Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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African cuisines are popular in Palermo. For good, authentic Tunisian dishes,
head to one of the city's oldest dining establishments,
El-Maghreb
(Via Bara
all'Olivella, 75; no phone).
Here you can enjoy
shwarma
and kabobs for
3 to the
sound of Arabic music. The ambience is rustic, with whitewashed walls and
wrought-iron tables, and the atmosphere is casual and friendly.
€
€
If you're looking for something less substantial, the
Bisogno di Vino
(Via
Giacalone, 2;
%
348-3824787)
combines light dishes with quality wines in a jun-
glelike atmosphere, with rubber plants outside. This is Palermo's answer to bar food
in the sense that the offerings are more for nibbling, but you can easily fill up on the
cheese and sausage plate for just
€
4 coupled with a
€
2 glass of Sicilian white wine.
For reasonably priced seafood and a warm atmosphere, try
Capricci di
€€
(Via Instituto Pignatelli, 6;
%
091-327777),
which fills up first
with locals, especially on weekends. Sardine, broccoli, and sea urchin pasta is the
specialty for
€
8, but you can also rely on the antipasto bar for
€
6, especially for
lunch. This is a tiny spot that feels very local and intimate.
555
Sicilia
€€
It's difficult to spend too much on a meal in Palermo. A splurge here means
spending
12 on a plate of pasta. If you're in the mood for “going all out,”
head straight to
Shakespeare
(Salita Artale, 5;
%
091-7495205),
in the shadow
of the cathedral. The food here tastes as though it's worth much more than you're
paying, with healthy portions of seafood (try the seafood packet in phyllo pastry)
for just
€
10 to
€
11. This is where trendy professional Palermitans come for a night out,
so you'll get a good glimpse of local life. Don't be in a hurry, though; this is a
restaurant for lingering over your meal and savoring the local energy.
THE OTHER PALERMO
Straight back toward the harbor from the San Domenico church and oratories is
the cacophonous, crowded, exhilarating morning market,
Mercato Vucciria,
which is best known for its swaying carcasses of meat hanging from the awnings
over a fog of dry ice; and its live seafood “demonstrations,” in which the fishmon-
ger ends up swallowing some sort of squirmy, live sea creature as the gathering
crowd gasps in disgust. How entertaining is this? Look up and you'll see the eld-
erly Palermo residents hanging perilously out their windows to watch the morn-
ing spectacle as if it were a television sitcom.
Here, among the stalls and decaying buildings, you'll get an idea of the local
Palermo palate and how it differs from others across the country. Almost every
stand sells hot peppers, exotic spices, and other condiments that you won't find in
mainland Italian cuisine. You'll also see couscous instead of pasta, Asian rice, and
oddly shaped imported vegetables. Don't be shy about asking questions. The ven-
dors will welcome you and explain the produce and how to prepare it. You'll likely
be offered wedges of ripe fruit or chunks of raw vegetables dipped in open jars of
hot peppery confections if you feign even the slightest interest. The seafood deal-
ers will dish out cooked mussels and clams on request, and the butchers always
seem to have some cured meat to nibble on. Never mind if you don't understand
them, their gestures will generally get the point across, and you'll come away feel-
ing like a local—and satisfied enough to skip lunch.
€
