Rifugio Romano served the best vegan pizza I've ever eaten! Tbh, I haven't sampled too many other…read morevegan pies prior, however this one certainly beat them out, though they could also work on their technique and flavors a little more.
Searching for a place to eat, this place caught my eye for its good reviews on Gmaps and optimistic take on Roman classics turned plant-based. On a Friday around 1pm, right after we sat down, the restaurant sudden filled up with additional customers to about three-quarters full.
Approximately two dozen seats inside and another dozen street side tables outside. Inside it's got a mom and pop traditional restaurant feel--a handful of two and four tops, a drinks fridge/wine chiller, a small corner bar, with medium-toned wooden tables and chairs.
We checked in with the staff inside and they gave us the option to sit in or outside, we chose outdoors. Menus are scanned via QR code and if I recall correctly they have mostly Italian with some English.
We ordered:
- seasonal artichoke and vegan bacon pizza €16: first of all, the scale isn't obvious from my photo--it was a 12 inch pizza, for an individual pie--HUGE! Glad I saw the table over receiving their pizza first so I didn't make the big mistake of ordering more than one. Flavor--the artichoke, cheese and crust were a great combo, and the plant-based cheese stood out as one of the most strikingly similar cheesy textures out there. The bacon was visually and texturally dissimilar to the real thing, it looked dry though wasn't, and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't bacon. At least they hit one out of two on this pizza. It was a satisfying pie.
- ratatouille €6: which ended up being sautéed beans, peas and asparagus. If there is one thing I noticed eating at a few different Italian restaurants in Italy--they overcook their vegetables, and this was on trend, a tad over, though still edible. The flavor was good but needed to tone down the salt a notch.
Food arrived in about 15 minutes, the pizza was hot and crisp at the crust. Staff was friendly and checked in once during the meal.
Cash and card accepted. Bathroom available though I didn't use it to comment.
