Restaurant Il Nuovo Galeon, Castello
Posted by By Editor at 14 February, at 16 : 23 PM Print
The Nuovo Galeon Restaurant is a fairly recent addition to the group of ‘Restauranti della Buona Accoglienza Venezia‘ and you can read more about this initiative in our ‘Best Restaurants in Venice Guide”. Suffice to say here, that this group of restaurants prides itself on preparing natural food, with the emphasis firmly on quality and giving a good deal to the customer.
The Nuovo Galeon’s location, near Castello, means it caters more for Venetians than tourists, but we are talking about a 15-20 min walk from St.Marks Square or a couple of stops on the Vaporetto. If walking, there are some bars by Arsenale, where you might stop for a refreshing aperitif en route.
The restaurant is warm and inviting, with a further room in the back, where a large table is available for groups. The theme is maritime and a bragozzo hull made by Crea, the famous Venetian rowing champion, forms part of the furnishings. There were 8 in our group, and apart from six fish fiends, we had a confirmed carnivore and a virtuous vegan amongst us. In short, a good group to road test a menu. The fish fiends opted for the ‘menu osteria’, essentially a seafood based tasting menu.
Proceedings began with some raw seafood, that included salmon, sea bass and lagoon shrimps. Delicious, the langostine in particular exquisitely marinated.
Raw seafood starter
Steamed seafood
Raw fish was followed by steamed fish, including baby octopus, anchovies, shrimps, mantis shrimp, langoustine, and scallops.
The next dish was three delicate portions of polenta, with scallops, cuttlefish cooked in ink, and cod creamed with olive oil. Wonderful! We are already beginning to run out of of adjectives, and there are still the main courses to come!
Scallops, cuttlefish and creamed cod!
Let’s turn our attention briefly to the non fish eaters. Our meat eater had a starter of mixed prosciutto and other meats, followed by a pasta dish and a filet steak. All was declared to be top notch. Our vegan meanwhile, enjoyed a lovely plate of pasta.
Tasty vegan option
Then the fish ‘main’ courses began to arrive thick and fast. Langoustine with rosemary-an original dish in our experience and a combination that works amazingly well, muscles with fresh oregano, olive oil and garlic, wild clams with parsley, and razor shell clams. There was nearly more than we could eat, and every dish was exceptionally tasty and fresh.
Wild Clams
Langoustine with rosemary
Muscles with fresh oregano
It’s probably stretching credibility to tell you the meal was still not over. Next up was spaghettini with anchovies, and then, purely in the name of research, some fritellini-deep fried dough with raisins in it, think small rasiny doughnuts!
The meal was washed down with some superb prosecco and house red wine. Overall a wonderful gastronomic expereince and the superlatives ran out before the food.
Prices are reasonable, in our view mid range, and the Website’s guide price of around Euro 45 excluding drinks is not short of the mark, depending on your appetite.
Nuovo Galeon
Via Garibaldi 1309
Castello
Venezia 30122
tel 041 5204656
fax 041 5204656
Closed Tuesday and, from November to April, also Monday.
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