Food of Bologna, Italy

The best thing about Bologna: food!

You'd be immediately urged to order a plate of Bolognese, but there's so much more to Bologna than that blood-red pasta. There are plenty of options if you're a meat-eater, but a lot of restaurants have also added vegan alternatives, so not to worry, you wouldn't be stranded with bread on the island.

Ham and Cheese

Let's just say this is probably the most popular combination you'd see. I find it quite cute and interesting how every single market would have a huge range of ham and cheese - it's not just row in one isle of a market, it's fridge after fridge of cheese and ham. Even in the smallest grocer, you would be able to find a variety of them. This would be my first ham + cheese + wine experience, I gotta say I felt pretty fancy.

Not the best photo because I just wanted to eat

Salumeria Simoni

Charcuterie & Cheese Board - €12

Sangiovese Rubicone IGT (fruity red wine) - €5

There are many places that serves it in a platter, we just stumbled into one of them randomly (only cause we were passing by and went like "oooo, ham, oooo, wine, oooo, cheese... let's try!"). The chefs (or can I say butchers because all they technically do is slayyyy the meat and put it on a slateeee - rhyme intended) and waiters are open to explaining what's on your plate, what are some of the best combinations and would happily suggest the best wine to pair your platter with. A man from the next table said "ham and cheese and wine, they go well together, like holding hands", not sure how the metaphor works but it makes sense (I guess?). So don't be afraid to walk into a shop clueless, just be open to learn (and taste)!

We also decided to be boujee and bought home some truffle cheese (10/10 recommend).

Pasta

This is a given. We went to this one shop that sold dried pasta, which we bought and cooked at home (to save cost and to also try their local products - win-win), it also helps to have a chef in my friendship group (win-win-win, for me at least heh).

Sfoglia Rina, Bologna

It's a pretty cute restaurant - they bring you a menu which was essentially written on a black board with chalk, you then write down your orders on a piece of paper and pass it to them. Similarly, waiters are very friendly and would kindly recommend you their best sellers (or explain what's on the menu). If you'd want to be adventurous with your tongue, there's also a rabbit meat pasta to try.

We bought a pasta with pumpkin filling (the best, imo), cheese filling and meat filling

Lasagna Bolognese €10

I don't remember what this was but it's like a creamier and cheesier version of Mac&Cheese

They're also served with cookies and bamboo shoot thingys (which can be a little bitter at times).

It tasted much better than it looked - homemade pasta (sauce)!

Gelato

We had gelato every. single. day. Firstly because it's so good (and relatively cheaper than in the UK); secondly because we obviously have issues (hello diabetes lol). You can find them at every single corner. The only down side is that their flavours are pretty similar everywhere, there's no shop that offers unique flavours (like Lavender ice cream, or orange-coconut-jelly-shandy flavoured one), maybe we just didn't come across any.

Our first gelato @ Cavaur, which was less than €3 for two scoops

Special Mention: Mercato Delle Erbe

When we asked our Airbnb host for recommendations, she typed out on Google translate suggesting that this is the hangout spot for young people. We were not disappointed. It is actually a market with a lot of fresh vegetables and it also has food-court like spaces - multiple food options in a shared space. We were quite full by this time but we decided to have more food anyway (heh), and had sets of mini pizzas on one occasion and nachos and chicken fingers on another. It's a very nice and warm space, it's mostly pizza tbh, but it's good pizza. There were also multiple bars near the complex, so if you would like more cheese + ham + wine dining, this would be a nice area to swing by.

About €3 for each piece of tiny, tasty pizza

Pretty interiors!

I obviously need to work on my food photography skills and how to edit photos taken in very-orange-lightings. I really like writing about these traveling experiences because I get to relive the moments while I'm stuck here trying to study. The entire process of discovering these restaurants (or blindly following Google Maps to our decision), keeping track of food orders and prices and tasting everything has been a fun process and I can't wait to share the ones from Cesena and Venice (happy face). If ever you have any feedback on how I can write better, feel free to DM me! :)