Today, as we had a break between two 10-day back-to-back cruises in the Italian port of Civitavecchia here on the Italian coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea we decided to visit LA POSTA VECCHIA just 30 minutes away (and less than an hour from Rome, and under 30 minutes from the Rome Airport as well. This property attracted me due to this wonderful seaside location and the fact that the 17th century Post House was owned by J. Paul Getty until it became a luxury hotel of some 19 rooms. It sits next to a castle on the coast and is truly a gorgeous setting.
Lunch, however, was not as enjoyable an experience as it should have been. While Sam gobbled up his PENNE al POMODORO, I was in shock with the 15euro ($21+) for a child's portion that was extremely small to boot. We loved the delicious homemade breads especially the Rosemary Focaccia with nice large chunks of sea salt, and the delicious JALE Chardonnay from SICILY was a superb reminder of our first visit to this exciting and fabulous island the day before (sadly, we had no time to dine on Sicily--just grab pastries and do a quick wine tasting on the slopes of Mt. Etna--where we had some of the best coffee ever at the summit!). Anyway, The amuse can be described as odd at best and a sad foreshadowing of what was to come. The chef has a penchant for the now passe in the USA "foam thing" and we got a tomato skin in a foam of mozzarella that simply had no taste and was quite boring. If this was an amuse, I wanted no more amusement.
The ROMBO e GAMBERONE appetizer was described as a carpaccio of shrimp with other items and peach as well...it was mushy and totally disgusting in texture.
The ACCUIGHE FARCITE BACCALA was anchovy with cod that was much better, but one must consider the former priced as an appetizer at 23 euros ($32+) to be a rip-off. We tried the pastas as entrees and the GNOCCHI di RICOTTA were quite nice, but no prize winner, another pasta (I can't remember the name) was bland and quite small, while my TAGLIOLINI were coated with a superb cheese sauce making it the winner of the day in a meal that was so sad for the most part.
Finally, the sticker shock would have set in for even Mr. Getty with a 2 scoop gelato dessert for Samuel costing 15Euros ($21+) and the entire bill for four adults and Sam came to 258 Euros with beverages or a cool $363 (or about $90 per person for under 2 courses each) which I have actually NEVER spent on a 2-course lunch before even at JOEL ROBUCHON in Paris!
As we sail away, I can only hope for better prices and food in Monte Carlo for lunch tomorrow!
