Dining in Rome- restaurant reviews

Obika Mozzarella Bar  

Our hotel was right across from this place and even though I had not really planned at eating there, I was aware of such a place .. I mean come on, a Mozzarella Bar sounds intriguing right? So we got take out after checking in to the hotel.  We had reached late after an exhausting long day in Florence and the train ride and most of the other restaurants nearby were closed. We ordered the Farro vegetable soup with mozzarella topping and the roasted tomato soup. Let me tell you at the end of that long day, the soup with croutons totally hit the spot. Sorry, no pictures.. too tired and starving to click. ;-)

Cafe Mancini 

I found out about this place from Chowhound and turns it was literally again, just a few feet from the hotel.  But when we got there, we learnt it was closed and instead called "Costa Rei"... specializing in seafood. Did not dine there.

Osteria de Mario - 

We stumbled upon this place we got bad attitude from a waiter at the restaurant we had originally planned on. So, we walked out. :) 

This place was a cute joint with heated tents (very common for outdoor seating in the winter/rainy season). We had the grilled vegetable platter (antipasti) which was a bit oily but tasty. It had zucchini, eggplant, navy beans, pickled cabbage (YUM), pepperoncini (kind of like banana peppers) . We also had the minestrone soup which was really good and the fettuccine alfredo. In Florence, we were tipped to have chicory greens in Rome, so that's what we ordered. They were sauteed in a lot of garlic and olive oil. It was quite tasty but we couldn't finish the portion. The portions were HUGE.  We finished off the meal with a limencello and some biscotti. The service was super friendly and very quick. 

So, how about a snack?

LOL. I think NOT!!!!

Arlu a San Pietro (Vatican) 

I highly highly recommend this place. We went there for lunch after a tour of the St Peter Basilica. The tomato and mozzarella lasagna was simple yet amazingly delicious as was the veggie pizza with mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant. Thought we mostly ate pizzas and pastas we never got tired of it :) Service was super quick which was good because we were so hungry!! 

Alla Campana

This place was recommended by our hotel for our anniversary dinner. It was a short 6 minute walk from our hotel. I had a really yummy artichoke ravioli in a pink sauce and Rajesh had a lentil pasta soup. We ordered an appetizer of mozzarella, tomatoes and greens. It was divine!! I had never cut into a ball of mozzarella to eat as an appetizer so we were certainly dining the Italian way that night!  The waiter first gave us an Italian menu and then hurriedly brought us the English menu upon seeing our confused faces.

So another real neat thing about this restaurant is that it's part grocery store. No I'm kidding. When you first walk in, it appears like the produce aisle of Kroger, but they display all their fresh produce and cheese and when you order it, they walk with some of the ingredients and then present it to you as part of your dish. At least, that's what I inferred. They also had some desserts on display like the red wine poached pears. 

Il Margutta

I give this place only 3 out of 5 stars. This all vegetarian only place was recommended again by forumites on Chowhound but I wasn't too impressed. The variety was obvious in the brunch buffet but the food was average. The dishes were not warm and I didn't get a satisfying feeling at the end.. probably because I ate too much but you know that feeling at the end of a buffet when you feel so full but not like you really enjoyed the meal? Anyway that was me after that meal.  The food was just OK.Maybe the a la carte dinner is better.. but the brunch is an excellent value 12 euros per person (soup, one plate of food from buffet, water, and fresh fruit). Guess what though? The one thing that stood out for me was the "matar paneer" which my tastebuds craved!! You can guess why! 

It was quite a hike from our hotel but luckily that morning, we were near the restaurant sightseeing near Piazza del Popolo.

Il Chianti

Next to Trevi Fountain. This is where we had the best pizza of the entire trip- Cipolla (onion) pizza with black olives. The mixed salad (greens, corn, cherry tomatoes, olives and mozzarella) was incredibly fresh and satisfying and complimented the pizza very well. The wine was amazing. And OMG the dessert was puff pastry with mascarpone filling and fresh strawberries on top and a strawberry sauce on the side. DECADENT! I would say this was the best meal we had in Rome.

One of the many cappuccinos.. this one came from the heart ;-)

Got Any Cheeeeeeese?

A Typical Italian Deli

Night and Day

Joint near the Pantheon- a disappointing last day dinner. I dont recommend this place. Felt like I was eating sub par food.. the pizza tasted like American takeout pizza :( Sucked because this was our last meal in Italy.. 

However overall, we had some great eats and some unique experiences and we learnt to say a lot of "Prego, Prego" !!!!! 

