Restaurants in Rome
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Siciliainbocca
Lemon-yellow and lined in dazzling southern ceramics, this trattoria is sunny in demeanour and colour. It's a great place to sample sumptuous seafood, Sicilian specialities like caponata (browned vegetables, anchovies and capers), and the island's legendary desserts, such as cannoli (fried pastry tubes filled with ricotta) accompanied by pantelleria, the great muscatel. There's another branch in Flaminio (06 324 01 87; Via Flaminia 390; ;Tue-Sun).
reviewed
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‘Gusto
If Terence Conran were Italian, he might have dreamed up ‘Gusto, once a mould-breaking warehouse-style gastronomic complex. It’s still buzzing after all these years, and is a great place to sit on the terrace and eye up the new Richard Meier-designed Ara Pacis museum. Go for the Neapolitan-style pizzas rather than the restaurant fare, which receives mixed reports. There’s a recommended brunch (weekends) and lunchtime buffet.
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Lo Zozzone
The affectionately named ‘dirty one’ is sparklingly clean, and growing smarter by the year, with tables inside and out. It also has some of Rome’s best panini. Pay at the register for a pizza bianca, then ask for it to be stuffed with your belly’s desire at the bar.
reviewed
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Il Posto Accanto
On pretty Via del Boschetto, this homely, family-run restaurant is small - there are only 25 places - and instantly memorable, lined by harvest-festival displays of fruit and veg. The food is splendid, with homemade ravioli and fish among the house specialities.
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Gelateria Giolitti
This started as a dairy in 1900 and still keeps the hoards happy with succulent sorbets and creamy combinations. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn swung by in Roman Holiday and it used to deliver marron glacé to Pope John Paul II.
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Hostaria Costanza
This is old-school Roman dining at its best. In the basement of Pompey's Theatre, Costanza serves up simple and wonderfully cooked food such as a creamy riso con fiori di zucca (risotto with courgette flowers), perfect ravioli di carciofi (ravioli with artichokes) and a simply delicious filetto di manzo al barolo (fillet of beef with barolo wine sauce). Bookings essential.
The waiters are friendly, the house wine is quaffable and the prices are remarkably reasonable.
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La Botticella
On a quiet Trastevere backstreet, La Botticella offers pure Roman cooking, outside under the lines of flapping washing, or inside in the picture-lined salon. Menu stalwarts include tripe and rigatoni alla paiata (pasta with calf’s intestines), but there are less demanding dishes, such as an excellent spaghetti all ’ amatriciana and fritto alla botticella ( deep-fried vegetables). There’s even a children’s menu.
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La Buca di Ripetta
Popular with actors and directors from the district, who know a good thing when they see it, this value-for-money foodie destination offers robust Roman cuisine. Try the zuppa rustica con crostini do pane aromatizzati (country-style soup with rosemary-scented bread) or the matolino dolatte al forno alle erbe conpatate (baked suckling pork with potatoes) and you’ll be fuelled either for more sightseeing or for a lie down.
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Il Bacaro
Book ahead, as Il Bacaro, tucked away on a bijou piazza, is the size of a postage stamp and always busy. It might be small but it’s perfectly formed. The meat dishes are hearty, the wine list ample and the primi imaginative – try the spaghetti con gamberi, porcini, pecorino e tartufo (spaghetti with prawns, porcini mushrooms, cheese and truffles). Summer seating spills out under a vine-covered pergola.
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Da Enzo
This authentic, snug dining room with rough yellow walls and lots of character serves up great Roman meals with whatever is in season. You can start with bruschetta with burrata, and go on to rigatoni cacio e pepe followed by abbacchio al forno (roasted lamb) and other such Roman classics, finishing off with a tiramisu before staggering home. There’s a tiny terrace on the quintessential cobbled street.
reviewed
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Matricianella
Tucked near Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina, this popular, chic trattoria, with gingham tablecloths and chintzy murals, also has some streetside seating on the quiet cobbled lane. The cooking is simple, delicious and largely Roman-Jewish. Romans go crazy for the delectable fried antipasti, the artichoke alla giudia (fried, Jewish style), the meatballs and the Jewish-style stew. Booking is essential.
