Da Cesari

Bologna, IT 

Our first meal in Italy was at Da Cerari, per our research on Chowhound. It was a relatively early meal at 8:30 but the restaurant was empty most of the night.

Bread

 The bread selection were all dense and dry. We didn't eat much of it.

Selection of salami from Emilia Romagna region

Although this seemed like a boring appetizer, this is what you should get when you're in Bologna, all the cured meats of the region. This was probably the best representation of these meats we had during our time in Italy. The mortadella was buttery and rich, completely different than mortadella in the states, the best mortadella of our trip. The panchetta, lightly colored, soft, delicate, fatty, superb, melt in your mouth delicious and my fave of the five. The parma prosciutto, not just salty like in states, carried a heavily cured flavor, dry, good, but not as good as previous two, I like softer meats better. The final two, the in house salami (good but not amazing) and coppa (dry and thick) rounded out the nice starter. 

Taliggetti de bolognese

Taliggetti de bolognese had a really good al dente bite to the pasta. It was simple, fresh, homemade flavor, but not mind-blowing. Chu-Toro liked the dish, not too heavy or rich, just something simple and homey. Very generous amount of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano atop. 

Tortellini

I had the large tortellini stuffed with ricotta in butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce which was buttery, rich, and heavy. The tortellini was also al dente with good bite, the ricotta was creamy and yummy. Not as heavy, good or rich as Batali's brown butter egg ravioli from Osteria Mozza, but overall solid.

Veal scalopini with Parma ham and cheese

We shared a 2nd course of veal scalopini with Parma ham and cheese. It was super rich, salty, heavy. The rosemary potatoes were excellent, strongly infused flavor and soft potatoes. But the dish was just little too rich for us, not the best.

A nice meal, but not exceptionally good. It was a very chill first meal in Bologna. The place was pretty empty throughout the night, but the staff was really friendly and spoke
English with us. All in all, I probably wouldn't dine here again if in Bologna, but it gave us an opportunity to try some classic Bolognese dishes our first night.

Overall 6/10

May 20, 2011