Massimo: omnes salutant regem
This week your ninja dining team (you never know we’re coming so you better be ready) ended up in the pija section of town to check out Massimo, based on more than one recommendation. Both of us lived in Italy at some point, and have a generally negative opinion of Italian places in Spain, so when Italians vouched for Massimo, we decided to take a look. The menu checked out (no pizzas or calzones) so we piled into ferrocatas and headed to Sant Gervasi.
Despite the hefty bill at the end of the night, it was worth it. The restaurant itself is lovely, lots of space and elegantly furnished, lit primarily by candlelight with good privacy for each table. In the summertime there’s a nice outdoor section too. The service was excellent and friendly. But the food was what was really fantastic and brought back a lot of happy memories – of a lot of full tummies in Italy.
Starting with, surprise, wine (a strong Ribiera del Duero, sorry Italian wine fans, but that’s how we roll), as wine is good yes… then came the entrées – carpaccio de carne salata, a classic with parmigiano. Sounds simple but it has to be done just right and if you try it at home it usually turns out a mess. Massimo did it right. This with a serving (I say serving loosely since it was the size of a melon) of burrata with tomatitos, albahaca y rúcola. This creamy cheese is mega tasty good and 
For the main course (which wasn’t even necessary since the portions were huge) out came an aubergine lasagna with cheese and linguine with bogavante. Pasta just right. Aubergine not a pile of mush. Delicious all of it and far too much food. Couldn’t even think of dessert. Had to ask for a tupper and got weird looks but I wasn’t leaving any of it behind.
Massimo
Via Agusta 217, Metro (FGC) L6: La Bonanova.
Mon to Sat 13:00h to 1:00h
Sun 13:00h to 17:00h
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