Belvedere

Stayed a couple of days at Monterosso al Mare for part our honeymoon and we ended up at Ristorante Belvedere our first night for a late dinner. We visited early March so it was the rainy season and most of the restaurants in the area were still closed for business. The restaurant was welcoming and had a steady stream of patrons. It appeared a lot of the locals eat here so that was very reassuring. The atmosphere was casual and friendly. We had these great little salted anchovies with toast and split a pasta with mussels. There was a very good pasta to seafood ratio in the dish. We left with a good impression and ate here again the following night. This time, we ordered a Cinque Terre wine, had the anchovies again and ordered the seafood soup which was kinda pricey. But what came to our table was definitely worth the price. I would describe it as a cauldron, yes it was that big, of every creature in the ocean. The broth reminds me of a really good ciopinno. There was mostly seafood in this dish consisting of mussels, giant shrimps, crab, chunks of fish, a whole octopus, etc. A wonderfully epic meal that became one of the highlights of our trip to Italy.