Monterosso Gems : Restaurant Ciak and Miky

Cinque Terre awoke my dormant memories of truly fresh seafood. Being me, I had scoped out the two restaurants I wanted to try before figuring out where the walking trail from Monterosso to Riomaggiore was (fyi, the walking trail was also spectacular).

And the two restaurants were, Restaurant Ciak (on Via Roma off the main Piazza) and Miky (in the heart of the new town along the main road).

Both were fantastic. Ciak had ridiculously huge portions - my "entree" sized Spaghetti Ciak (fresh mussels, prawns, pasta in a light tomato based sauce with a hint of ginger -- divine) would have easily fed all three of us as a main. Gnocchi pesto and king size prawns were also a highlight! Dessert was simply fresh strawberries with the local dessert wine, sciacchetra, which was a little too sweet but lovely nonetheless.

Miky was a bit more high-end, with funkier decor and fish waiting on display outside the door. Did not disappoint either - I had been talking about calamari for days but opted for pesto after the night before -- and seeing Corina's grilled calamari (the dish I would get if I went there again) suffered extreme food envy! The troffiete pesto was great, but the standout dish was definitely the whole grilled calamari - simple, but extremely effective. Again, some fresh fruit for dessert and this time, also an espresso to finish it off. Aaaaahh.

All the local wines we sampled - white, red, rose, sciacchetra and prosecco for variety - were great. Italian gelato is always great, I was a bit greedy with 5 scoops over the long weekend .. *guilty grin* .. yoghurt was definitely the best flavour.

I want to go again, and soon!