Ristorante Natalino Review by Anna McNiel
Rating: ** & ½ for now!
You guys are going to have to help me out with this one. I have heard really good things about this restaurant over the years both from locals and foreigners and finally I went there once again using the fact that my parents were in town as an excuse to try out a new place.
The reason that I say that I need help is that it didn’t quite live up to what I had imagined. I would definitely give them a second chance but I need a few positive words of encouragement from those of you who have had good experiences. Feel free to add comments, recommend dishes that you have enjoyed, or talk about how helpful and friendly the staff were.
It wasn’t the busiest night of the week however the many staff seemed to be behaving as if it was and were constantly in a rush and it was difficult to catch their attention when we needed more water, wine or dessert.
Their specialty dish had sold out by 8pm which is early by eating out standards in Florence and they were then a little ticked off that we took so much time to decide something else to eat.
The food was good. The pasta with wild boar sauce however could have been out of a jar rather than made with real/fresh cinghiale.
I do recommend the tortelli filled with pear with a cheese sauce, the eggplant parmigiana and the lamb.
Natalino is an important part of the Florentine restaurant history being one of the oldest restaurants in town and is generally recommended for a genuine Florentine meal. It is located in Borgo Albizi 17r (Tel. 055.289404) in a deconsecrated church - whose ancient decorations are still visible.