Tourist information - Milan
Milan is known for its shopping, trading, and wonderful designers, but it is also a great place to enjoy a good meal. There are various restaurants, trattorias as well as pizzerias within the city, as well as in the summertime, it is typical to see diners enjoying their pizza as well as pasta as they sit outside under parasols.
In the fifties, Milan saw an influx of people from other regions in Italy. Some of them decided to open simple "trattorias", offering the cuisine of their home town, which was mainly Tuscan along with Southern Italian. Various of these restaurants expanded in quality throughout the years, transforming themselves into excellent along with often outstanding eateries: places just like Trattoria Toscana K2, which has currently become so popular that you need to book ahead of time; or the mythical Antica Trattoria Milano which opened some years after the end of the second world war as well as serves good, hearty food alla Milanese!
Pizzerias are popular in Milan. Many restaurants serve traditional pizzas cooked in wood fuelled ovens, giving the dough a mouth watering smoked taste. Some of the pizzerias have traditional checked table clothes, some have outdoor seating, along with some have cool' paper tablecloths as well as provide you with pencils in order to amuse yourself while you're waiting for your pizza or even for your bill. Why not try the Grand'Italia, a pizzeria within the fashionable Brera district, or Pane e Farina, a restaurant popular with both young along with old. If you want traditional Neapolitan-style pizza, then head for La Cuccuma, which will also serenade you with piano music on certain evenings.
A excellent view of the city is visible from Bistrot Duomo, this is a great place to try if you want a quick snack and also cappuccino while shopping or perhaps a more substantial meal before going on to the cinema, it is situated at the top of the glorious Rinascente department store. A special mention must also go to Savini, a restaurant located close to Rinascente, at the breath-taking Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II galleria which is known as the best restaurant in Milan by people over a certain age. The prices are high, but it is worth a visit if only to enjoy an old-world charm and steep you in Milanese elegance.
In the latter part of the 20th century, a new wave of immigration brought many people from the Third World; this led to the growth of the best ethnic restaurant network in Italy. In Milan you'll discover restaurants serving delights from nearly all country: from Sri Lanka to Brazil (excellent Brazilian cuisine is to be located in Porcao), Korea to Senegal. Around the last couple of years Japanese cuisine has rocked the city, Yume is a testimony to this - it is the place to come to have a truly Japanese experience and also to meet like minded individuals who probably have a passion for being glamorous as well as wearing black! - Who knows what new food sensation the millennium brings?
It may sound strange, but there's no better way to round off a meal than to stroll in the central streets of Milan eating ice cream along with watching the world go by, especially if the evening is a warm summer's one; a personal favourite is Marghera scrumptious ice creams and desserts are sold here, and also there are often long queues (always a good sign); or even you could try the excellent Umberto where the ice cream is praised to the skies!
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