Balilla Sturla In Genova

11/05/2025: Revisited 2025: Came back for dinner here after a great experience in 2024. Started off with two glasses of Prosecco, with a complimentary plate of salami and snacks. For starters we chose ham & cheese croquetas and the steak Tartare. And two glasses of Pigato White Wine. The croquetas were solid, but not too exciting. Excellent on the other hand was the Tartare. Nice, fresh and good sized chunks of wonderful beef. And on top ice-cream! A savoury, mustard icecream. Never had it like this before. But the cold freshness of it was the perfect match for the beef. Amazing dish. For the mains we chose the beef steak and the lamb. Two glasses of Red Sangiovese with that. The lamb was nicely cooked, tender and good flavoured. The beef was cooked to perfection, nice grilled flavour and perfectly tender. Both very good meals. For dessert we had a glass of Italian Amaro each. A good finish. One glass was even on the house. We paid just a bit over 150 Euros. A fair deal. Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, high quality food. And our Bulldog was welcome here as well. Surely we'll be back. 2024 Review: We have spotted this place already last year when we were in town for a few days. But we already booked every dinner, so we didn't have the chance to try this one out. This year we came back and did reserve a table a couple of weeks in advance. And that was the right thing to do. It was saturday and the place fully booked, several guests had to be turned away. Inside it is a very nice and cosy place. Darker decor with wine bottles all around, really fits the theme here since they got over 400 different wines on offer. We ordered grilled shrimp (with salad) and the Australian Angus beef carpaccio for starters. The shrimp was nicely cooked, very fresh and tasty. A lighter starter. The carpaccio was fantastic, a real heaven for meat-lovers. And we did stay with the meat-theme for our mains. Ordered the beef filet and also the Iberico Pork. Both excellent dishes. But the Iberico really stood out. We've had Iberico Pork a bunch of times already in Spain. Delicous meat, with a bit fat for flavour. Cooked medium - as it should be (don't be scared to order it that way - it's perfection). They really got some nice meat here in this restaurant. Perfection. Also some pasta and other dishes if you're not into meat much of course. Had some Limoncello and Amaro for "dessert". Staff was nice and friendly. Our Bulldog was welcome here as well. We showed up at 7.30pm. Most folks came around 8.00pm and had to wait a bit longer, since it was fully booked. So it's good if you show up a bit early. A really wonderful evening. All high quality items. The wine as well (we had some Ligurian wine). Prices fair for this quality. Surely we'll be back next spring.

11/05/2025: Volví para cenar aquí después de una gran experiencia en 2024. Empezó con dos copas de Prosecco, con un plato de cortesía de salami y mordiscos. Para empezar elegimos las croquetas de jamón/queso y el bistec Tartare. Y dos copas de vino blanco de pigato. Las croquetas eran sólidas, pero no demasiado emocionantes. Excelente por otro lado fue el Tartare. Bonito, fresco y bueno - trozos de tamaño de maravillosa carne de res. ¡Y encima helado! Un helado salado de mostaza. Nunca lo había tenido así antes. Pero la frescura fría de la misma era la combinación perfecta para la carne de res. Un plato increíble. Para la alimentación elegimos el filete de ternera y el cordero. Dos vasos de Red Sangiovese con eso. El cordero estaba muy bien cocinado, tierno y bien aromatizado. La carne de res estaba cocinada a la perfección, agradable sabor a la parrilla y perfectamente tierna. Ambas muy buenas comidas. Para el "postre" tuvimos una copa de Amaro italiano cada uno. Un buen final. Incluso había un vaso en la casa. Pagamos poco más de 150 euros. Un trato justo. Ambiente agradable, personal amable, comida de alta calidad. Y nuestro Bulldog era bienvenido aquí también. Seguramente volveremos.