Lampredotto Cart

A food truck situated at a crossroad just outside the Mercato Centrale, tucked alongside the market stalls is the Lampredotto cart. Even if you're not a tripe or offal fan, the slow cooking process, herbs, chili and parsley sauce used to make this meaty sandwich takes away the "gamey" taste. It's a hearty meaty sandwich with crusty bread soaking up the slow cooked broth from the meat. The spice kick gives it a some heat. You can choose your level of spice, medium was quite hot already! If you're not into spicy food, I would suggest going for a little less spice which you can decide when being served. The parsley sauce gives it freshness to balance out the chili.

Absolutely stunning and a must try! The thing that caught my attention first was the wonderful fragrance emanating from this humble food cart - I was in a hurry to make my time at the Uffizi one morning but I had to stop once the amazing smell hit me, a mouthwatering mix of stewed beef, tomato, and parsley, the real star of the show. I tried both the lampredotto and bollito sandwiches; a thick, freshly baked roll is filled with a generous portion of meat (rich fatty intestines for the former and normal beef for the latter), vegetables stewed in the lovely tomato broth, a fresh parsley sauce and finally, on request, a sizzling chili paste. The top half of the roll is dipped back into the beef stew, soaking up the incredible flavor, before completing the coronation of the sandwich. Each bite is an interplay between various flavors, the various components forming a chorus, a symphony in your mouth. The savory of the beef, with its fulfilling richness, is complemented beautifully by the light freshness of the parsley. The chili, bright and fruity, adds much needed acidity to each bite, while the bread is wonderfully fresh, crispy on the outside and light on the inside. There is an old picture stuck above the counter, dating from 1986, featuring a young woman presiding over a much simpler sandwich cart, wrapped up in colorful jacket. When I ask the proprietor, now middle aged with silver in her hair, whether this was her, she smiles, “Si”. Her eyes glint with pride, the same charming intensity that you can see from the old picture, unchanged from all these years, and with good reason too. As the progenitor of such culinary perfection, she has good reason to feel proud. I will return to this humble Lampredetto Cart, but until then, I will miss its beautiful panini every day. P.S. Get the Lampredetto if you can only pick one, you will not regret it

Lampredotto to the max! It’s the little cart located in central Florence. Try the florentine special delicacy, lampredotto. Now if you are fellow tourist like me, you will appreciate the Chinese menu! Social credit for you, great service! But do you know? Of the name lampredotto? It is from Italian word for lamprey eels, lampreda, because the food look like the pale grey sloppy eel! Until next time, lampredotto cart! 愛中國!