If you're from the states, you'd basically relenquish your first born child in order to eat at a…read moretraditinal Roman restaurant in a quaint neighborhood in Rome. I should be elated. This should have 5 stars. It's not a tourist trap and all ingredients used are organic. What's my friggin' problem?!
We headed over here with a few other Yelpers as part of a covert operation to get this place on the site, as it had no reviews prior to this outing. We were going at this, completely blind! The company was great, and as is common with all Yelpers around the globe, ultimately we are foodies. I think we all REALLY wanted to be able to write great things...
It's located in the Pigneto neighborhood, which despite visiting this city yearly, I had never set foot in. From what I understand, it's an area that wasn't so great and is now booming with young crowds. There are several nice restaurants and bars, even a pedestrian street around the corner. Yes, not even the Eternal City is free of gentrification.
The restaurant itself is very welcoming. The decor makes you feel like you're right at home. Walking in, I really expected a wonderful experience. Their greatest asset, also seems to be their downfall however. They are a small operation. This means that their menu is written on the wall and changes daily depending on fresh ingredients available. The problem here is that there isn't much of a choice. Still, what's on the board all sounds great to me, so I'm still happy. We all mentally prepare our orders when the waitress informs us that the kitchen is small, there is only 1 stove, therefore we can only choose 2 or 3 types of pasta for the table. This kin dof grinds my gears, as it breaks the ultimate restaurant rule of the universe... you never get the same dish as those you are dining with. Here, it seems like we have no choice.
We get meatballs to start, which are divine (In fact, we wanted more but were told they were out). The spinach and ricotta arancini are also delicious. Next comes the Cacio e Pepe pasta I ordered which was really good, but by far, not the best I've had.
For dessert, a few people order Panna Cotta, which is basically Italian flan. As people dig in, we notice they each order looks different. Some of them have varying degrees of gelatin on top. We call over the waitress who tells us that she has already explained this to others in our party, that sometimes the gelatin doesnt set well and separates. "That's just how it comes out sometimes." I'm kind of appalled by this. Have my American customer service experiences spoiled me? I cant imagine a customer informing a waitress that their dish is off and being told that basically they were just unlucky to get the crappy one. She made no attempt to remedy the situation, and wasnt even remotely apologetic.
I'd like to think that the experience would have been a lot better had it been a smaller group of diners. Again, it's a small kitchen, with organic ingredients. I'm sure they put a lot of love into what they do.
