Holiday in Rome - Where to Eat
Wine and People Watching at Piazza Navona
I've been putting this post off for so long!! Why? Because we enjoyed so many great dishes in Rome and Florence that it seemed overwhelming to go through it all! Not only do you get to enjoy so many amazing sites in these cities, but the food is also out of this world. So let's dig right in!
Matricianella - Rome, Campo Marzio area
I ate here 10 years ago and couldn't wait to go back. A local recommended it to me in 2007: "The best restaurant in Rome in terms of quality and price is called Matricianella (reservation needed for dinner). Any locals will be able to direct you. It is cheap but one of the very best Roman restaurants. The service is always spotty, so don't be offended. If we had one meal in Rome it would be here. All the pastas, veggies, and meats are here and a phenomenal wine list (remember that Italian cuisines are very local and usually go best with a local wine)."
My contact also suggested that we try pajata, again his words: "Pajata is a very traditional recipe and part of the cuisine called the quinto quarto, in which poor workers learned how to make food from the left-overs of slaughterhouses."
Their wine menu looks more like an old phone book than a menu, but don't let it scare you. You can always ask for a recommendation from your server. The good news is that you don't have to spend a ton of money for a nice bottle of wine.
Artichokes (carciofi) were in season, so we had to try them. They're served two ways - fried (Jewish) or braised (alla Romana). Both delicious!
And for dinner we had pajata and cacio e pepe. Cacio e pepe is another very famous Roman pasta. Cacio is cheese, pepe is pepper. Yes, it's really that simple. You won't find pajata on many menus, but you'll certainly have no trouble finding cacio e pepe. It's on almost every menu in Rome!
Da Fortunato - Rome, Pantheon area
This restaurant is steps away from the Pantheon and our hotel, Albergo Del Senato. They use fresh, local ingredients, bake their own bread, and they have a wine bar next door where they offer almost 100 glasses of wine by the glass, half glass or sample. We enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner at Da Fortunato which was a coursed meal and a little pricey because we added wine pairings, but it was totally worth it. The food is outstanding!
Terrazza Caffarelli - Rome, Capitoline Museum
Museums can be overwhelming, and it's so nice to be able to pop into a museum restaurant, enjoy a glass of wine (or two!) and snack on a light lunch to recharge your batteries. Not only does the Capitoline Museum have a great cafe, it's a rooftop cafe that offers gorgeous skyline views of Rome.
The cafe was quite busy the day we visited, and it was manned by two servers, so we probably had a little more relaxation than we wanted, but it was still very nice. We started out with a little carpaccio.
Our server recommended the daily special, a homemade ravioli over polenta with toasted nuts. He said if we didn't like it, lunch was on him. How could we not order it??
We got *super* lucky on Christmas night and managed to snag a table at Il Falchetto because the Hilton party of 2 didn't show. Thank you, Hiltons :)
Il Falchetto has been around since 1916. They serve typical Roman dishes, great seafood and pastries prepared in house. They also have a very nice wine selection.
This is their tiramisu al pistacchio, which we really enjoyed. I think Scott ordered tiramisu every night we went out for dinner, and he said this was one of the best!
Tazaa D'oro - Rome, Pantheon
Is it really the best cup of coffee in the world? Depends on who you ask :) If you ask a Roman, they'll most likely disagree with that because this is more Mexican than Italian. "El Mejor Del Mundo" is not Italiano, ya know! Nevertheless, it's really good coffee. Know that there are coffee rules in Italy:
1. It's not two cappucinos. It's due cappucini. You're not in Starbucks.
2. No milky coffees after noon and certainly not at the end of a meal.
3. Don't ask for espresso (or expresso!), but instead for un caffe.
4. You'll most likely need to purchase a ticket first, then hand your ticket to the barista.
5. People don't lounge over coffees. You'll most likely stand at the counter, slug your coffee and bolt.
6. A cup of coffee is called caffe normal. That's what you'll order at the end of your meal.
Poldo e Gianna - Rome, Campo Marzio area
There are more than 10,000 restaurants in Rome. How in the world do you figure out where to eat? You can search TripAdvisor, Yelp, Eater, get recommendations from blogs, or you can just walk by an interesting looking spot, google it to make sure it's legit and then go enjoy the food. That's what happened here. We walked by one night, I thought it looked cute, we did a quick search and saw it had nice reviews and decided to give it a shot.
