to wait until next time!

I know there are so many options in Florence when it comes to food, and there will be plenty of places that might be better or worse than my little list. But the experiences I had here stuck in my memory for different reasons, and I hope they might give you a nice experience too! You almost can’t go wrong in Florence when it comes to food, but finding something that is a little more special than the rest can be hard. I hope this list helps you when you go to this magical city!

Until next time, happy eating!

Ella xx