If you’re organising your holiday at Giglio Island, maybe considering the rent of one of our apartments, you must not miss the opportunity to try the typical dishes of the local tradition, prepared with zero-mile products, from the meat dishes to the seafood ones, thanks to the great daily fresh fish.
The dishes of Giglio tradition are very simple, they are still cooked nowadays, from our grandparents’ recipes.
If you want, you can buy some typical local products directly from the numerous little shops of our villages, but you can also seize the opportunity to enjoy a good lunch or a dinner in one of the great restaurants of Giglio island, to discover the real tastes of this generous land
If you’re wondering what to eat and where to eat at Giglio Island, follow the suggestions we prepared for you; you will find some info on the local recipes, up to a complete list of local restaurants.
Restaurants and pizzerias at Giglio island
After having spent a day at one of the beaches of giglio island, you can seize the opportunity to taste the local delicacies and discover, in the best way, the real flavors that this territory offers; there are many restaurants and pizzerias on Giglio island where you can stop to taste a good meal. Depending on the area where you are, you can find the right place for your needs: there are restaurants with vegetarian meals, restaurants with gluten-free options and restaurants that accepts dogs
All the restaurants can be accessed even by people in wheelchairs, except those situated in Giglio Castello due to the low practicability of the location itself, that keeps the aspect of an ancient Medieval village.
You just have to choose the best place for you and book a table!
Restaurants at Giglio Porto
Most of the restaurants are in Giglio Porto, a locality that welcomes all the tourists, since it has the only port of Giglio island (read the updated schedules of ferries). There is not a better greeting of a good restaurant that overlooks directly the picturesque port, allowing all the newcomers to taste some excellent food, breathing salty air
- Restaurant La Vecchia Pergola
One of the best restaurants for a wonderful dinner on the porch that overlooks the port. It offers some exquisite dishes even for vegetarian people and various gluten-free options for celiac customers
- Restaurant Pizzeria L’Angolo di Napoli – da Mimì
If you’re very hungry, this is the perfect restaurant, that offers quality and abundant portions, in particular the tasty first courses of fish; it also offers dishes for vegetarians
- Restaurant Sopravvento – Wine & Food
In addition to the good food and the incredible cocktails, this is a nice location with an inner garden with a romantic atmosphere that will make your stay really lovely..
- Restaurant Pizzeria Bar Le Cannelle
This restaurant overlooks the Cannelle beach and it is perfect for every hour of the day: you can have breakfast, enjoy a light lunch, have a brunch, dine with a pizza cooked in the wood oven or a fish dish, with a splendid view of the sea. They also organize feasts and events with a musical entertainment.
Other restaurants that you can find in Giglio Porto are:
- Restaurant Doria
- Restaurant La Margherita
- Restaurant Pizzeria L’Archetto
- Trattoria Da Ruggero
- Restaurant Da Meino
- Restaurant Pizzeria PortaVia
If you are in Umberto I street, here are some bars where you can do a pleasant stop:
- Bar Pierina, ideal for a happy hour after a walking at the port, excellent cocktails served with some appetizers
- Bar Bakery Da Fausto, a dream for those who love cakes and sweets; there’s nothing better that a good ice cream in a hot summer day
- Bar Caffè Ferraro, perfect for a coffee on the road and for an abundant and tasty breakfast
Restaurants at Giglio Campese
The restaurants in Giglio Campese are mainly located along the beach, they offer delicious dishes and a lovely view; these restaurants are perfect for a relaxing lunch sea view and for a romantic dinner, illuminated by a spectacular sunset. The whole Campese area is really lovely, you can see it by taking a look at our selection of apartments for sale
- Restaurant Pizzeria Da Tony
Delicious food enjoyed near the sea: this restaurant offers dishes for vegetarian people and also gluten-free variations. Furthermore, this restaurant accepts dogs
- Restaurant Zio Meino
Tasty dishes, even for vegetarian people, a real cosy place, where we can spend the after-dinner with a drink among friends
Other Restaurants in Giglio Campese:
- Restaurant Trattoria del Golfo – da Amerigo
- Pizzeria Capitan Beppino
- Restaurant Il Forone
- Restaurant Hotel Campese
- Restaurant Pizzeria Bar La Miniera
- Restaurant bar Lo Scoglio on the Beach
Restaurants in Giglio Castello
The restaurants in Giglio Castello offer a different atmosphere. The locality is splendid for its historical and natural attractions; the alleys, the mighty walls and the high towers will make you go back to the past. Thanks to the altitude, the view of this place is amazing.
- Ristorante Pizzeria Il Trione di Meino
Tasty fish dishes in a characteristic location, both inside and outside. It also offers variations for vegetarian people and gluten-free dishes for celiac customers.
Other restaurants in Giglio Castello:
- Restaurant Il Grembo
- Restaurant Da Santi
- Restaurant Da Maria
- Restaurant Pizzeria Giglio
- Restaurant L’Isolana
- Restaurant Bar La Porta
Typical dishes of Giglio Island
The identity of a territory can be measured even with its culinary traditions, that are passed down through the generations, that’s why we recommend you to try some of the recipes of the culinary tradition of Giglio island, during your holiday.
