Vispa Teresa - LUCCA

This small ‘hole in the wall’ restaurant was a great find for a Sunday night meal on our short stay in Lucca. They welcomed and honoured our reservation. The food and wine were excellent and the atmosphere friendly and welcoming. The eggs with truffles baked in the oven were. delicious. The tagliatta was one of the best steaks that I have ever had cooked and garnished to perfection. House wine was excellent. The people running the restraint kind, welcoming and helpful with English translations to help out our very poor Italian.

The first thing that caught my eye was that the menu board outside and the menus inside were all in Italian for me a very good sign! Lucca is a city popular with English speaking tourists and my experience with restaurants everywhere on the planet is that one often get disappointing meals in places where the business relies on one time only customers. We were a mixed table of Italians and Americans and we started with a couple of platters of antipasto (charcuterie and cheese) which were extremely fresh and delicious, as well as abundant. Then we ordered a selection of primi to share amoung us (10 11 people). All were good, but for me the pici with black truffles was outstanding. I am a truffle fan, but often in restaurants, the truffles have no taste or there is an overpowering taste derived from truffle oil, which is often in large part artificial aroma. In this dish, the taste was perfect, a delicate aroma and taste I could have just stuffed myself on several orders of this dish alone!!! As it was, I was a guest and was too timid to ask to clean the serving dish of the left over bit at the end of our table... the tagliatelle with porcini was also excellent. The filled ravioli with ragu was also good, but for me paled in comparison with the mushroom dishes. On to the secondo. I had a baccalà al forno, surrounded with those small elongated tomatoes (not the typical round cherry tomato). It is the height of the tomato season here at the moment, so they were fresh and flavourful. The baccalà was moist and very good. In addition, it was a manageable portion, which suits me fine as I like to sample different things but without completely stuffing myself, or having to leave food on my plate! But be warned if you prefer a large serving. The meal finished with an excellent expresso. One more plus. I was gobsmacked at how good the bottles of house wine were. Really. Incredible as it sounds, it was even drinkable with the baccalà, even though it best complemented the pasta dishes. All in all a memorable evening and even if the menu is in Italian, the waiter can help you out in English if needed, so don 't let that hold you back!

No frills just excellent home cooking. Once again not disappointed with the trattoria experience in Italy honest wholesome food and so well cooked.

Locale scoperto anche per caso, passando, proprio all'interno delle pareti ma che si è rivelato essere un top locale. abbiamo mangiato veramente bene (primi) accompagnato da un vino più che buono della casa, taverna molto bella e personale molto gentile lo fanno un posto da consigliare assolutamente!

Atmosfera familiare, caldo e accogliente! abbiamo mangiato bene ad un prezzo più che onesto! i gestori, elixabetta e stefano sono unici, il loro sorriso e l'amore che mettono in quello che fanno rimane nel cuore! Grazie. Mi dispiace tanto.