Bottom Line - This is, by far, my favourite restaurant while in Roma. The pasta is fresh, the meats are fantastico, the service is excellent, and the ambiance is just really nice. Don't expect this restaurant to have any menus in English. You will have to rely on your Italian skills, Google translate and the friendliness of the wait staff when deciding on what to order.
So my friend and I actually came here two days in a row... we had been directed to many restaurants that we thought were not very good, so when we happened upon Il Caminetto, we just decided to stop restaurant searching and come back.
The first night, we made reservations and ordered the following:
Fettuccine alla Primavera olio a crudo dadini di pomodoro e basilico (€10,00) - OMG this dish was so simple yet so flavourful. I loved how the pasta was fresh (surprisingly, it's hard to find in-house made pasta in Roma). I would totally order this again.
Scaloppina di Vitrlla al madera (€12,50 veal) - My friend ordered the veal and it came with a wine-based mushroom sauce. I had a bite and the veal was spectacularly tender. It was soooooo good! She was craving meat, and this did the trick.
Lamb chops (€12,50) - I love lamb, so I had to order this. Mmmmm, the lamb chops were so good! Perfectly cooked, with a medium-rare middle. Yum yum yum. I'd totally order this again!
Spinach (€6,50) - With our pasta to start, and two meat courses, we felt we had to get some greens, and we both like spinach, so yes to the spinach! This dish came our lovely... a vibrant green (it wasn't overcooked at all), lightly tossed and cooked in olive oil, garlic and just a little bit of salt. Yum!
Tartufo fatto in casa alla crema (€8,00) - This was our dessert. Take a look at the photo. It was pretty good, but we would probably try another dessert next time.
We ordered another pasta dish (€12,50) after devouring the meat course... it was a tortellini stuffed with ground lamb, served with mushrooms and english peas in a white cream sauce. Devine!
Along with bread for two (€2,00 x2), a bottle of frizzante water (€3,00) and a glass of red vino (€2,50), our total came to €71.00 for our table of 2.
After the meal, we decided we should come back the next day (our precious holiday time was running out).... so on our way out we asked about making reservations, and it was so. The next night, we ordered:
Spaghetti Carbonara (€11,00) - This was very nice. Not too heavy, and the eggs were tempered correctly (another restaurant's carbonara was basically like scrambled eggs with pasta). The flavour of the pancetta was really nice and the texture of the sauce was smooth. Finally, good spaghetti carbonara in Roma!
Fagiolini (€7,00 green beans) - The green beans were quite good; I was hoping they'd have more spinach, but not today.
Tartara di filetto di Manzo (€16,00) - I had to order the beef tartare. It was pretty good! I had to eat it with the bread, though, because on its own, it's just a bit much.
Along with dessert , the table bread, another bottle of frizzante water, a glass of wine (do you see how we operate, yet?), our total came to €51,50. read more