Antica Trattoria Ballotta — Restaurant in Torreglia

I had my wedding reception here 45 years ago and wanted to take my eldest son there as he was over in Italy from abroad. The restaurant is beautiful in very pleasant settings, Torreglia, in the Colli Euganei Hills of Padova. La Ballotta ha 3 dining areas, one inside, one out, and another in what seems like an open veranda. The staff are very efficient, especially the owner who served us. She also speaks very good English and is very affable and professional. My son and I ordered stuffed fried courgette flowers, a typical starter at this time of the year, the batter was excellent but unfortunately they put stracchino on the top which, in my opinion ruined the dish. The owner noticed that I left half of the courgettes on the plate and asked if there was a problem, to which I told her I didn't like the creamy whatever it was on the top, she was very attentive and took on board my criticism. We're then ordered a pasta dish each, boohoo con salsa di anatra I think, which was very good. No second or sweet. We had a bottle of prosecco, 2 bottles of water and 2 tonic water, we paid €96.00. A little expensive...

I had a waiter talking my mother language that it is not Italian, what was great. However, the owners or managers could speak english. The behavior of the manager was a bit weird towards non-italian speakers. We felt ignored by the managers, while they were super nice with the Italian speakers (in somehow it does make sense), but ofc someone that not speak the native language should receive also attention. Food was good, chicken from the grill...

Great experience. Everything on the menu is local and seasonal, and I would have tried everything. We went for appetizers + first course + dessert and didn't regret it: the salame fresco with polenta was delicious, flavorful and not just salty. The bigoli with duck ragù were amazing. Portions are the right size so you get to taste everything but at the same time you don't feel everything is small. Great service too. Prices are...