Trattoria Ca D’Oro

I wasn’t expecting to completely fall in love with the meatballs here but I did! I walked in wanting just one or two meatballs and walked out with seven! They are incredibly delicious, and even though it’s not that helpful, I can’t pinpoint exactly why they’re so good. It’s a mystery, you just have to come by to find out!

Absolutely incredible meatballs! And you can get them to eat outside, at the bar, or to-​go.
They have a very soft center of meat, and a hard crusted fried outer shell. These are unlike any other meatballs I’ve tried, and I don’t usually do fried foods, but these were just so delicious. Our entire party of 6 loved them, but they are very different than other meatballs, so if you are unsure then maybe try a single one first at the bar before deciding to order more.
We came with a large party hoping to get a table, which we knew was unlikely. But we were very happy to see you can buy their meatballs at the bar for 1.50 each and take them away to eat outside! We did this and kept returning to buy more rounds!
The staff, like most of our other experiences in Venice, were quite unfriendly toward us. But we were able to get our meatballs and get out of there to enjoy them on the street! Try not to seem American in this place, it’s mostly locals!

A fun place for dinner that we found on GuidePal that turned out to be quite a bit of a surprise. We didn’t have any reservations for dinner and were resigned to having dinner at a tourist trap, but Trattoria Ca D’Oro turned out to be quite pretty delicious. We stopped by on a Monday night, but interestingly, it was closed on a Thursday night.

I ordered squid ink pasta. It was too salty for my liking. And the noodles were hard, as if they weren’t cooked enough. For the shrimp pasta dish, you have to dip your fingers into the sauce to tear apart the «shrimp» yourself, which actually looked like crawfish.
And you have to pay for water. I think we just end up paying for the fancy schmancy glass bottle it comes in — not like we get to keep it either. They never volunteered the fact that you can ask for tap water for free.
My biggest complaint: many open tables available in the restaurant and total strangers being forced by the waiters to sit RIGHT NEXT TO US at what practically seemed like the same table we were sitting at. The waiter made me remove my bag from the chair next to me to seat these strangers. *AWKWARRRRD*

Have you ever seen anyone in a restaurant fanning herself while eating? Yea, that was me. Area we sat in was super duper hot and the ceiling fan did not help at all.
Place was pretty accommodating despite our lack of reservation on a busy Sunday night. Reasonably priced considering everyone says Venice is an expensive destination. And its location is pretty easy to get to.
We got their:
Meatballs — this is supposed to be a house specialty. Not impressed and im totally confused on what kind of meat is in it.
Spaghetti alla busara– pasta with hard shelled prawns tomatoes and herbs. Has a little spicy kick but nothing special.
Mixed seafood — sardines, tiny shrimps and octopus with potatoes herbs dressed in olive oil. Again, nothing to rave about.
Overall, we were quite disappointed.

Major disappointment. The place was incredibly hot and mosquitoes flying everywhere.
The most talked about fried meatballs were not good at all.
The spaghetti with prawns was eh. I don’t recall where I got this recommendation from. Timeout? Wherever it was, it was clear deception.
The mixed seafood was nothing but sardines, squid and other pieces of fish in olive oil, cilantro and lemon. It was just ok.
Didn’t have an extensive menu and the food was just blah.

Very good food and accommodating given we brought 4 to a reservation for 2. None of us liked the meatballs.

The meatballs are indeed to fall down on your knees for — a bit smaller than a billiard ball, crunchy on the outside, gloriously porcine inside, served at warm room temperature. The squid ink pasta is a marvel as well — briny, funky, awesome mouthfeel. And the traditional Venetian sweet-​sour sardines, also served room temperature, were a thing of beauty, with pignoli nuts and raisins. Appreciated the liver & polenta without quite loving it, but a red wine would have helped. (I was still working on the beautiful 20E bottle of Friuli the very cool waiter recommended). Definitely be there the *second* they roll up the gates for dinner if you want a table before 9:30P in high season. One of the best (and mercifully least pretentious) meals I had in Italy this summer.

Honestly, at this point, I don’t even care what else they serve. Their antipasti meatball haunts my dreams. This meatball brought me to tears. I ate it every day I was in Venice.

