Menu - Belladonna

Disclosure: we visited Belladonna three times with two enormous advantages: we were there during foraged porcini season; at each visit, at least one member of o... read more Disclosure: we visited Belladonna three times with two enormous advantages: we were there during foraged porcini season; at each visit, at least one member of our party was a member of a family who had frequented the restaurant for years. We had menus, but we hardly used them. Rather, we told our server what we were interested in and left the rest up to him. Some of our items might have been mediocre, even subpar, but oh! the hits. Probably the highlight was a sort of porcini ceviche (my term). Other wonders were a roast goat Secondi, little porcini ravioli (panzotti), lightly sautéed porcini cut in different thicknesses (the thicker cuts meaty, the thinner like, well, porcini). Our wine was always red, always house, always local. Inevitably, it tasted too sweet before the food showed up and meshed perfectly once it did. Our worst experience was pizza night. Perfect crusts were covered with superb toppings and then doused with enormous quantities of olive oil. Our Italian friends just loved the pizza. We thought that it was just too oily (not greasy), but who are we to question millions of Sicilians? If you have an in at another Etna slope side restaurant, go there. Otherwise, I'd recommend Belladonna without hesitation. Use Google translate or whatever tool you prefer, and prepare a request something like: we leave ourselves in your capable hands, but please no livers, kidneys, feet, or ears. Mostly we want to eat simply prepared fish on the Ionic Sea. But there are times when the lure of meat and heavier sauces whisks us up the slopes of Etna. You could do far worse than BD.

My family and I passed the Belladonna restaurant luckily as we headed down from a visit from Mount Etna. I’m so grateful that we were lucky enough to find it be... read more My family and I passed the Belladonna restaurant luckily as we headed down from a visit from Mount Etna. I’m so grateful that we were lucky enough to find it because the food was exquisite. The pizza as an entree was very tasty, I recommend the capricciosa as my favourite. The mains were also great. We ordered a mixture of meat and fish dishes, all were received well from my family. They were well sized and affordable. But what is the most fantastic is the amazing family atmosphere and the amount of care that is put in by the workers. They cared very much about our meal and their service was very professional. Cannot wait to visit again on my next trip to Sicily.