La Pergola - VENTIMIGLIA

We have been having lunch at La Pergola on Friday market days for over thirty years. It is a lovely place to sit and have lunch after spending the morning shopping the many booths in the markets. It has been owned and run by the same family for years. They have a three course tourist menu that gives you an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. There are sufficient choices for each course all excellent. The main course comes with a green salad and french fries. We try to get there early since service can be a little slow if the place is crowded. The clientele is comprised of both locals and tourists. We had Marie as our waitress time time and she took excellent care of us.

We found La Pergola thirty years ago when during the Friday market, my wife asked a chubby Italian policeman where we could find a nice restaurant to sit and have a good lunch. He sent us to La Pergola. Besides its a la carte menu, La Pergola has a fixed price Tourist menu which has three courses for 16 euros. You get a choice of four first course, four second courses and dessert. With the main course, you get salad and french fries. You get to sit at a table with a cloth tablecloth, The food is good. Service can be a little slow if the place is full. Crowd is a mixture of locals and tourists.

We had a quick lunch while visiting Ventimiglia. This looks like it could be a little starchy but once you're inside you quickly realise it's very simply run. The food was generous and authentic and the service good. The extra stuffed zucchini flowers were so welcome as was the complimentary ice cold limoncello to finish. Not fine dining but great value for home style cooking stepped up a notch.

A tradition of 57 years shows this restaurant to stand out among others especially on a busy market day with tasty food and attentive service. The interior seems to have remained almost the same from the seventies which makes it real vintage. Seating is also available outdoors covered from the sun.

Forget the décor, you're here for good value traditional food. A few tourists on the day we ate but mostly locals and recommended by an old boy in the nearby market. We picked the 20 euro Menu Touristique 3 course with multiple choices for each. We started with home made ravioli filled with meat and veg really very good and served with a slightly piquant tomato sauce. Next we both hade the Veal escalope Milanese.....simply pan fried veal escalope in light breadcrumbs served with lemon and a side of home fries simple and tender. Finished with a cheese plate and selection of 3 cheeses for one and our other was the tiramisu which was light and very nice the accompanying cream however was synthetic and not so good! A beer and glass of wine to start, half a bottle of very good red wine, and a coffee all came to 54 euros total we thought it good value. Paying the bill we were given a shot of limoncello which was chilled and delicious. We like the place and the service was pleasant, polite and helpful.