Marinella: Worth Skipping Work For

This is Marinella, the Italian restaurant on Mar Mikhael... a place that opens for lunch only. This corner trattoria, Sophie's little Italian haven, should be visited by every Italian food aficionado at least once in their lifetime. 

It's surely worth skipping work to have lunch at Marinella.

The little details:

• Salt and pepper mills decorate the tables.
• Old movie posters add color and character to the walls.
• Wooden tables and leather chairs face a long leather sofa.
• The main bar prepares drinks and coffee adding some light music tunes to the general ambiance.
• Glass facades make this restaurant a real trattoria del Quartier.
• Lunch starts with a wooden box of bread and a plate of nibbles. Sausages and cheese biscuits.

Starters:

• Eggplant Caponata; eggplant cubes, dried raisin, pines and grilled onions.
• A molten Burrata with cherry tomatoes cut in half on the side marinated in olive oil and sprinkled and salt.
• Asparagus, mushrooms, iceberg lettuce roquette leaves and green beans. Simple greens with a great impact. 

The real deal, the excellent food:

• What a dish! A plate arrives to the table with a strong zesty aroma that travels around the restaurant. Spaghetti in white sauce, cooked aldente, light cream, an enjoyable firm feel and the lemony strength that explodes all around your palate. This is what spaghetti is all about, this is how spaghetti should be... It is proudly made in Lebanon.
• Oh my God! Red sauce, sticky squares of bacon and vodka! Is this for real? This is a connoisseur kind of dish, the rich flavors will take you on a journey... Strong vodka flavor, rich tomato sauce, the texture felt in the bacon! The taste! Perfect!
• And now the comes the risotto. Saffron risotto, moist and al dente cooked with a subtle saffron flavor with mini shrimp to decorate the plate. Two thumbs up Sophie.

Dessert: To end a great lunch, I enjoyed a creme brûlée and slices of pineapple and I was ready to continue my day... 

You can't imagine how how great lunch, especially for someone like me, who is a big fan of spaghetti and risotto. I could eat risotto and spaghetti everyday and believe Marinella serves the best this country has to offer. Simple and unsophisticated, lunch at Marinella is recommended.