Italian Feast at Varenna at Live Aqua

If you have been to an all inclusive hotel in Mexico , you will agree that they always seem to feature four main reataurant types.  There is an Asian one that may also have teppanyaki tables.  Then there is French, a Mexican one and a standard steak house.  You also tend to see Italian restaurants. When I first started coming to Mexico the Italian restaurants would always be low on my list for dining.  I just always felt that the food would not be authentic and be closer to an Olive Garden.  Now before anyone who is a top fan of Olive Garden gets in a wrinkle, I am not saying their food is bad.  I have enjoyed a meal or two in the past.  I am just saying the food they serve is American-ized versions of Italian dishes.  If I am going to enjoy a meal, I'd like it to be close to authentic.  Or even with some new twists.  So back to the all inclusive Italian restaurants.  Until we stayed at Secrets Maroma a few years ago, I had never even gone to the featured Italian restaurant.  That turned out to be one of the best meals I ever had and it changed my whole view of what Italian food could be.  So since that meal, Italian restaurants at all inclusives have loved up the scale where I make it a priority to eat at them.  

So that brings us to the Italian restaurant at Live Aqua which is called Veranna.  They are open for lunch and dinner, although based on occupancy they will close one or two nights each week.  The lunch menu has pizzas, pastas and paninis and as of this blog post I haven't tried it but will be before we leave.  This blog is about the dinner menu which features several appetizers, salads and pastas and then some much heartier main dishes.  I started with a seafood soup.  

This soup had a very mild onion flavor along with a deeper flavor of seafood which I think had to come from a hearty shellfish stock.  The broth had some well cooked pieces of scallops, shrimp and calamari as well as potato and carrot.  I was so impressed how each piece of seafood had been cooked properly.  Shrimp, scallops and calamari all have different required cooking times.  If you cook them all for the same amount of time you would get dry shrimp, rubbery calamari and scallops like pencil erasers.   So the chef's took alot of care to respect the seafood.  

Next up was a trio of pasta dishes.  They all sounded so good, it was hard to choose only a couple.  

I won't save the best for last.  My favorite dish of the night was the Bolognese lasagna.  

This had thin layers of fresh pasta.  I counted at least five layers.  The sauce was meaty and slightly acidic.  Some pasta sauces can be overly sweet and I appreciated they kept some of the true taste of tomato.  It also wasn't overwhelmed by cheese.   There was enough ricotta to keep the layers together and a salty parmesan on top along with some fresh herbs including basil and oregano.  Truly one of the best lasganas I have ever had.  

Next up was a carbonara.  

This had thick ribbons of fettuccine in a slightly smoky sauce full of savory pancetta.  The sauce was a bit thick which was my only minor complaint. But it was so creamy and rich that is perfectly coated each strand of the pasta.  

The final pasta dish was ravoli.

These were thin pillows of goodness stuffed with spinach and what I think were pine nuts. 

It took talent to keep the pasta so thin yet to still have it hold the stuffing.   The sauce was a very basic marinara which didn't overpower the spinach.  And you could drag each bite though the drizzle of basil oil and olive oil for some extra richness.  

For the main dish I ordered the ossabuco.  If you haven't eaten this before it is a veal shank which has been braised so that the meat falls off the bone.  

This meat was so tender and lots of flavor.  The texture is much like a short rib. While the meat was tasty, the highlight of this dish was the wild rice which the veal was served on. I think the chef had taken the braising liquid and reduced with some butter and probably shallots and onions to make a rich, slightly salty gravy which had been incorporated into the rice.  While I enjoyed the veal, I would like to go back to Veranna and see if you can just get this rice dish.  It was that good.  

I had not been ordering many desserts at the restaurants but had heard from another guest that the tiramisu was the best dessert at this resort.  With that high praise, I had to try it.  If only for science. 

This was cleverly served like a trifle. Alternating layers of the espresso soaked lady fingers and silky smooth marscapone cheese which also.had a coffee flavor.  Topped with a fresh dusting of cocoa powder and a chocolate "straw".   There is nothing quite like the consistency of marscapone cheese.   It gives you a truly satisfying feeling while eating it. Think of the best ice cream you have ever had and put an exponent next to it.   It is so decadent.  And the slightly bitter espresso flavor kept the dessert from being too sweet.  It was a perfect way to end the meal. And became my favorite dinner at this resort.   

So don't be like me and think that the Italian restaurant at your next resort should be avoided.  There are some great chefs out there waiting to show you perhaps your next favorite Italian meal outside of actually visiting Italy.