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Emily Jablon: Daraius and I went to Europe in September to celebrate our 2nd anniversary for ~2 weeks. It was my first time in Italy so I was very excited! In Italy, we visited Varenna on Lake Como, Milan, Venice, and Rome.Since we were in Europe, we visited a friend in Strasbourg, France and also spent a night in Zurich. We started our trip with a one day layover in Chicago to see friends!
Our Anniversary To Italy – Trip Report Index:
- Part 1 – Planning & Introduction
- Part 2 – Park Hyatt, Chicago
- Part 3 – One Day in Chicago
- Part 4 – Virgin Atlantic Upper Class
- Part 5 – Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge, London
- Part 6 – Under the Channel to Strasbourg
- Part 7 – Hotel Cathedrale, Strasbourg
- Part 8 – What did we do in Strasbourg
- Part 9 – Eating in Strasbourg
- Part 10 – Park Hyatt, Zurich
- Part 11 – 10 Hours in Zurich
- Part 12 – Hotel Eremo Gaudio in Varenna, Italy
- Part 13 – What to do in Varenna, Italy
- Part 14 – Eating in Varenna, Italy
- Part 15 – Park Hyatt, Milan
- Part 16 – What Did We Do in Milan
- Part 17 – Eating in Milan
- Part 18 – Hilton Molino Stucky, Venice
- Part 19 – Around the Hilton Molino Stucky & Free Shuttle Boat Details
- Part 20 – What we did in Venice
- Part 21 – Eating in Venice
- Part 22 – Waldorf-Astoria, Rome Cavalieri
- Part 23 – Eating in Rome, Part 1
- Part 24 – Emily’s Best Meal Was in Italy!
- Part 25 – Rome Cavalieri Imperial Floor
- Part 26 – Activities in Rome
- Part 27 – Activities in Rome – Where to Go, What to See, How to Save Time
- Part 28 – Virgin Atlantic Flight from Europe to US
- Part 29 – Conclusion & Blog Giveaway
In this post, we will review a few meal options in Milan, including:
- Park Hyatt Milan Breakfast at La Cupola
- Antica Osteria Milanese
- Peck Deli
- Il Liberty
- Cheap eats around the Park Hyatt, Milan & Duomo
We found many of the cheap eats from the Rick Steves’ Italy guidebook and researched Chowhound for other restaurants.
Eating in Milan
1. Park Hyatt Milan Breakfast a La Cupola
Daraius is a Hyatt Diamond elite member, so we had free breakfast at the Park Hyatt Milan as part of his Diamond elite perks.
See the section at the bottom on where to go around the Park Hyatt for cheaper meal options.
The breakfast area had a dome ceiling through which you could see the courtyard.
There were couches and chairs to sit on.
The service was excellent and we were offered drinks almost as soon as we sat down. We helped ourselves from the buffet…
There was a variety of food…
including oatmeal, yogurt, and fresh fruit…
nuts and dried fruit…
cakes and pastries…
fresh vegetables…
meats and cheese…
and a selection of bread.
The next morning, we ordered room service for breakfast.
We ordered eggs, pancakes, ham, sausage, fresh mango, coffee, and juice. The portions were very large and it was nice to eat with one another in the privacy of our hotel room.
We were leaving early in the morning, so we didn’t want to lose time by eating in the restaurant downstairs. We weren’t charged for the room service breakfast because Daraius is a Hyatt Diamond elite member.
2. Antica Osteria Milanese
We went to a Rick Steves’ Italy recommendation, Antica Osteria Milanese, for dinner. The restaurant is ~15 minutes walk from the Park Hyatt, Milan.
The restaurant was almost dead – There were people at 2 or 3 other tables besides us and it looked like they were closing for the night.
We asked the owner to suggest a wine and he recommended a Gewurztraminer.
It was so good that we almost drank the entire bottle!
It was ~9 euro (~$12) for a first course and 12 euro (~$16) for a 2nd course. But you don’t have to eat both courses!
We ordered risotto with saffron, Milanese pork loin, and fried potatoes.