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Babette
You’re in for a feast at Babette’s, in a chic yet unpretentious warehouse-like interior of exposed brick walls and vintage painted signs. Food is delicious, with a sophisticated, creative twist (think tortiglioni with courgette and pistachio pesto), and the wine list is short but super. There’s a daily buffet (€10 Tuesday to Friday, €25 weekends).
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Da Lucia
Eat beneath the fluttering knickers of the neighbourhood at this terrific trattoria, frequented by hungry locals and ravenous tourists. On a cobbled backstreet that is classic Trastevere, it serves up a cavalcade of Roman specialities including trippa all romana (tripe with tomato sauce) and pollo con peperoni (chicken with peppers), as well as bountiful antipasti.
reviewed
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Cacio e Pepe
Romans flock for the home cooking at this humble trattoria, with gingham-clad tables spreading across the pavement in all directions. They’ll even put up with freezing winter temperatures to sit outside and dig into great steaming bowls of cacio e pepe – the this-morning-fresh bucatini slicked with buttery cheese and pepper.
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Alfredo e Ada
Find a seat at this tiny brick-arched and wood-panelled place, with its spindly marble-topped tables, and then eat what Ada puts in front of you (there’s no menu). It’ll be simple tasty staples like pasta with tomato sauce and salsiccia con fagioli (sausage with beans). Dessert comes from Ada’s legendary biscuit tin.
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Cul de Sac
A fabulous little enoteca, just off Piazza Navona, with a tiny terrace and narrow, pine- and bottle-lined interior. The knowledgeable, swift waiters pass about delicious cold meats and cheeses, and moreish mains: try the delicate involtini (veal rolls). There’s a phone-directory-sized wine list. Book ahead in the evening.
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Gelateria della Palma
A warning to parents: don't take kids in here unless you want to spend a lot. Like an ice-cream version of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, this brightly-coloured gelateria believes in customer choice, offering up to 100 different flavours. The specialities are creamy mousse gelati and the meringata varieties with bits of meringue.
reviewed
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Donati
Termini district is full of second-rate tourist traps, but this is a straightforward traditional restaurant serving up competent takes on dishes such as fried seafood or spaghetti with mussels and clams. You can eat inside, in the high-ceilinged hasn't-changed-for-years interior, or outside on the cobbled street.
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Gino
Oh, Gino! Surely the perfect trattoria: quaint, busy and buzzing, dishing out well-executed staples such as rigotoni alla gricia and meatballs under gaudily painted vines. It’s hidden away down a narrow lane close to parliament, and perennially packed by gossiping politicians. No credit cards.
reviewed
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Nanà Vini e Cucina
An appealing and simple trattoria, specialising in Neopolitan flavours. Eat in the high-ceilinged interior, under huge brass pipes, overlooking the open kitchen, or outside on the piazzetta. Try la carne tenenera scaloppina Nanà, cooked simply in white wine, and other southern dishes.
reviewed
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Taverna dei Quaranta
Off the main tourist track but near the Colosseum, this airy trattoria is run by gentle staff and offers simple Roman cooking, with delicious daily pasta specials, tasty bruschetta and arostocini (beef kebabs). There’s some outside seating on the leafy yet busy street.
reviewed
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Il Guru
Il Guru is lined with embroidered drapes and elaborate statuettes, and has a few outdoor tables on the cobbled street. The tandooris are prepared in a proper tandoori oven, the curries and vegetables are tasty and the setting is suggestive, albeit of Rome rather than Rajasthan.
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Africa
Spurn cutlery and dig in with your hands at this ethnic veteran, serving up authentic Ethiopian and Eritrean grub in technicolour mesobs (traditional Ethiopian woven baskets) – you can sample spicy stews and delicious sambusas (fried savoury pastries).
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Palazzo del Freddo di Giovanni Fassi
A great back-in-time barn of a place, sprinkled with marble tabletops and vintage gelato-making machinery, Fassi offers fantastic classic flavours, such as riso (rice), pistachio and nocciola (hazelnut). The granita, served with dollops of cream, deserves special mention.
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Da Francesco
Gingham, paper tablecloths, frazzled, jovial waiters, groaning plateloads of pasta, tasty pizza: this quintessential Roman kitchen has character coming out of its ears, and tables and chairs spilling out onto the pretty piazza. Rock up early or queue. No credit cards.
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