FIRENZE: THE FOOD

After arriving safely, finding a parking garage and checking into our hotel we had some time to kill before our tour of the Uffizi Gallery. What better way to waste some time than with a nice little lunch near the gallery.  Our first meal in Florence was at Caruso Jazz Cafe right around the corner from the Uffizi Gallery. We ended up back at this same cafe for lunch the next day as well. I only took a photo of our water during that visit, surprisingly!

I was very taken by the floors in the entrance to the cafe. They used an old stained glass over some rocks, a neat idea I must say!

We decided on some bruschetta so we would not be completely full before dinner

Where we ate dinner on our first night in the city. I dropped the ball and did not capture an image of the restaurants name.

More bruschetta, obviously I could not get enough of all the different variations all over Italy

Quattro Stagione pizza, the hubby's favorite

Gnocchi, I am not sure if I was just not hungry but these were not the best...

After having eaten nothing but Italian food for the past two weeks we were in need of a change in food choices. We were both excited to find a Chinese restaurant near our new hotel in Florence. It was so amusing to read the menu as they gave all the items on the menu with italian names. For example your regular chow mein here in the Unites States was called spaghetti, and steamed dumplings were called ravioli.

Despite the odd names on the menu the food we ordered was some of the best Chinese food we have ever eaten together. Evereything was full of flavor and very fresh. We enjoyed the food so much that we went back the following night before we left Florence onto our next city. I still dream about the yummy steamed beef dumplings to this day. Gives me another reason to go back to Florence.

The restaurant is called Il Mandarino and is near the Santa Croce neighborhood.