I was in Milan only for one night, so we arranged to meet some friends who were working at La Scala Opera house and headed just around the corner to DA REGINA which is a super indoor/outdoor location right next to the Galleria. I would have thought the place to be very touristic, but it was genuine delicious and totally southern Italian food and so different from what we had been eating in the north.
Our white was a delicious Vidussi Chardonnay "Cleve di Vidic" and the red a simple yet full bodied Chianti from Villa Poggio Salvi.
There were many dishes and options and we decided to order our starters first and then mains, as we were worried it might be too much food. Great idea!
The Insalata di Mare was full of seafood and huge, the Polipo in tempura was a huge special that featured tempura-fried octopus covered with parmesan shavings. Salmon tartare was a beautiful preparation with mango and avocado while my Paccheri al Cartoccio was a huge aluminum foil swan presentation(videos and photos on FB) which was opened tableside to reveal those wide cylinder pasta paccheri loaded with mussels, clams, shrimp, squid all in a cherry tomato-chili sauce that was not too spicy. It was quite large, so I opted to share the Fritto Misto as a main. Folks loved their pizzas and the Ferro Rocher chocolate dessert was a mousse-like treat. We loved the complimentary glasses of Limoncello, Pistacello and Meloncello as well before we headed back to our hotel.