Love this place it’s my favorite in Venice! Their sorbet is amazing but the gelato is superb too! I’ve tried the limoncello, and the melon sorbet, mango sorbet, and a berry one all delicious! We’ve tried a few other gelato places and keep coming back to this one. Give them a try you won’t regret it! Yum!

Delicious food, friendly owners. The meatballs are delicious! You just try them. But they aren’t meatballs like you expect– they are a deep fried breaded ball with meat. They look like a croquette. Pasta dishes and seafood were all fresh and tasty. Menu was fairly limited and they do focus on seafood pasta dishes. Bread was the only thing that wasn’t good. The house wine was great. Will definitely return.

We came here as it was highly recommended by both our Italian friends as well as articles from Norman Russell, the brains behind Polpo in London and many food articles. Norman cites this as his main influence of Polpo and being massive fans of the restaurant, we had to try it. On our first visit, it was so busy we couldn’t even get in. We went at opening the next day and was told they were fully booked. They were secretive about whether or not we could book the following day so not taking it personal we walked in about 7pm the following evening and finally bagged a table. It was a Sunday night. It was busy though not nearly as busy as Friday or Saturday. Definitely make a reservation!
The staff seem nonchalant at first and then they warmed up to us. Come here for a drink and their polpettes alone. They apparently inspired the polpettes at Polpo. The couple of locals beside us had twelve of them to start! They did not disappoint, we had a few rounds of them too. If you can’t get a table, try to pop in for at least a glass of wine and some polpettes.
We had the seafood starter, a stunning anchovy pasta and an octopus dish. Some of the best food we had in Venice. It was reasonable in terms of price, with € 12 being the average price of a main. They may seem small but they are incredibly flavoursome and filling.
For two glasses of wine each, a seafood starter to share, four meatballs and two mains, it was under € 60. Note there is a cover charge of € 1.50.
Worth the hype!

alla vedova. mei das gibt’s schon ganz lang. Es ist in vielen Führern, zum Beispiel im Standardwerk von Michela Scibilia. das ist vielleicht auch ein bisschen das Problem. Aber in jedem Fall lohnt sich ein Besuch immer noch! Schönes Ambiente um beim letzten Besuch zeigt sich halt: Standards und Qualität gehen immer!

We loved this small place which is a bit hidden at the end of an alley. It is easy to find though because it is at the end of the alley straight from the Ca D’Oro boatstop across the Strada Nuova.
It can be very crowded so if you can make reservations. But don’t let the crowd standing outside put you off. They are just hanging out, sipping wines and snacking outside. Wrestle yourself inside and maybe there is a spot for you.
The crusty on the outside and soft in the middle meatballs are great and I really enjoyed the sepia dishes: pasta with sepia (ink) and sepia with polenta, made of corn meal.
The house wine was nice and rather cheap :-)

October 2013: Tony and I had lunch in this crowded, packed trattoria. Tables are set very close together in a lively and colorful atmosphere. We were able to get a table immediately during prime time lunch.
We shared a seafood antipasti, which had octopus, salmon, a white fish, calamari, etc. in a lemon, oil sauce. It was very good but a little pricey for the portion.
I had the Bucatini all’Amatriciana: a thick hollow spaghetti with pancetta, red pepper flakes, onions, a crushed tomato sauce, and topped with pecorino cheese. This is a very simple pasta but full of flavor. It’s one of my favorite dishes to order when I’m in Italy.
Tony had the linguini with clams, also excellent.
Our lunch along with beer, wine, and the cover charge, it was 41.50 euros. Pricey but very good.

