08/03/2026: I discovered Osteria di Balocco by chance while searching for restaurants in the Vercelli area. Once again, I had to book two weeks in advance to secure a table at this restaurant, which overlooks the castle square in Balocco, a town we were discovering for the first time (despite the name coming to mind every time we drove along the Milan-Turin highway) and which offered us some unexpected views. The restaurant is small and welcoming, and inside, we find ourselves admiring a flaming red racing motorbike. As soon as we recover from this unexpected encounter, we enter two small rooms surrounded by some of the most interesting local and international bottles. The owner, a true joker, welcomes us warmly, and the staff is attentive. From the menu, we choose puff pastry strudel with cotechino, cabbage, and toma cheese for me, and game pâté with fruit compote and raisin bread for Watson as appetizers. Braised beef agnolotti with roast beef reduction for Watson and panissa for me were our first course. Desserts included compote strudel and tiramisu. At this point, you might be wondering why the second courses aren't listed. Well, that's because the owner, Mr. Carlo, is, as mentioned, a joker, but also a great host. In fact, when he was taking our orders, he told us to wait to order the second courses because we might not feel like it when we finished. To support his point, he thought it best to add to our delicious appetizers a charcuterie board with salami della duja, lard, prosciutto, coppa... Not content with that, when I decided to choose tiramisu over a dessert with amaretti biscuits, cream, etc., he decided to add this delicacy to our desserts as well. The amaretti biscuits, which I thought were too hard, turned out to be incredibly soft and blended seamlessly with the cream: fantastic. If the desserts are accompanied by a Passito di Pantelleria offered on the house, you can easily understand why this restaurant's diners are regulars. We follow each bite of this wonderful dinner with a sip of Paride Iaretti's 2018 Gattinara Riserva and mineral water. We finish with two coffees, which here are served with dry pastries. I don't know if you'll want to try this wonderful place, but I know for sure I'll be back. For two, we spent €140.
20/02/2026: A very nice place, well-decorated, with well-spaced tables. The dishes are well-prepared and the ingredients are top-quality, but for a midweek lunch break, you'd expect even more.
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