We headed to Trattoria Ruzzo yesterday for lunch and while it was a very easy drive, it took us about an hour to get there. I want to say that a good 20-30 minutes of that was spent in really heavy traffic getting from Iwakuni to the expressway entrance in Otake. I'll give directions at the end though. Right now I just want to talk about the restaurant!!
It's a cute little restaurant as you can see from this picture of the outside -
I love the location! It's a little bit in the mountains and there is a little river that runs behind it. There is also a camping park behind it. We decided to sit on the terrace and I'm glad we did. There was a slight breeze and we were entertained by the happy squeals of the children playing in the river.
They do have an English menu, but I only took a picture of the Japanese menu. I don't remember why I didn't take a picture of the English menu.... may have something to do with the fact that I am a flake and just plain forgot. Here is a picture of the Japanese menu -
After looking over the menu for a few minutes, I realized I was going to have a very hard time narrowing it down to one dish. I wanted to try everything. Then I told myself that I would just have to come back, and that helped me decide on the Fresh Mushroom pasta. Tani chose the Eggplant Mozzarella pasta, and we decided to order a Margherita pizza to share. We also opted for the fresh pasta for 50yen more each. When he asked if we wanted regular pasta or fresh pasta, my jaw almost dropped to the floor. My brain was going a little crazy. FRESH pasta?? Yes, please! I was a little bit worried that we ordered too much food.... because we also added desserts to our lunch. Granted, we were both starving and we got a little bit of a late start in heading to the restaurant so it was past our usual lunch time.
Within minutes of placing our order, the wonderful smell of garlic being sauteed found its way onto the terrace. My nose was in heaven. Now I really couldn't wait! I was also still very excited about the fresh pasta.
The first item to come out was the pizza -
Wow! It tasted as good as it looks here. Maybe even a little bit better!
A little while later, they brought out the pastas. They looked so delicious!
This is the Fresh Mushroom pasta -
I was trying to get a good shot of the fresh pasta noodles -
Here is the Eggplant Mozzarella pasta -
The pasta was just as delicious as it looked and smelled!! The sauce was very light with a slight kick. He puts red peppers in the sauce, but you can request it without the red peppers. The fresh pasta noodles were perfect!
After all of that, we still had dessert coming!
I ordered the Wild Cherry Tart -
Tani ordered the Apple Tart -
I highly recommend Trattoria Ruzzo. Great location with really wonderful food. Prices are very reasonable. Our bill was about 3,800yen for two pastas, a pizza, and two desserts. Make sure you order the fresh pasta. Well worth the extra 50yen!
To get to Trattoria Ruzzo -
Get on Route 2 and head towards Hiroshima. Jump on the expressway in Otake and head north towards Hiroshima. Get off at the Hatsukaichi exit (500 yen). You want to stay to the left and when the left side splits, make sure you take the Route 2 option. Once you are back on Route 2, you are going to make the very first left which should put you on Route 30. You will stay on Route 30 for 20 kilometers or more (I can't remember the exact number, but you're on it for a while). Trattoria Ruzzo will be on the left. If you're going on a weekend, you might want to make reservations as they get pretty busy. The telephone number is (0829) 72-2272. There is a gentleman there who speaks English pretty well. You can also use Google maps to find your way there. That's how I got there yesterday.
I should also mention that they are closed on Thursdays.
If you go, let me know what your experience was like. I love hearing from other foodies!
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