Botrini looks cleaner and nicer than anything else in the neighborhood, and yet the vibe is in line with the classic Roma tradition of the "trattoria". While I enjoy the ambiance, it's really all about the food. They serve you a warm focaccia to get you started, then you can delve into a very interesting menu, a mix of traditional local dishes (amatriciana, gricia, saltimbocca etc.) and some more daring options. The fried capers and sage dish is a fitting example - the only other place I've seen serving fried sage as in Umbria, some 150 miles away, but it's so tasty and unique that it's hard to justify. My favorite dish is the eggplant rolls with seared tuna inside, on a bed of pesto. I would have never thought of such a combination but the composition of flavors is excellent and the execution is always spotless.
Pasta, pizza, meat, all I tried at Botrini left me with a good impression and the promise to come back for more. Which I did, several times, so that fried sage and I are now close friends. I'm sure one day we'll live happily ever after, in the meantime I don't mind the company of fried mozzarella, or the platter of cold cuts, or the seafood salad, the menu is really too good not to try everything. read more