Turns out it was one of our favorite meals! Their speciality is their homemade, secret recipe for White Lasagna. What the heck is that? Basically it's made with bechamel sauce instead of a tomato based sauce. The recipe has been in the family for years and it's delicious!
When we got back to Atlanta I researched white lasagna recipes and found one that worked really well. I'll never make it as good as the original, but I have to say, it's pretty darn good. Poldo e Gianna also serves cacio e pepe chips as an appetizer - genius!
Ad Hoc - Rome, Piazza del Popolo area
How cute is this place??? There are so many great things to say about Ad Hoc. The food, the wine are awesome, but not only that - they gave us a small bottle of their olive oil to bring home and when they found out it was our anniversary, they gave us a bottle of Prosecco to take home, too! The general consensus is to go the tasting menu route, which we did. And if you like truffles, this is definitely the right spot for you. Just be sure you save room for the tiramisu.
Casa Bleve - Rome, Campo Marzio
Casa Bleve is an absolutely gorgeous restaurant which was once a palace dating back to 1492. The food is traditional Roman fare, and they have a wine sommelier who will guide you through a wine selection without even the slightest hint of attitude.
You get used to seeing so many of the same items on menus in Rome, so it was nice to see a few unexpected options, such as Zucchini Flowers.
Looking at it right now makes my mouth water. Good Lord, this was divine. The blossoms are stuffed with ricotta and pistachios, served with baked tomatoes and olives. Out of this world, y'all. They also serve eggplant millefiori, lamb, seafood and lots of traditional pasta dishes. Definitely one of our favorite spots!!
Assaggi d'Autore - Rome, Trevi Fountain
There are a lot of bad restaurants around the Trevi Fountain area. Really bad. McDonald's bad. Fortunately, we bumped into Assaggi d'Autore and had a really nice, quiet lunch with zero tourists. Let me tell you, that's not easy to do in this area of Rome! Nothing fancy going on here, just reasonably priced dishes and tasty wines. They offer a lunch buffet, which we skipped and ordered pasta. Yes, more pasta!
By no means is this a "must do" restaurant in Rome, but it was memorable because it was a) open on New Year's Day b) there were no tourists c) it was reasonably priced and d) the food was good.
Gelato
Many a blog posts have been written about gelato and where to find the best gelato in Rome. I don't have the answer for where to find the best gelato in Rome, but I can tell you this - there's plenty of gelato in Rome and as long as it's not neon technicolor, it's probably pretty damn good.
Be sure to avoid gelaterias that pile their gelato high or covered in sprinkles and cookies. The color of the gelato should not be neon colored. Pistachio gelato should *not* be neon green. Look for a place that offers fior di latte, which is the most traditional, basic gelato.
EnOsteria Capolecase - Rome, Trevi Fountain
Cute spot, a short walk from the Trevi Fountain area. We secured reservations via TripAdvisor's reservation system, The Fork. The Fork came in very handy several times while we were in Rome. One of the things I enjoyed about EnOsteria Capolecase is that they showcase modern works of art in conjunction with a nearby art gallery. The food is a blend of Mediterranean and Cucina Romana.
The stuffed endive was excellent. For entrees we had the rabbit ravioli and saltimbocca. Everything was great and reasonably priced. Lots of tourists here, but then, there are lots of tourists all over Rome.
And finally, the Negroni ...
Searching for the best Negroni in Rome probably isn't that different from searching for the best gelato in Rome. But in this case, you most definitely want your Negroni to be ruby red because that's the gorgeous color of Campari. Negronis are usually consumed before a meal, as the Campari aids in digestion.
Every evening before dinner, we went downstairs to the bar at Albergo del Senato and sipped on a Negroni with Michele, our favorite bartender.
Scott has been making Negronis for years. It's one of his favorite cocktails and has made numerous appearances on our Instagram account, Homebartendr. If you're curious about how to make great cocktails at home, our website and Instagram account has LOADS of recipes and how tos.
I'll have one more post coming soon about restaurants in Florence. It will be MUCH shorter but hopefully informative.
If you're planning a trip to Rome and Florence and have questions about our trip, I'm always happy to help!
Thanks for reading!
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