Passione by the slice ltd

Sometimes you just get lucky when you choose a restaurant in a foreign country.  We hit the jackpot when we chose the Italian restaurant, Passione da Simone (also known as Passione by the Slice).  It was opened 8 months previously by Simone Volante, who had immigrated to Sligo from Monte Cassino (a town north of Naples). If you live in Sligo, we highly recommend that you come to this restaurant as soon as you can.  This restaurant was like being in Italy - the food was freshly prepared with the best Italian ingredients.  Simone was so animated and fun to talk to and with. The menu is all Italian and quite extensive, plus Simone will customize any dish just for you.  We started our meal with a bottle of Rosso Piceno Red Wine - a full bodied and really good wine.  For our appetizer, we had the Caprese - fresh Burrata cheese with freshly sliced tomatoes, Italian extra virgin olive oil, salt and basil; on homemade, focaccia bread.  I was so excited to see Arancini on the menu and had to have one.  This is a Carnaroli rice ball coated with bread crumbs and stuffed with porcini mushroom and mozzarella.  Wow - what a start - both were beyond delicious.My husband thoroughly enjoyed his Tagliatelle alla Bolognese.  Simone suggested that he make me a special dish of Tagliatelle with Pancetta, Funghi Porcini, Truffle and Stracciatella cheese sauce.  This pasta dish was over the top in flavour.  Thank you, Simone, I loved it!We finished the bottle of wine; so, my husband had a glass of Primitivo.  To end our fabulous meal, we split a Tiramisu - Italian cookies soaked in coffee and amaretto liqueur; with sweet mascarpone cream.We liked this restaurant so much; we went back two days later.  Simone was as welcoming as the first time - now we were family!We liked the wine we had the first time, so we ordered another bottle of the Rosso Piceno.  Our starter this time was the Bruschetta di Terra - toasted bread topped with speck and gorgonzola cheese.  We enjoyed Tagliatelle alla Cacciatora and Lasagne.  My husband likes his sweets; so, he finished with a Cuore di Ciccolato -a chocolate lava cake topped with whipped cream.  I wished we lived in Sligo; this would be our go-to place for Italian food.  Thank you Simone for another delicious and entertaining evening with you! More...

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