WHERE TO EAT The best Trofie al pesto in the world (according to food experts)

"Totally typical Genovese food can be found in the family-run joints hidden in the warren of streets near the cathedral. This, a snug trattoria with a low brick-vaulted ceiling, serves regional classics such as trofiette al pesto (hand-rolled pasta with pesto) or octopus salad alongside excellent fresh fish."

"There are plenty of restaurants that offer different kinds of pasta with pesto: trenette, trofie, penne and lasagne. We warmly suggest a small restaurant for tasting the real pesto: Cavour 21, the perfect place for a lunch break during the Old Town tour. It’s an authentic informal place, with low prices and the best pesto in Genoa."

"Of course we had to have pesto and especially Trofie al pesto, a traditional Ligurian pasta which resemble thin, hand-rolled tight twists. One bite and I was hooked… best pesto I’ve ever had in my life, just look at the color."

"A must is traditional pesto sauce once served on thin pieces of pasta to bid farewell to departing sailors."

"The best pesto pasta dish I had was at Gianni Franzi in Vernazza."

"We both had pasta with pesto. It was unbelievably fresh, tasty and so good it was pesto porn for the taste buds."

"The signature dish is a classic pesto, freshly made in-house using a special variety of small-leaved Genoa basil blended with pine nuts and Parmesan. The resulting bright green, oily cream is tossed with hot trofiette - squiggles of pale, tender pasta - and sprinkled with grated Parmesan."

"The recipe of Maria, popular and economical, in fact includes green beans and potatoes that are cooked with trofie. The result is spectacular, indeed, as the waitress (Maria's niece) always says, it is "buono buonissimo".

"And, like the town itself, Manuelina is famous for trofie al pesto."

"Trofie pasta, a pasta made with a bit of potato, is the best vehicle to eat copious amounts of pesto with. The trofie here made fresh here daily, is cooked to order and at only €6 per portion, it is the cheapest you'll probably find around the touristy town for this quality of food."