Hello, you! As promised in the previous post (click here to read it), today’s post will be about the Italian restaurant, Casa Ricci in Metz, France.
I’ve been hearing about this restaurant for as long as I can remember. My trainees are always telling to try it and I always reply sheepishly that I will one day. I’m so glad that I can finally say that I did and most importantly that I enjoyed it! 😊
There was always something in the way for us not to go to Casa Ricci. But most of the time the issue was time because Casa Ricci is apparently only opened for lunch, and not dinner. Plus, we’re not often in the city center, which is why last Saturday was the perfect opportunity to go there.
It doesn’t look too full in the photo above (it was about 11:45AM), but thankfully, I remembered to make a reservation early that day because they had to turn down clients at lunch.
I was immediately struck with admiration by the decors. Casa Ricci is a rustic Italian restaurant in all its glory.
I’ve never been to Italy, but if this is a preview of it, then I can’t wait to go there!
We arrived at the restaurant a bit earlier than planned. We were the first. Blame it on excitement. LOL.
The friendly owner approached us to ask if we knew the concept of the restaurant. I did, but I let him explain it to us. Basically, you choose your choice of pasta (this changes every day), then you choose your choice of sauce, and finally you can choose 1 or 2 specialties. Salads are also available on the menu by the way, as well as some meat dishes.
People started coming in. Duos, groups, families, friends. A lot of foreigners too!
We first ordered a bottle of water. Boring, but good for the body.
But then after …
I ordered Pasta with 1 Today’s Specials (11.90 Euros).
The day’s specials was Burrata a la Truffe d’été. I absolutely love Burrata cheese! I’ve noticed that it’s the « trend » to have Burrata on the menu at the moment. I don’t mind at all. This was really creamy and went very well with the summer truffle oil and sundried tomatoes.
I continued my meal with Canneroni Pasta with Arrabiata Sauce. The spicy tomato sauce was excellent.
Baby Girl ordered Pasta + 1 Special (9.90 Euros).
She had Gnocchi in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce. Gnocchi is currently her favorite kind of pasta and these are nothing like the ones that are store-bought. Plus points – the mushrooms were fresh and that’s a very important point for me.
For her special, she ordered Polpettine which are beef meatballs. I have to admit that I had about half. Baby Girl doesn’t really like eating meat, but she really enjoyed the 2 meatballs she had. These were obviously homemade and not dry at all!
The Husband was happy with his Pasta + 2 Specials (11.50 Euros).
He had Bruschetta, which is his favorite Italian starter. He liked it, but it wasn’t the best he’s had. I reckon that it’s probably because of the bread. It was hard especially the sides.
He also had Penne with Carbonara Napolitaine (olive oil and no cream). He thought it was good, but a bit dry. I guess he’s probably used to the creamy version. But he really enjoyed the pancetta!
Finally, he also had Arancini (fried stuffed rice balls). I asked if I could have a taste. I had Arancini once in the past and it was such a bad experience. But this was nothing like that. I don’t know exactly was the stuffing was, but it was creamy, cheesy, and very tasty!
We didn’t have dessert because we were really full at this point. That’s for another time – obviously we will be back here. It’s not everyday that you can find a restaurant that serves good quality food, has excellent service, beautiful decors, fair prices, and I must add clean toilets! Thanks Casa Ricci for this wonderful family lunch. Because of you, I can’t wait to visit Italy soon. 😁