If you want to try something different than the usual traditional Bolognese dishes, come and discover the mixed fry of Osteria Bartolini.
Here's where to eat fried fish in a garden, in central Bologna: it is a recent and unexpectedly positive discovery of mine.
Bologna in summer it gets hot, as many know, so everyone goes in search of outdoor nooks, possibly in the open, fresh and where you eat well. It is also classically famous not for fish restaurants, but for its historic local dishes, such as tortellini, tagliatelle and lasagna.
So you can imagine my amazement when I discovered that in Bologna in the summer you can eat in the center, and I emphasize in the center, an excellent fried fish low cost but not only, in a very pleasant terrace / garden.
Osteria Bartolini
This discovery is called Osteria Bartolini and is located in the heart of Bologna, in Piazza Malpighi 16, at the foot of a gigantic centuries-old tree.
This Osteria was born from two previous similar taverns successfully opened in Cesenatico and Milano Marittima.
The Osteria in Bologna, in addition to excellent cuisine, also boasts a very pleasant and suggestive location, as well as furnished with great taste and an eye for contemporary design. Both internally and externally the spaces are large and welcoming, a little "cool" enough, but if you have to choose, ask for a table in the garden under the millennial plane tree.
The fish dishes are not very many but they are good and some even special but their strong point is by far the Great fried mixed fish, so take it without thinking twice.
It is also ideal to divide in two, with an excellent glass of white wine, if you do not want to have a real dinner but a very, very tasty and satiating aperitif.
The price is also very fair, which never hurts.
The clams are also very good and always take a look at the dishes of the day, fresh and often really curious. I also recommend the desserts, very tasty.
A curiosity. Osteria Bartolini also does a really interesting takeaway service, if you want to consume its dishes at home.
Tips for parking
A bit special tip for the parking issue to avoid you getting a fine (which I got). If you go there in the evening and on a scooter, know that the central parking in Piazza Malpighi changes use from a certain time onwards, at 20.00 pm if I'm not mistaken, and becomes a car park for residents only, so read the surrounding signs carefully.
The only "flaw" of this restaurant is the fact that it does not take reservations, so you have to go there and probably queue up a bit, perhaps while having a pleasant aperitif standing up, before sitting down, especially if you want to go there on weekends. So in general I do not recommend going there on Saturday if you are a group of 15 people, in all other cases, go there.
You will be pleasantly surprised.
