Osteria Antica Marina — Restaurant in Catania

As a chef in London and someone that adores hospitality and great service, this was seriously the effortless pinnacle of Catania. Though I ate well everywhere, the service here was exemplary and every restaurant should strive to operate the way they performed the evening I ate there.

On my arrival, as a solo diner with my book and notebook I ask in Italian for a table for one at 8.45pm. I was greeted by my evenings waiter who was called, Enzo. He said in Italian to way for 10 minutes for a table at which I smiled and agreed.

He returned 30 seconds later with a complimentary glass of Prosecco, I was awaiting around the fish market area which boosted the aroma of that days catch whilst about to eat in a fish restaurant. From a food sensation pov this is incredibly unique and if you like the smell of the sea as much as I do, you'd appreciate the combination of the two elements.

I was sat promptly before the 10 minutes was up, on the terrace next to the entrance, I could see into the kitchen from this spot.

Enzo mostly spoke to me in Italian because I asked him to, even though he spoke English. He asked what I wanted to drink to which I said white wine as I hadn't actually had one in Sicily yet funnily enough and he invited me to follow him to the cellar where we discussed all the wines available. I chose a nice Etna Bio, if you're not used to bio wines I suggest you begin to learn because they're still on the up and a delicately put together and pair perfectly with protein dishes. This was a Sensale, a grillo from Etna. it was only €12.

I told Enzo I ate a lot (In Italian) and want his best recos' and I'd grab some extras. So I ordered tartare and grilled fish selection. When it comes to food I want a little different from the usual if possible. I was then invited to choose the fish I wanted to tartare and to grill. I chose Brill, Red Prawn, Snapper, Bass and Tuna.

The food was fantastic. Plain and simple. The combination of flavours were delicate and complimentary. It was extremely refreshing. I can't knock it. The only thing I can do is recommend you come and eat here and appreciate...

Osteria Antica Marina We had a lovely dinner at Osteria Antica Marina. It was a Friday evening and we were told that they were fully booked and they have an opening for us at 9:30 pm. (So if you were like me, in Catania only for the weekend, use the App the Fork to book your table.) Impeccable service. The waiters were all very friendly, kind and nice. I tried to speak Italian but they spoke very good if not perfect English. Location, well, be forewarned that if you get a table in the forecourt like us, that is basically where the fish stalls are in the fish market in the day time. So the floor was wet. Be forewarned, wear appropriate shoes. As is other restaurants in Catania, there was a cover charge of €2.50 per person. We ordered 4 items, peppered mussels for starters, which was not very big but was very juicy and flavorful. We chose 2 pastas for our main course, linguini with tuna roe and black squid ink spaghetti. Both pasta dishes were amazing! The pasta we al dente without us requesting for them to be al dente (as it should be!) The black squid ink did taste a bit rich in the middle but with the addition of chilli pepper flakes, the dish was just amazing. The tuna roe linguini was a first for us, bursting with rich flavour but oh my it was just so amazing! The balance of the richness of the roe was just right! Both pasta was out of this world! May need to come back to Catania only to eat these pasta dishes again. Highly recommend. Bill came to €26.50 per person, no alcohol. The other restaurants in the vicinity are mostly similarly priced. We had such a great dinner, it was well worth the 2 hours wait and was not disappointed at all!

Osteria Antica Marina is listed in the Michelin Guide.

Another note, during the duration of our dinner there was one busker, one guy selling some kind of bracelet charms, one lady selling necklaces and bangles while carrying her wares on top of her head and her toddler on her back, 2 sellers...

Yesterday in Catania, we ate fish.

This is not, perhaps, a revelation. One eats fish in Sicily. One expects fish in Sicily. But there is fish—the word, the category, the menu item—and then there is fish: the thing itself, hours from the sea, still carrying the memory of water.

Fresh fish. Fresh shrimp. Fresh mollusks. Fresh pasta.

I list these not to be tedious but to emphasize the essential economy of the meal. Nothing smoked, nothing preserved, nothing that had traveled far or waited long. Everything recent. Everything immediate.

This freshness is not merely a quality but a kind of ethics. To serve something fresh is to honor it, to refuse to disguise it, to let it be what it is rather than what you wish it to be.

Yummy and delightful, yes—words that sound almost childish in English but that capture something true. The shrimp tasted like shrimp. The mollusks tasted like the sea. The pasta, made that day (one assumes, one hopes, one believes), provided the necessary textural counterpoint: something to soak up the juices, to extend the pleasure, to make the ephemeral last just a moment longer.

All accentuated by an Etna white.

We left satisfied in that particular way one leaves Italian meals—not stuffed, not overfed, but content. As if the world, for an hour or two, had been exactly as it should be.

Which, in Catania yesterday, it...