Il Pirana, fish restaurant (not surprisingly) in Prato, Italy

2nd May 2013
My colleague, who excels at entertaining colleagues over a meal, chose this restaurant in Prato to meet with another important colleague from France. So two Frenchmen, a German and a Brit went to this fish restaurant in downtown Prato. The restaurant is a good walk from the old center of the town, in a road that seems to lay claim to most of Prato's Restaurants, but they are well spaced out, so don't try walking up and down the road to make a choice. There is a somewhat uninviting exterior down a side road, which leads eventually into a large dining area. On the night we went (a Thursday), the place was pretty deserted, and whilst it made a great venue for a meeting, it lacked atmosphere. The restaurant website is on http://www.ristorantepirana.it/ and it even has an English translation of sorts. One of the peculiarities of the site is that is seems to encapsulate home movies of the restaurant, which are probably of lower quality than the ones I produce.

Probably the most impressive feature of the restaurant is the fresh fish display. Unfortunately there was no one who could explain the contents of the cabinet in any of the three mother tongues of our group, so we had to rely on the menu.

The prices were based on weight rather than the cost of the dish, but as a guideline, there were no main course fish under 20 Euros. The menu was devoid of mention of accompaniments, something that evaded all our our group, and we were not offered any vegetables, so all our dishes were just the fish we chose. May be it was supposed to be like that? As most of the comments on TripAdvisor are in Italian, all I can say is that the locals seem to love this place.

There was a fairly pungent amuse bouche, and to follow, I had a seafood  ravioli with scampi sauce and pine nuts, and red mullet which came with slices of fine toasted bread.

We had to wait some time for our food which was not a problem as we had a deep technical discussion under way. When the food did come, the quality was first rate, the servings were somewhat small (without accompaniment). The hotness was unimpressive (about a 7 average), but I was a guest so I let it ride.

If you want a fresh fish eating experience, then this may be a good choice, but the place lacked atmosphere, and the staff were geared up to a local clientele, and were not in a position to be helpful to us. It was quite expensive at the end of the meal, and I would not be going there as a personal choice if I went to Prato again. The website says that a tasting menu is between 50-60 Euros per person, so you get the idea. Somewhere to go if you want to impress with your knowledge of fish restaurants.