Here below you will find a selection of typical dishes of Giglio island, exclusively prepared with products coming from the sea and from the land, still cooked today according to the traditional recipes of the past.
Fish in Scaveccio
Speciality of Giglio, that consists in a smattering and frying of the so called poor fishes, seasoned with a particular sauce, prepared with hot vinegar, rosemary, garlic and pepper
Tonnina (tuna)
Fine tuna preserved in oil, generally served with a tomato salad “at the Giglio style” (where celery and spring onions are added to the tomatoes). Alternatively, tonnina (tuna) can be cooked in a pan with tomato, pepper and potatoes cut in cubes
Cacciucco
Tasty fish soup in tomato sauce, composed by different qualities of fish, shellfishes and crustaceans, served with some toasted bread
Olives in pesto sauce
Similar to the marinated olives, the olives in pesto sauce are prepared with olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, fennel seeds, pepper and strips of orange peel. They can be kept in fridge for a few days in a tightly closed pot
Bonito at Giglio island style
Bonito cut in slices, boiled in water with an orange, a lemon and some celery, marinated in vinegar and then seasoned with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and laurel
Bean soup
Egg pasta with cannellini beans and a mixture of onion, wild fennel, celery and savoy cabbage thinly sliced.
Hasenpfeffer
A very common italian dish that consists in soft rabbit meat cooked a long time with tomato sauce, pepper and cooked in white wine
Stuffed squid
Squid cooked in a pan on low heat filled with eggs, milk, garlic, olive oil, bread crumb, parsley and, optional, mortadella
Pasta with fish
Pasta seasoned with seafood ragout, in particular with picarel sauce or lupacante sauce (a variety of lobster) and spaghetti with “Patelle” (a type of shellfish)
Typical products of Giglio island
If you’re looking for some souvenir, a gastronomic characteristic product is the best choice. Here are the typical products of Giglio island that you can enjoy even when you will be back home after this wonderful holiday
Panficato of Giglio
The Panficato is a traditional and typical dessert that has the form of a loaf, realised with dried fruit and other ingredients entirely produced on the island
The similarity with the famous Panforte from Siena is due to the fact that in the middle of 16th century, the Medici repopulated Giglio Castello with Sienese people, after the looting of the pirate Cair Haddin, the so called “Redbeard”, who deported hundreds of Giglio people as slaves. The settlers brought their culinary tradition, modifying it with the products that the island offered, so they gave birth to the next characteristic dessert of Giglio
The original recipe of Panificato included fig dried in the sun (native fig of Giglio with dark peel and classic smaller fig), raisin, walnuts, bread dough and vinella (obtained by water and ansonica, as wine was a too precious good). For the richest families, there was also the addition of chocolate and honey
Nowadays, instead, Panificato can also include pine nuts, almonds, nuts, jams to amalgamate, cinnamon, orange peel o candied orange, dark chocolate, pieces of apple and pears dipped in liquor, sourdough
The result is a dark, soft and tasty dessert cooked in the oven, that every tourist of Giglio island should absolutely try.
Vino Ansonaco of Giglio island
One other typical product of Giglio island is Ansonaco, a white wine, a still and dry wine mainly produced with native Ansonica grape, added to a minimum part of other white grapes such as ‘biancone’, ‘procanico’ and ‘malvasia’
The vineyards are situated in small terraces, overhanging the sea, where you can notice the particular “palmenti”, that is to say ancient small structures where the pressing of grape to produce the wort, took place for centuries, so that farmers wouldn’t bring the grape to the village (in the past, it was necessary to use the numerous paths of Giglio, to move from a village to another)
This amber local wine, that cheers the nose by unleashing all the insular aromas, is suitable to accompany fish, venison and white meat
If we have the possibility to be at Giglio in the last weekend of september, an unmissable event is the Feast of Grape and open cellars (festa dell’uva e cantine aperte), organized in the suggestive village of Giglio Castello, of which Ansonaco is the main character
Distillates, honey, jams, of Giglio Island
From the distillation of fresh grape marcs of Ansonica grape, we also obtain the Grappa of Ansonica grape of Giglio island. There are several versions of this Grappa: White Grappa, Honey Grappa, blueberry Grappa, Ruta Grappa, Rosemary Grappa and Grappa flavored with the typical blossoms of Mediterranean vegetation.
There are furthermore biological products such as honey, various jams, in particular the “Sarace” jam (name that corresponds to the ripe cherry) and the “Bacocolo” jam (name that corresponds to the arbutus) and also aromatic herbs, those that spontaneously arise from the soil of the island such as rosemary and wild fennel, and those cultivated, such as sage
Lastly, among the local products we have to add a special mention to Amaro Aegilium, a liquor made of medicinal herbs and natural aromas.
Do you want to calmly discover all the delicacies that can be tasted at Giglio? Book a holiday period! Trust our agency by renting one of the numerous apartments close to the coast.
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