Mangia E Fuggi — Restaurant in Trieste

Don't miss this place!

My wife and I were recommended this unassuming restaurant by a local taxi driver we encountered while on an On Foot walking holiday in Slovenia. Trieste was our last night and so we we sought out local advice for something really special...we were not disappointed!

Mania e Fuggi specialises in 'Istrian' cuisine, which you could describe as a dialect of Italian food - but I am sure both the owner and our taxi driver - both of whom considered themselves Istrian rather than Slovinian, Italian or Croatian - would be horrified by this undoubted over simplification!

Delicious is probably the best way to describe it!

Don't be put off that the menu differs from the 'standard', run of the mill Italian dishes that are so familiar and perhaps reassuring.

The food here is uncomplicated, approachable, and satisfying.

When we visited there was a good range of fish, meat and veggie dishes that looked like it covered most tastes. While the menu isn't vast, our problem was narrowing the choice!

The owner speaks fair English and goes out of his way to welcome and explain dishes.

Since Istria - the peninsula south of Trieste, and the Karst area of Slovinia - just inland from Trieste - produce some of the best fresh produce available, so the food doesn't need to be complicated to taste sublime.

My wife's tagliatelle with tomatoes and creamy cheese was wonderful, as was my tagliatelle with shrimp and rocket. The mains of baked sea bream with spinach, and slow cooked ham hock with buttery soft potatoes easily lived up to their predecessors.

A...

Very english friendly service. Cute rustic restaurant. The food overall was alright! The bread served was alil stale. The mixed seafood platter was mid except for the creamed cod which was great (7/10) . The octopus and potatoe salad def tasted like it’d been sitting out for a while. The handmade squid ink pasta stuffed wirh something + herbs was interesting ! It gets a 7/10 not because it is bad, but the texture of the pasta is just a tad too thick and tough for my preference. The filling was abit dry but then again, it may be a local dish im unaccustomed to. Def homey....

If you like your meals made from good, clean, quality ingredients, and you enjoy a warm welcome from the husband and wife staff (she's the chef) in very laid back surroundings, then this is the place for you. Unpretentious in every way (food, decor, staff and service), you will eat fresh food cooked right in front of you, drink gorgeous regional wine, and, if you're lucky, taste the lightest, most delicious Tiramisu I've yet to have the pleasure to have eaten. I left the place...