If you feel like you’ve had one too many many piri-piri chickens or prego rolls, Bel Piatto, Maputo’s best Italian restaurant, should be at the top of your restaurant list.
This upmarket spot has an impressively extensive menu covering delicious soups, starters such as springbok carpaccio and bruschetta, substantial salads with interesting ingredients (a rarity in Maputo) such as gorgonzola, bacon and smoked salmon, as well as a great choice of meat dishes ranging from osso buco, mozzarella-stuffed chicken breast with sundried tomatoes and Parmesan to garlic-roasted lamb chops. The real highlights at Bel Piatto, however, are homemade pastas – gnocchi, ravioli and tortelli – and rich, creamy risottos.
The pastas, which are served in half or full portions (the half option is perfect if you’re having a meat dish as your secondi piatti), have delicious sauces – think prawns, crab or a Portuguese-inspired “pecador do Diabo” – tomato, garlic, onion, bacon, cream and spicy piri-piri. My spinach and ricotta panzerotti with a Parmesan and cashew nut sauce was just as good as one I could have had in Italy. Risottos range from the simple – mushroom and cream – to the more elaborate, such as one with artichokes, grilled prawns, pesto and cream.
Bel Piatto has one of the city’s biggest wine lists, made up mainly of South African wines from well-known estates such as Nederburg and Haute Cabriere, with a few choices from Italy and Portugal.
While many of Maputo’s restaurants are filled almost exclusively with business people, Bel Piatto has a warmer, more family-friendly atmosphere, with a cosy inside section and seating on the terrace with its large windows overlooking the street.
If there’s one shortcoming it’s that Bel Piatto allows indoor smoking – other than that, with swift service, a friendly manager and authentic Italian cuisine, it ticks all the boxes for a great restaurant.
Expert Review
If you feel like you’ve had one too many many piri-piri chickens or prego rolls, Bel Piatto, Maputo’s best Italian...
If you feel like you’ve had one too many many piri-piri chickens or prego rolls, Bel Piatto, Maputo’s best Italian restaurant, should be at the top of your restaurant list.
This upmarket spot has an impressively extensive menu covering delicious soups, starters such as springbok carpaccio and bruschetta, substantial salads with interesting ingredients (a rarity in Maputo) such as gorgonzola, bacon and smoked salmon, as well as a great choice of meat dishes ranging from osso buco, mozzarella-stuffed chicken breast with sundried tomatoes and Parmesan to garlic-roasted lamb chops. The real highlights at Bel Piatto, however, are homemade pastas – gnocchi, ravioli and tortelli – and rich, creamy risottos.
The pastas, which are served in half or full portions (the half option is perfect if you’re having a meat dish as your secondi piatti), have delicious sauces – think prawns, crab or a Portuguese-inspired “pecador do Diabo” – tomato, garlic, onion, bacon, cream and spicy piri-piri. My spinach and ricotta panzerotti with a Parmesan and cashew nut sauce was just as good as one I could have had in Italy. Risottos range from the simple – mushroom and cream – to the more elaborate, such as one with artichokes, grilled prawns, pesto and cream.
Bel Piatto has one of the city’s biggest wine lists, made up mainly of South African wines from well-known estates such as Nederburg and Haute Cabriere, with a few choices from Italy and Portugal.
While many of Maputo’s restaurants are filled almost exclusively with business people, Bel Piatto has a warmer, more family-friendly atmosphere, with a cosy inside section and seating on the terrace with its large windows overlooking the street.
If there’s one shortcoming it’s that Bel Piatto allows indoor smoking – other than that, with swift service, a friendly manager and authentic Italian cuisine, it ticks all the boxes for a great restaurant.