Unforgettable Experience Under the Tuscan Sun...

I cannot begin to describe our memorable day in Tuscany. Wine tasting, olive oil tasting, pasta making lesson and a authentic homemade Italian lunch. It was perfect.

The day began with a short cab ride from our hotel to Piazza Demidorf where we waited for our guide from the Tour company to show up. Steve (the guide) was a few minutes late but soon introductions were made and we, along with a family of 5 from California were on our way to Tuscany to the Chianti region. As we were driving, I kept telling myself "I'm in Tuscany" for it to sink in. The day was gorgeous. The sun was shining , there was a nip in the air and the air was crisp and fresh.  He drove us east along the Arno river on some pretty windy and bumpy roads out of the city of Firenze into the Tuscan country side, crossing multiple villages into one of the subdivisions of the Chianti region, (most famous for red wine) called Rufina. Our first destination was at a 15th century villa.  The scenery along the way was stunning.

The villa/estate was surrounded by gorgeous cypress trees and acres and acres of olive groves and vineyards. The estate is called Fattoria (Farm) Di Grignano and was originally owned by the Gondi family.  The current owners only visit the estate once a year from Milan where they made their fortune in the fashion industry.  So every year they bring their most important clients and business contacts and throw a huge party at their estate. Regardless of their success in the fashion business, they continue to maintain and operate the vineyard and the olive groves as a hobby -  not so much for profit.  They produce 100,000 bottles of Chianti as well as extra virgin olive oil. We were indeed privileged to be on their property getting a grand tour. Steve showed us some lemon trees that were kept away in the shed for the winter. Lemon trees are considered a status symbol in Italy.

Lemon Trees put away for the winter

Steve started out by showing us crates of freshly picked olives.

The yield for every 100 kg of olives is only 15kg of olive oil out of which half goes to the pickers and the remaining half is distributed within the family contacts. So none of the freshly pressed olive oil  from this estate ends up even the local supermarket. The olive oil produced is first pressed - which means the oil is squeezed out of olives, filtered and the stored in huge vats. It is really a very simple process.

Steve talking about the filtering process and how the oil ends up in the vats.

Wine that comes from Chianti have to be at least 80% Sangiovesi variety of grapes.  We were led into one of the huge "cellars" were crates of Chianti Rufina were packaged and ready to the shipped to the markets. 

Wine Bottle Decor in the hallways of the villa

After going through the wine making process we ended up at a barn- with a gorgeous large wooden table and 4 bottles of wine, a beautiful loaf of Tuscan bread, and  extra virgin olive oil. Steve set everything up, cut up the bread and dressed it up with liberal dousing of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Apparently Tuscan bread does not contain salt in it and the way to eat it is to pour oil over the bread and sprinkle it with salt.

The 4 kinds of wine we tasted were:

(a) Annata - aged least, yearly vintage, young wine.
(b) Reserva- aged longer than Annata and smoother
(c) Grand Reserva - very full bodied and bold, more than Reserva
(d) Vin Santo - sweet dessert wine with hints of raisin and dates in the taste

It was all very delicious and the bread complimented and cleansed the palatter perfectly, not to mention we were starving!  The olive was fruity and smooth. It was a party in the mouth, I tell ya!!!  After all was tasted, Steve who studied opera in collage and is a singer, performed a traditional piece of medieval music for us!

By now it was close to 1pm and we headed off to the second location - a 800 year old farmhouse where we met our hostess and owner Christiana who was starting to prep for our feast later that afternoon. Steve led us into the basement where we started the pasta/ravioli making process.

-  Measure out a cup of the semola flour
-  Add an egg in the center of the flour and gently form the dough.
-  Knead the dough while listening to Italian opera .. sing along if you'd like.
-  Send it through the pasta machine to create a long elastic sheet. Fold in thirds and send though pasta machine. Repeat 7 times adjusting the thickness level on the machine.
-  Cut circles using a cookie cutter
-  Make the filling of chopped spinach, fresh ricotta, grated nutmeg and a pinch of salt.
-  spoon the filling in the center of the circle and fold to seal.
-  Using a ravioli cutter, cut along the edges to form pretty edges.

grating parmesan till your hand hurts!

With the rest of the dough we made spaghetti and fettuccine.

After the pasta was all done, we cleaned up and headed upstairs where Christiana had cooked up a lovely Italian meal of Bruschetta with mozzarella and honey, Margherita pizza, artichoke frittata. She cooked the ravioli, fettuccine and spaghetti we had made and poured sauce over them. Ravioli went with a decadent sage butter sauce with grated parmesan.

