Quote: I decided to search out Il Carroccio after reading a review here on IgoUgo - and I'm glad I did. What I found was a brilliantly inviting little restaurant with friendly owners and truly scrumptious food.

Located down Casato di Sotto on the right hand side as you travel away from the Piazza del Campo I was a tiny bit hesitant at first as it looked a bit pretentious from the outside, with half-curtained windows. Inside however the decoration was an eclectic jumble of stuff - old wooden dressers, pictures of children on the walls, and Palio momentos. There was also a plaque featuring a snail, signifying that this restaurant was a member of the Slow Food movement, devoted to local cuisine, cooked properly and healthily, and the ingredients chosen with care. The owners were friendly - they had a (well-behaved) King Charles spaniel, and let a Canadian couple bring in their dog. I couldn't help but be envious as they fed the pooch on scraps of their bistecca fiorentina - lucky pooch! And notably, once they had managed all they could of the steak, the proprietress wrapped up the remanants in tin foil for them to take away with them for the dog. Obviously if you are a 'dog person' this is the place to come.

I started off with the antipasti Toscana - prosciutto, salami, cheese, chicken-liver bruschetta (which I was able to eat), and bruschetta with what I think was slimy offal (which I couldn't). The prosciutto was what I had come to expect of Tuscan antipasti - slivers of wafer thin melt-in-the-mouth meat that dissolved upon the tongue. There was a slightly more aged variety too, drier with a slightly smokey taste to it. To accompany the antipasti I ordered a half-litre of the house red. It came in a bulbous carafe and was jolly quaffable.

I followed my starter up with pici (Siena's local variety of pasta, thick noodles that inevitably held a good coating of whatever sauce they were in). The sauce on this occassion was lamb ragu. If I'm being critical, this was so-so. It was meaty, but not distinctively lamb-y; from the taste it could quite easily have been beef or even pork.

My main course had a touch of that about it too. I opted for Chianina veal steak (the Chianina cattle being Tuscany's most prized breed, and the only ones from whom bistecca fiorentina can traditionally made). It was one hell of a hunk, and was fully cooked through, unlike the Canadian couple's bloody bistecca. There was a touch of pinkness at its heart, but it was in no way uncooked. What surprised me was it had a taste more reminiscent of pork than of steak. Not that I'm complaining mind! Despite its size I managed to finish it all off with a grin.

After my three courses (and the three courses I'd had for lunch in San Gimignano) I felt well and truly stuffed. I was offered a quite stunning-looking golden pear flan, that under any other circumstances I would have ordered without a second doubt, but I knew it would just be a waste at this point - I'll have to come back at some point just to check whether they still have it.

I explained to the owners in faltering Italian my predicament - I was full. By this point I was the only customer left in the restaurant. Yet the proprieter merely cracked a grin and brought over to my table a decanter. The decanter contained a bed of raisins, then a layer of faded citrus slices, and it was half full of an odourless, colourless liquid. I already had a fairly good idea of what it was but I had to ask. Complimentary grappa - fierce firewater made from grape residue. Gah!

In total my meal came to €40 - three courses, a half litre of red wine, a bottle of water, and tip. That equated to £30. More than I ideally wanted to spend, but worth it for the meal and hospitality I received here.
From journals Sainted Siena