A Gastronomical Guide to Garda

While Lake Garda is, first and foremost, a place you will go simply to enjoy the scenery, it’s not like you’ll be lacking on food options. While the food in Portovenere wasn’t bad by any means, Lake Garda’s options blow it out of the water entirely. It was home to some of the best food I have ever had in my life, and I would honestly go back even just for the food. I feel like Lake Garda could easily be classified as a foodie destination, and, with that in mind, let’s see some of the best options here.

First up is a meal that was, I’d argue, the best meal of the trip. Don’t worry, second best will be later, in one of my Dolomites posts, but this place just blew everything we’d had on this trip so far out of the water without a contest. Bali. It was a place that we debated not going to because it was a little fancier, and I wish I could go back in time and slap myself solidly across the face and say “my god, you are an idiot, just go and stop flip-flopping your opinion. It’s going to be great”. For our first course, my parents had a salad of some kind, I don’t remember what, but I had a wild boar and mushroom ravioli. It was the first time I had seen wild boar on a menu for a long time, and I jumped at the chance to have it. It was insanely flavorful, complete with ridiculously juicy meat, wonderful mushrooms, and an amazing sauce. I gave my parents each a bite so they could try it, and I regret it sincerely. I love both of my parents, but that ravioli was so good that it needed to be locked in a vault for fear of someone stealing so much as a single bite. And, before I even tried it, I surrendered two full ravioli pieces to them. My god, I’m a world-class idiot. For the next course, I had eel, which honestly surprises me now, as I decided to try a new food at a restaurant that impressive. It’s almost like I was willing to waste a course on that kind of risk, but it proved worthwhile. That eel was stellar, and the flavor was one I’ll remember for years to come. The other meals were a guinea fowl leg with Jerusalem onions, Dad’s choice, which, while I’m still not sure what those onions were, the meal was exceptional, and Mom had a venison dish, which, while similarly an impressive dish, was my least favorite meal of the night. I’d still happily eat it, though. Now, for the desert course, where each item we got tasted so good it should’ve been a controlled substance. First, we got a dish of little pastries with caramel and hazelnut praline inside. I could’ve eaten them for hours, but unfortunately, there weren’t enough for me to do that. Dad got a green apple sorbet, which, I will say, was a great choice, too. The last dish, which seemed simple, but was also super tasty. Whipped vanilla mascarpone with granola and fruit. If you say that it seems like a breakfast dish, you’re right, and it’s a dish that I’ve been trying to get my parents to make for breakfast for almost a year now, to no avail. It’s probably for the best, I’d likely crash before 10AM if I had it, but I still want it, nonetheless. If you would like to check it out, their website is here.

On the night we came in, we ate at Locanda Agli Angeli. We went here our first night, and I must say, it was exceptional. Because we ended up stopping at a small town on the way, at Mom’s request, and she wasn’t paying attention to the schedule, we got there late, but they were still able to get us seated. From there, we got an excellent welcome to Lake Garda, including an incredible pork dish with apple glaze (which me and Mom got) and a very well-seasoned local lake fish dish Dad had. The pork was insanely tender, so much so that if we weren’t on this trip specifically, that meal would’ve been the best one on the entire trip. But, because we’re in Italy, that’s not even remotely the case (although it was still great), as you saw with the previous meal. If you would like to check it out, their website is here.

Another very good dinner we had was as Osteria di Mezzo. Now, while it’s not quite as impressive as Bali, that’s nearly impossible to pull off, and they made an excellent try at it. The food was insanely well-made, and ridiculously tasty, and had some things that as I’m writing this, I desperately want another plate of. Two prime examples of this are their Ossobuco, which was so tender it was hard to actually get off the plate with a fork, and the ravioli appetizer, which, while I forget exactly what was in it, it was insanely good. I really wish I knew the recipe for that, but it’s probably better I don’t, as I would end up making and eating way too much of it, but I would enjoy every bite. If you want to check this restaurant out, their website is here.

If you’re looking for a nice, quick lunch option that’s still incredible, look no further than Luta’s Sapore Divino, a nice little place down by the waterfront, set in a beautiful cobblestone street. Setting’s not the only thing going for them, though, the food is really good. I got a pasta bolognaise seasoned with bay leaves, and it was super tasty. When I ordered it, I was skeptical of the simplicity, but I will say, that pasta was exceptional. It was the perfect lunch for that day, and the other thing we got there was also extremely tasty. A giant prosciutto pizza, with excellent greens, tomatoes, and cheese. I wasn’t overly enthused for salad on a flatbread, but it was also quite impressive, and I would’ve ordered it if I went again and couldn’t get the pasta I had (as you know, that’s a big endorsement for a salad, at least coming from me). Their website can be found here.

Now, the part you’ve all been waiting for. Whether you just scrolled through my post quickly looking for it, or patiently waited all this time reading my overly wordy explanations, here you go. As we are in Italy, it’s gelato time! I have two recommendations, one’s more traditional, and one’s more unique, but also great. For the more normal Gelateria, I recommend Nice Gelateria, a small place by the waterfront in Riva Del Garda. They have a ton of flavors, and I can frankly recommend all of them, but especially lemon cookie, if they have it. If you are feeling like you want more unique gelato, I recommend Gelateria Rock. Whereas Nice had simpler, more common flavors, Rock had a battery of stronger, and often less common options, including coffee, licorice, and more. While these may not seem like gelato flavors you would trust to be amazing, trust me. At least sample them. I got one of them, specifically licorice, and it was quite good. Super flavorful, and so different from the gelato you’d get elsewhere. I realize that half the people here are probably saying that’s gross, can you stop ranting about licorice, and while I realize half of the people in any given room probably hate it, but I am mostly writing this for the other half, of whom I am an avid member. If you don’t like licorice, that’s fine, but still give this gelateria a chance. I had another flavor, too, and it was great as well, as were the flavors my parents got there.

I realize that you may just be thinking that in my excitement to do a food blog, I may be overselling a lot of these meals, but in that case, you’ve thought wrong. As someone who cares deeply about food, I am not willing to hand out endorsements to just any restaurant. And if you think I’ve just been going to good restaurants and that’s why, you’re only half right. We did go to a lot of places I really liked, but if I didn’t like a place I went enough to post about it, it wasn’t mentioned here. So, it can clearly be seen that for a comparatively short time in Lake Garda, we found a plethora of good food. I think there may have only been one or two meals in Lake Garda that were not good enough to recommend, and it was by no means a bad meal, just overshadowed by the competition they had here. Safe to say, if you want a great meal in a great place, Lake Garda is a place you’ll love.