Ravioli with sage butter sauce and parmesan

Fettuccine with roasted tomatoes and parmesan

For dessert, we had homemade Tiramisu.

After some chitchat it was time to leave the country and head back into town. We stepped out into the balcony to get our coats and we saw the sun set on Tuscany. It really doesn't get better than this.  Breathtaking!

Steve drove us back to Piazza Demidorf and we were left with the taste of pasta, visions of olive trees and the smell of Chianti red..... and the memories.

Until next time Tuscany......ciao!

Food in Florence

Cafe Steffania Marchetti
A lovely little fast food joint off the main street leading to the duomo. We were there for lunch and had the specials that were just being made.. very very tasty meal overall. R is still talking about how he passed up on the gelato there.

Roasted Vegetable Crepe

Mixed Vegetable salad with greens, cukes, olives, fresh corn and feta and a oregano olive oil dressing.

Cappuccino at a bar near our hotel:

Trattoria ZaZa 

We had dinner here our first evening in Florence.  It was recommended to us by our hotel front desk friend. The menu was very extensive with a large range of vegetarian options. It was a bit touristy because most of the diners were non-Italians.  However it was also recommended by the Chowhound forumites.  It didn't disappoint. I would certainly go there again. The fettuccine pesto was amazing as was the pizza.. the grilled flavour of the vegetables totally came through.

Happy customers!

Donnini

A hip and happening joint in Piazza del Republicca, that was housed in a tent in the side of the Piazza!! We were drawn to the lively music and energy ... we stopped for Tiramisu!!!!

Imatti Trattoria

Awesome joint for lunch. Located near the San Lorenzo street market. Service was a bit slow but the food was excellent. Despite it being called a Pizzeria, R's Penne arabiatta (no picture, sorry) was one of the best pasta dishes of his trip.  I had the potato gnocchi with eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini. Their house wine was good too.

Osteria Cipollo Rossa


This place was highly recommended on Chowhound and Fodors forums. We didn't make a reservation so I was a bit worried they wouldn't be able to seat us but it's a large enough place and being the low-tourist season, it wasn't very very crowded. Italians eat their dinner around 8-8:30pm so if you get in before 8pm typically we had a chance to get seated right away.

For appetizer, we ordered the bruschetta with navy beans which was OK. I didn't think it was flavoured a whole lot so it was  a bit disappointing. The herb pesto fettuccine with spicy peppers and toasted almonds that Rajesh ordered was simply excellent. I'm pretty sure the herb pesto had mint. No other words to describe it except that we will probably order the exact same thing if we were to go there again. My ricotta ravioli with carriage driver sauce (tomatoes mostly) was on the salty side. The dessert, panna cotta, was out of this world. I highly recommend this place.

Trattoria San Lorenzo

During our walks in the area, we had come across this place a couple times and it seemed quite busy and hopping. A quick search for reviews revealed that it was infact a good place for dinner with quite a few options. The service was fantastic. We had an awesome waiter that was quite entertaining and kept up with Rajesh's remarks/humor.  The food was very good. The Tuscan bread soup (ribbollita) was very different but simply delicious. Just for kicks, we ordered a side of roasted potatoes with rosemary. AMAZING!!  And the Tiramisu was really really good.

Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes and parmesan

Tuscan Bread soup- ribbolita- made with black cabbage.

Tiramisu

Some interesting tidbits about Italian dining....


-  Italians do not fuss with plating and presentation.  This was a common theme throughout all the places we dined at. The food was amazing.. plating was very very simple. No garnishes or random leaves of parsely or carved out cucumbers on the side.

-  Maybe because of the fact we went in November, there was not much use of fresh basil. That was disappointing.

-  The food and the courses came out pretty quick.

-  The waiter brings you your food and then pretty much leaves you alone until you actually call him or her and ask for something. They don't keep checking up on you. You got a big bottle of water at the very beginning which leads me to my next point...

-  You pay for your acqua. i.e water. Whether you want regular (naturale) or fizz (fizzante) , it's not free.  You also pay for the bread they give you at the very beginning. And not all times they ask you if you want bread. I think it's assumed that you do.

-  In the evenings, most restaurants have a "cover charge". Typically this is around 1.50-2 Euros a person. However there is no tax charged on food.

-  Italians love their parmesan. The rule of thumb is grate till your hand hurts. I'm not exaggerating.