I am truly going to regret writing this review because Triplo is a one of those restaurants where you go to, have an incredible time with your love ones, and would return again the next day to do it all over again. I will regret this review because everyone else in the world would find out about this "secret gem" and spoil it the next time I am in Rome, but I will admit that Sr Claudio, our good friend and owner, deserves every ounce of recognition and award that comes with running this incredible restaurant.
We stumbled upon this place strolling north of the Piazza de Popollo on a very busy Saturday night, almost losing all hope of finding a good restaurant for our group of 11. They opened their door for us and welcomed us into their restaurant and treated us like family. In this day and age of a mass marketed and popularized Rome with tourist traps at every corner, this was DEFINITELY a diamond in the rough.
This is a small restaurant, as like most restaurant in Rome, but they were able to fit 4 large groups on the second floor. There was no price gouging and added service fees because we spoke English or were toursits. Sr Claudio lived in Los Angeles and obviously spoke English, and his waitress, I forget her name, was also excellent in her English. So everything went smooth.
To the most important part of this review, the food.
In one word, AMAZING! We ordered for starters bruschetta and mozzarella with grilled eggplant. The mozzarella with grilled eggplant was simply just "uhm... so good!" and beats out any of the fresh mozzarella I have had in Napa. My wife and I ordered the spaghetti alla ceci e pepe and spaghetti alla carbonara. The spaghetti alla ceci e pepe was great and the mint added a nice fresh touch to the dish. The spaghetti alla carbonara, also known as "THE Roman dish", was definitely the star of the night! The pasta was cooked to perfection, and the sauce was yolky, creamy, and just freaken ridiculously good!!! Simply an incredible dish. Everyone at the table tonight agreed that this dish has truly screwed it up for all of us since spaghetti alla carbonara anywhere else will be second rate compared to this exact dish from Triplo. We also ordered the Stinco di Maiale which is a roasted pork shank. The meat was so tender and full of flavor! The potatoes and sweet onions were a great complement to the salty and savory meat. We also ordered the seabass which was simply fish oven baked with tomatoes and lemon juice. This simple approach really let the fish shine through which was much appreciated.
Other dishes ordered were the hamburgers with beef patty, which would calm down any meat lovers cracking; and another pasta dish that I forgot the name of....
We finished 4 bottles of wine, 6 starters, 11 first plate dishes and 2 second plate dishes and our total was a extremely fair ~310 Euro. I cannot stress how inexpensive this is compared to the rest of the other restaurants near the Spanish Steps which is less than 0.25 miles south. Trust me, Triplo is worth the extra distance going north just a few meters.
Again, the star tonight was the Spaghetti alla carbonara. There is no word to describe this dish. It is simply the ABSOLUTE BEST spaghetti alla carbonara I have ever had! If I had to recommend one and ONLY one dish in Rome, it would be THIS exact spaghetti alla carbonara at Triplo. This dish is truly on another level! Homemade pasta with perfect creamy, yolk, cheesy sauce! So damn good!!!
Pay a visit to Sr Claudio and his restaurant. I only ask that you treat him, his staff, and his food with the dignity and respect that they deserve. This is a truly incredible restaurant at an incredible price. We will be visiting again the next time we are in Rome--we may even visit again tomorrow! read more