Trattoria la Casalinga — Restaurant Review

I went to have lunch alone at Trattoria La Casalinga, an AIFS meal voucher place on the left bank of the river. I went out of curiosity, as this particular place is often packed with locals.

I decided to wander off and have lunch on my own, and went to Trattoria La Casalinga. They’re actually quite familiar with gluten-free things, and have some nice options.

They serve pretty large portions (I could barely finish my first course of gluten-free tomato spaghetti), although I prefer the taste of Golden View’s food (that’s my favourite place to go, partly because I’m fond of the staff there).

An adorable piece of gluten-free bread. It looks like a flower.

This actually sparked the conversation with the Italian man sitting at the table next to me. It was, no doubt, the strangest conversation I’ve ever had with someone. He just got to the point with whatever he was talking about, that a lot of information was passed for the small amount of sentences actually exchanged.

First off, I’ll note he wasn’t trying to hit on me at all — actually, he barely looked at me the entire time; it just seemed like he felt like chatting with someone.

He said random things like “I eat too much. It’s because I don’t gain weight,” and then noticed me writing in my journal in Polish for practice (I often bring postcards or my journal when I’m eating alone). He asked what language I was writing in, and after I responded just bluntly said “why?”

It was all rather entertaining. He told me I should be a teacher because I look like one, told me he was 40 after asking me to guess his age, and said his girlfriend’s 29. I just said “well, I guess it doesn’t matter how old you are if you love someone.” It all sounds weird and creepy I’m sure, but really it wasn’t. He was only there for about half an hour — it was all pretty random, but this is why I recommend going out to eat alone once in a while — you end up interacting with Italians in interesting ways.

After my gluten-free tomato spaghetti and roasted potatoes, I had some panna cotta. Not particularly attractive looking, but it was pretty good.

Tips for Casalinga:

• It’s a good place to go if large quantities of food are a priority (like for teenage guys).
• Make a reservation before hand if you can, they’re often full. I got lucky.
• Go have lunch/dinner alone sometime. Bring postcards or a journal to write/draw on.