Yum yum yum, if I ever return to Venice this place will be my first port of call.
Hidden away down a side street in the Cannaregio, the opposite street to the one taking you down to the Ca’ D’oro so not really that difficult to find if you have a tourist map, this is one of the bacari recommended in Russell Norman’s excellent book Polpo, and it’s also recommended as a restaurant in the most recent Rough Guide to Italy. We went in the evening for a meal.
Our guidebook recommended booking but we should up without a reservation and were seated straight away. We had to share a table with another couple, but so did everyone else in the restaurant. Straight away the owner said «I know what you want, two glasses of white wine and two of our meatballs.» Why, yes, that’s EXACTLY what we wanted! And boy are those meatballs gooood. In fact, they alone should earn this place 5 stars. Deepfried, salty and mouthwatering, I deeply regret not ordering more (or not returning in our short time in Venice). My boyfriend and I agreed that they were definitely our favourite individual item of food in our whole Italian trip.
Mains wise I opted for spaghetti alle vongole, which was good, and I’ve now forgotten what my boyfriend had. Needless to say we were both satisified. The price was reasonable for Venice, and the service was quick to begin with but slowed a little. But, it was busy and it was never bad.
If you’re ever in Venice is worth searching this place out, if only for the meatballs. If you don’t fancy a full meal just pop by for an ombra of wine and one of those delicious, delicious meatballs.

It takes some getting used to, but things are more flexible here in some ways, and less so in other ways here.
First of all– no plastic– only cash here. They won’t take reservations from hotels for prime time, but perhaps if you can try it yourself, it may work.
The hours say it opens at 7, but they have bar and snacks at 6:30, so you may be able to get a table then, good if you like eating early.
The meatballs were good. A mixed seafood appetizer was good, but perhaps a bit too salty. I had cuttlefish and polenta with ink– the dish looked like yin and yang-​tasty.
My wife had good pasta.
The waiters are friendly, mostly very buff young men.
They will serve a pitcher of tap water on request– a definite plus. It is not touristy. Worth a try.

Although hard to find, this place is definitely worth the journey! It is off the main tourist road, hidden in a small alley, a true hole in the wall.
Walking in, I realized that we were the only tourists in there, a clear sign that we were at a good restaurant. The place has a very cosy atmosphere.
I found out this place in a timeout article about things to do in Venice and without a doubt this place offers probably one of the best meatballs venice has to offer. We knew that this place had to die for meatballs but we were thinking its your typical ground beef meatballs found in spaghetti, but we were definitely proven wrong (in a good way though). The meatballs were fried in this batter, but no worries, there was absolutely no drip of grease. Inside in the meatballs is soft, minced meat with chopped vegetables. This meatball is truly unique and a must try at a very affordable price of 1,50 euros per ball.
Even the entrees were affordable at around 10 – 15 euros per dish. I got the spaghetti alla busara, and my other friend got the lasagna, which were both on point. I don’t think you can go wrong with what you order here, even the house white wine was good. So yes, please check this place out when you’re in Venice!

One of the best meals I had when in Venice.
We asked our hotel concierge to help setup a reservation for us. We got one on the last day we were in Venice.
The place is pretty neat with a nice home feeling. Servers were helpful and spoke English which was a plus for my wife and I.
We started with the fried meatballs which were delicious. They come in singles, so you can order as much or as little as you want. We went for two so each of us could try it.
We then ordered three other dishes.
Squid Ink Pasta
Squid ink calamari
Some sort of liver and onions dish
Squid ink pasta was delicious! This was the first taste of real Italian pasta and it blows everyone out of the water in the US. There’s no comparison. The pasta is a perfect al dente without any grainyness. Flavors were bold, but the pasta was cooked just perfectly. Makes me wish I had a plate of it in front of me right now.
The squid ink squid was kind of the same. The sauce is similar, but with calamari instead. Also good, but I enjoyed the pasta more.
Liver and onions were also really tasty. It is rich though so it can get a bit heavy.
Overall great dinner out and it wasn’t too expensive in terms of eating out in Venice. I would totally come back here to eat if I was in Venice again.

Eigentlich sind cichetti (die venezianischen Tapas) ja eine schöné Sache, wenn man kein ganzes und teures Menü essen will. Und diese Osteria, sehr praktisch dicht am Ca d’Oro gelegen, ist altehrwürdig und berühmt. Leider wurden uns dann für unser Thekenmahl Phantasiepreise berechnet, sodass wir mit dem unangenehmen Gefühl, abgezockt worden zu sein, das Lokal wieder verließen. Schlechter Nachgeschmack nach einem vorzüglichen Imbiss.

One of the most delicious meal of my holiday. The white polenta with shrimps was divine. One of the reasons I am returning to Venice shortly.