RECOMMENDATIONS
2004
and how many times a day you can handle culinary delights. We rent apartments so that
we can eat in--but when that time comes each day, we most often decide to go out and
pamper our taste buds. Restaurants we particularly liked this time were:
Il Drappo features wonderfully prepared Sardinian dishes. We kept passing the restaurant
each night as we went other places to dine and each time we commented on how nice it
looked and how many Romans were eating there--so finally we stopped by one day and made
reservations for that evening. It was exceedingly good! We had fish risotto, crayfish, noodles
with prawns and asparagus, osso bucco, red peppers stuffed with artichokes and cheese and
then finished with almond biscotti and coffee and pudding. At the end we were served with port
and delicious candy. This is a quiet, elegant, classy, nor pretentious place. It is off Via Guilia, not
particularly easy to find if you aren't staying in the area but worth the effort. They have a great
web site
Vicolo del Malpasso 9, 066-877365 Closed Sunday Ristorante il Drappo
We enjoyed this restaurant very much and seriously contemplated going back another
night but wanted to try other places. In retrospect, we should have returned. The food was
very good and the service delightful. I have shared more about our meal here in the body
of the report.
Piazza de' Ricci 06-686-1302 Closed Monday Pierluigi
This is by the Piazza di Spagna and clearly does a good tourist business; however, Romans
eat here, also. We had lunch here an enjoyed it. The pastas we had were excellent as were
the salads. I had a short pasta with basil, minced pine nuts, garlic and oil. It was outstanding (I
need to look for the recipe.) The others equally enjoyed their choices.
Via Mario de Fiori 34 06-679-5091 Closed Monday Ristorante 34
This is a small, very busy ristorante across from Grappola d'Oro. The food is good as is
the service but---tables are very close together which makes conversation difficult. There
was a young woman next to us--Ken and she could have touched elbows--who loudly
talked non-stop to her companion throughout the entire meal. Unfortunately, we were
quite relieved when our dinner was over and we could leave. You may want to check the
table arrangement before going there--maybe go earlier in the day and select the table
you want. We would return here but would pick our table.
Piazza della Cancelleria 74, 06-68-71-626 Closed Monday Ditirambo
This is a great little, simple place by the Colosseum (in back of it up a little hill on the Domus Aurea side facing the Oppio Park.) We
had a simple, basic lunch here--good antipasti and pasta e fagioli with crusty bread and a carafe of house wine. It was really quite
good peasant food and inexpensive. Such places are hard to find in this very touristy area of Rome. San Pietro in Vincoli is to the
left and around the corner.
Via delle Termi di Tito 06 474 5207 Closed Sunday and August Hostaria da Nerone
our experiences. The caveat is that others have different opinions of the restaurants.
La Carbonara is very well known. As its name would lead you to believe, its speciality is penne carbonara which is OK; however, I can
not say we recommend this restaurant. We felt the food was at best mediocre and over priced; far inferior to most of the other meals
we have had in Rome or Italy in general. At this point in its history, it seems to live on its reputation.
Campo dei Fiori Closed Tuesday
We had read several positive reviews of this place so we were disappointed when we didn't feel it lived up to the kind words--maybe it
was just not a good night. There really wasn't anything bad about it but the food just wasn't anything special. It is a simple restaurant
with one side more-or-less focusing on pizza and the other on menu selections. We would not return here even to give it a second
chance.
Piazza delle Cancelleria 80 Closed Sunday
This is a long established eatery in Rome with a good reputation. The food here was good --I had sole which was quite good and Ken's
osso bucco was done very well; however, our waiter was a little "crusty" in a negative way. Maybe because he was not happy when
we sent back our wine--something we seldom do but we could have sworn that it had been watered down it was so bland and
tasteless. (We were unpleasantly surprised when the first bottle (which was really a carafe) showed up on our credit card as a
separate charge--one that we had not signed).
We would recommend the restaurant based upon the quality of the food; although it certainly isn't in the category of "wonderful."
However, due to what appears to be its business practices, we have decided not to give it our "seal of approval."
Piazza dei Caprettari 06-686-1616O
Recommendations
Recommendations
Tuscany-Venice-Ravenna
