Are you looking for a little piece of New York’s Little Italy in Florida? If you said yes then you must head over to Felice Italian Pork Store & Deli. It is tucked away in a shopping center but when you walk in you think you have been transported to New York.
There are racks of imported Italian sauces, oils, and foods including a freezer section filled with pastas.
There are deli cases full of fresh cheeses, homemade sausages, deli meats, fresh Italian breads, and pastries. Plus there are fresh made Italian dishes that you can either get them to go or have them warmed up and eat in their small cafe area.
I did get some items to go in order to fill up the refrigerator at home. However, I could not pass up having lunch there. I started off with a bottle of Manhattan Special. This is a coffee soda that is sweet and bubbly. I have never seen this outside of New York.
I made sure to get some of the fresh Italian bread. It had a crispy crust and was soft on the inside. I ate a few pieces with some fresh olive oil but saved the rest to dip in the pasta sauce that would be coming with my order.
I picked out a few things from the deli case. The good thing is they warmed everything up until it was nice and hot and then they drenched it in the pasta sauce.
The aranchini was the first thing I tried. I love aranchini and I always get them when they are on menus. The filling was ground sausage, peas, and mozzarella cheese. The sausage was full of flavor and tasted amazing with the sauce. These rice balls were really cheesy. The rice helped soak up more herb flavor from the sauce. Absolutely delicious!
The next thing on the plate that I tried was the meatball. It was only one and it was huge. The meat was dense but still very moist. They did not use a lot of filler so the seasoning of the meat shined through and it had great texture.
The final item was the eggplant. This was an Eggplant Rollatini. It was filled with cheese so when I cut it the cheese just oozed out. The eggplant was cooked perfectly. It was tender but still firm. Eggplant and cheese go so well together.
Now I could not go to an Italian place without getting a cannoli. Because my lunch was so filling I got a cannoli to go. I knew I would enjoy it later.
This was one of the best cannoli I have ever had. The shell was super crispy. Sometimes cannoli shells can get slightly soggy once the filling is in. The filling was creamy and soft. It did not have that gritty texture that sometimes can happen. They also were extremely generous with the filling; they filled all the way through the shell. I took a bite and filling went everywhere.
Felice’s was a great find. Whether you are eating there or taking something home you will not be disappointed. Check them out at www.felicedeli.com
Enjoy!
T
