He called up his friend who is a bank director in Turino to ask for recommendations. We wanted a good Piemontese meal and he pointed us to Tre Galline.
We parked in one of the many underground city garages near the Castello and arrived after a 10 minute walk.
We were seated and after studying and ordering from the menu, I looked around the traditionally styled dining room. The tables were almost full and most were locals. Always a good sign. The table nearby had ordered the antipasti misti, and here they roll out a cart with a selection of cured meats and slice it by hand for you on the spot.
For the appetizer, Stefano had the fonduta con cardo or cardi in fontina cheese. The cardo is a vegetable that translates to 'thistle' in English, but that doesn't sound right, does it? Anyway, it's a fibrous vegetable that looks similar to celery. We had seen it before in the supermarket but never knew how to cook it. It tasted ok, but I don't think I'd put it on my list of favorite vegetables.
Next he had a filleto di maialino con carciofi e castelmagno or piglet fillet with artichoke and local castelmagno cheese sauce. The meat wasn't the most tender but the overall dish was very tasty.
As for me, I had spied the piatto del giorno or plate of the day on the menu. It is quite common at the cafeteria type restaurants for workday lunches, but we've never seen offered at restaurants like this. And surprisingly it is offered also at lunch on Saturday.
I picked it knowing it would be the perfect portion size for me, and it turned out to be excellent. The tagliatelle con sugo di cortile or 'backyard' sauce, which is actually meat with bits of liver. I used to hate it when mum forced us kids to eat liver as kids, but this wasn't the same thing. It was really good. And then there was the anatra in acceto balsamico or duck cooked in balsamic vinegar. That was really delicious and went well with the roasted potatoes. The portion was huge too and I was throughly satisfied.
We decided to skip dessert but along with our coffees came a chocolate treat and candied orange peel. I just love when they serve coffee with a little something sweet.
Overall, we enjoyed our experience here. My piatto del giorno was only 10 euro, and cost a third of Stefano's two dishes - great value for money. We also shared a half bottle of Barbera wine that was really good.
This restaurant has been around for a long time and it's a good place to go if you want to sample the traditional Piemontese cuisine of Turin.
Ristorante Tre Galline
Via Belleza, 37
10122 Torino
Tel: 011 436 6553
Closed for lunch on Sundays/Mondays
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