The food was good, but the highlight was the buttery potatoes and the filet. That said, we enjoyed chatting with the owner and the “neighborhood” feel of the restaurant.
One afternoon, we went to the Peck deli for lunch. This was expensive, but the food was so beautifully laid out in Peck’s deli that we almost didn’t want to eat it!
You can also eat in the restaurant upstairs, but it is even more expensive.
It was a wonderful deli with high quality pasta…
meats and lobster…
lots of different types of cheeses…
pastries, chocolates, and more!
It is expensive, but would have made for a great picnic lunch. We also tried the risotto which was divine!
4. Dinner at Il Liberty
We went to dinner at a Chowhound.com pick of Daraius’. Il Liberty also got good reviews from TripAdvisor. It is about 1.5 mile away or ~15 euro in a cab.
There was not much else around the restaurant (hotels, tourists, etc.)
We were the first to arrive in the restaurant, even though we had a 7:30 pm reservation!
We were served breadsticks, mortadella (tasted like thinly sliced bologna), and crudites with olive oil for a complimentary starter.
The restaurant offered a regular menu and a tasting menu. The tasting menu seemed like a lot of food so we ordered off the regular menu.
Most mains were about 18 euro (~$24) to 25 euro (~$33).
We ordered aubergines for our starter, which were excellent.
It gave us high expectations for what the rest of the meal would be like.
Daraius then received a seafood amuse bouche.
Daraius was in the mood for an American champagne, so he ordered a Coke!
It took time in between courses to receive our food…20 minutes at a time…which we spent lingering over the food and chatting. It was completely different from a rushed meal in the US.
Our second dish consisted of spaghetti with a tomato (the tomato was excellent, and I wished it would have come with 20 or so tomatoes)! The spaghetti was a little bland, but I loved it because of its creamy consistency.
Daraius had a risotto with veal sweetbread. The risotto was dark colored and a bit sweet. It was too rich for me and I did not care too much for it.
For our main course, we split veal Milanese with green peppers and mashed potato.
The veal was okay – it was about an inch thick and too difficult to cut with our knives. It was almost too much meat. The mashed potatoes were boiled potatoes and not much more flavor than that.
For dessert, we had the cannoli with pistachio ice cream.
We were also served a small glass of complimentary cherry flavored gelato that was excellent.
Gradually, more couples came in and there were 5 or 6 tables eating with us. We noticed that every table was sharing a bottle of wine, and that all of them were speaking Italian.
5. Cheap Eats Around the Park Hyatt, Milan
There are lots of restaurants and cafes outside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II mall on Duomo Square (Piazza del Duomo), which is a 5 minute walk from the Park Hyatt in Milan.
There was a quick service restaurant called Autogrill on the 1st floor.
Another Italian fast food restaurant was Ciao Ristorante (on the European 2nd floor or American 3rd floor) where you could get a 2 course meal for ~13 euro.
Prices were inexpensive and the portions were large.
There were a lot of seats, but not a lot of empty ones.
They even had dessert.
And there was another fast food restaurant on the 1st floor.
We stopped at Luini Panzerotti, a bakery that was recommended by Chowhound. It is a 3 minute walk from the Park Hyatt, Milan!
The menu is in Italian and English and they offer “salt” panzerotti and “sweet” panzerotti. These are quite cheap and the prices start at 2 euros (~$3).
Everything looked good, especially the sweet panzerotti.
I finally decided on a sweet panzerotti.
There are many shops which sell gelato.
There is also a McDonald’s right across the Duomo di Milano!
It has a great view of the Duomo.
And there are many stalls which sell cheap donner kebabs and pizza around the hotel.
La Riscente Department Store Opposite the Duomo
The La Riscente department store is very across from the Duomo. There is a food court on the top floor with restaurants and a grocery shop.
There was even a sushi restaurant. But I don’t eat sushi because of my fish allergy.
Food isn’t particularly cheap. It was ~10 euro for sandwich, but you can get a good view of the Duomo.
We decided to split a panini for a quick snack lunch.
Bottom Line
Food is taken seriously in Italy, and we had a few splurge meals. But there are also many cheap restaurants around the Park Hyatt, Milan.