Fine Italian dining in Panama

Last night we dined European style. I really have to say European style, because everything in the restaurant was made in a way that you would have believed to be in Italy or the southern part of Switzerland where they speak Italian. Spaghueteria Caffé Pomodoro is located on Via Veneto and without knowing about it you certainly would miss it. From the street it looks like a tiny restaurant, that offers nothing special, with only a few little tables crammed into what looks like a corner shop. But once you enter you will see an opening in the back that leads to a wonderful patio with spacious seating, nice decoration, a number of ventilators to make you forget the heat. Passing through that door in the back is like passing through a gate from Panama to Northern Italy.

As appetizer we had Insalata Mixta and Insalata Caprese followed by Penne Arrabiata and salmon with some pasta on the side. We drank half a liter of red wine, which is fine for the two of us, and finished with Tiramisu and a wonderful Apple pie with some vanilla ice-cream on top of it. Together with a cup of Cappuccino that was the perfect closing of our meal.

The check came up to about $56 for two persons. That's quite expensive here in this city, but on the other hand the quality served definitely was worth it. We enjoyed the fast and perfect service, the overall atmosphere and the music performed by a guitar player singing romantic songs.

The vanilla ice-cream was real ice-cream. I do say "real", because while we lived in Florida we had a hard time to find ice-cream with a good taste and a creamy feel. I don't want to offend anybody, but either it was far too sweat or it felt more like crushed ice than ice-cream.

A few days back we ate in another Italian styled restaurant and I had Insalta Caprese as well. But there they used some yellow cheese instead of Mozzarella and put ham between the tomato slices. So it wasn't exactly what you would expect from Insalata Caprese. Let's say that was more a Latin version of this Italian appetizer.