That it was the last Sunday of the summer holiday probably didn’t help. And Xinjiekou at its busiest certainly pushed home the point evidencing Nanjing’s latest dining sensation.
Hence it was sitting outside in the sweat or not at all for The Nanjinger, as it felt duty bound to report on that grabbing social media’s real-estate space of late in the Southern Capital.
Opened up at the end of May on Shigu Lu in downtown Nanjing, Alimentari Grande tries very hard to be authentic Italy. To the extent that there can surely be nowhere else remotely similar anywhere south of the Alps. But let’s let that be.
With a solidified presence elsewhere in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Shenzhen, Nanjing too can now be proud to be serving up the kind of quality that on which Alimentari Grande prides itself. Mostly.
From its extensive menu, we plumped for a large Alimentari lager (¥55), pesto & chicken (¥80) and a Diavola pizza (¥115). All in, ¥260 for a lunch for one person is a bit steep, but the question therefore remains, was it worth it? The answer, it turns out, shall be critical to their reputation.
The first taste of the pizza would have theoretically been enough for this publication to award Alimentari Grande with one of its coveted “Best in Class” awards. But sorry guys; we don’t dish them out to chains and the pizza’s price point was kind of a deal breaker. To be clear, though; it tasted as good the next day, and there be no finer litmus test as to pizza.
So yes, it’s worth it. Quibbles, however, as to Alimentari Grande, include the promoting of their deli of Italian products that is only available to customers in Shanghai (“delivering in 45 min to you”) and the fact their bucatini pasta is not hand made. It surely should be, for that would be a vast improvement on their imported ready-to-cook version. Always make your own bread and pasta; surely everyone knows that rule? Pesto, on the other hand, is hand made, leading, perhaps as a result, to a slightly-too enthusiastic application thereof.
Yet, additional street cred comes in the way of the home-made ice cream and cakes on offer, plus the fact that the Alimentari lager is indeed brewed in our very own Nanjing (and it’s fabulous). The foldout paper menu (no annoying WeChat codes) is also worthy of a thumbs up. Three in fact and only 1.5 down.
Alimentari Grande 意大利餐吧&披萨 is located at 49-4 Shigu Lu, Qinhuai 秦淮区石鼓路49号1-4. Tel 85893387.
