Eating good boiled meat in Milan

In these days, perhaps not many have thought with sincere and genuine desire about the merry and clattering arrival of the mythical boiled meat cart. This pillar in Piedmontese tradition, adopted by most of Northern Italy, in these peculiarly hot November days perhaps hasn’t found the perfect climate to regain its role in the offer of our restaurants.

Yet while we wait for the cold winds to numb us sufficiently, we can start to prepare our minds concretely by noting down a few restaurants that are a sure hit where to taste faithful and inspired takes on this absolute culinary delicacy. At least around Milan.

- Al'Less, Viale Lombardia, 28, (+39.02.70635097)
The name of this restaurant is rather explanatory. Were it a book, we could say it also had an equally didactic subtitle - “Boiled meat from around the world”. The Gran Bollito Misto is served daily as a single course but the menu clearly offers other specialties too, all coming from the tradition of Piedmont and Lombardy. The average price is 35€

- Dal Bolognese, Via degli Amedei, 8, (+39.02.62694845)
This historic establishment – especially in Rome, but since 2005 in Milan too – a few years ago found a new location where once was another historic restaurant in town, L'Assassino. It’s always been a place dedicated to the mundane, where to notice some famous faces. It has also always dedicated a space in its menu to the boiled meat cart. The average price is 65€

- Il ristorante di Agostino Campari, Via Novara, 81 – Abbiategrasso (+39.02.9420329)
In this quaint and flourishing village south of Milan, you don’t only come to visit the beautiful Pasticceria Besuschio. The boiled meat cart is in fact a tradition, in this restaurant, characterised by its classic approach, thanks to the serene constancy of its owner and his family, who for 30 years have been attentively looking after both the dining room and the kitchen. The average price is 40€

- La Pobbia, Via Gallarate, 92, (+39.02.38006641)
The restaurant looks for a balance between tradition and elegance. It was once a horse changing station at the entrance of Milan. Today it’s a cosy restaurant with various rooms and a summer garden that becomes a roofed veranda in the winter. Milanese cuisine is enhanced all year round, but during the colder months, every Tuesday, Bollito Misto is the protagonist. The average price is 65€

- Non solo lesso, Via Broggi, 13 (+39.02.36533440)
Until a few years ago, this was the location of the above-mentioned Al'Less. Then they moved the other establishment but the vocation for boiled meat remained the same, even with the new management, serving a “summer” lighter version too, on top of the rich and abundant classic one. All this in a restaurant whose decor is full of second hand pieces. The average price is 40€

- Ratanà, Via de Castilla, 28 (+39.02.87128855)
You can always depend on Cesare Battisti’s restaurant when it comes to local tradition, constantly interpreted with a modern and elegant spirit and an obsessive attention to raw materials. The delicious meat of Macelleria Annunciata is thus enhanced in the Bollito Misto you can find in the menu in the cold months. The average price is 50€

- Ristorante Macelleria Motta, Strada Padana Superiore, 90 – Bellinzago Lombardo (+39.02.95784123)
This place was born from one of the best butchers in Italy, located in Inzago. The extraordinary quality of the meat is also enhanced thanks to a really excellent Bollito Misto. The only limit is it is not always available, but if you want to delight yourself with it, go to Sergio Motta’s restaurant on Monday evening or Tuesday at lunchtime. The average price is 50€

- Trattoria Aurora, via Savona, 23 (+39.02.8323144)
This historic and popular restaurant in Milan has perhaps lost a bit of its initial gloss over the years, but it remains a point of reference for a faithful take on Piedmontese culinary tradition. And even for this classic boiled meat cart, always available and always carefully prepared. The average price is 40€