Rome restaurant guide

The menu

Most meals consist of a "primo" - pasta or cereal course -; "secondo" (meat or fish for those who eat it, if not other dishes): and "contorno", side dish made by cooked vegetables or salad, served separately. Meals can include "antipasto" - hors d'oeuvre", "dolce" - dessert - and "frutta" (fruit). Unfortunately, the nutritional culture of Northern and wealthy countries is taking over, and there is more and more meat in the menu. Although vegetarians find many dishes to eat, and things are better here than in Northern European countries, because the culture of the latter is becoming popular, sometimes a first course followed by a simple salad or "contorno" (side dish) and cheese / omelet is the only option for vegetarians.

• Introduction
• The menu
• Campo de' Fiori - Piazza Navona
• Monti Quarter
• Spanish Steps - Trevi Fountain
• Jewish restaurants
• Roman Castles - Tivoli
• Spaghetti and tomato sauce recipes
• Bad restaurants to avoid

Drinks

While top-range restaurants generally have adequate wine lists, "trattorie" and "osterie" generally have a limited selection, and you will see the same five - six brands mostly of white wine wherever you go. Most people ask for "vino locale", or "vino della casa" (the wine of the house), generally white wine. The most popular white wine in Rome comes from the Alban Hills, or Castelli Romani, and is called "Vino dei Castelli" in Italian. There are several brands, very similar, the best perhaps are Marino and Grottaferrata, and especially "Gotto d'Oro". They must be served chilled.
Mineral water - acqua minerale - is "frizzante/gassata/con gas" (sparkling, fizzy, with bubbles), or "naturale/senza gas" (still, without bubbles).
Usually after the meal Italians have an "amaro" or "digestivo" (digestive, a bitter liqueur), after coffee. If you have a complete meal, and if you are friendly, the owners of the restaurant might offer it to you as a treat.

Criteria used to select the restaurants

Our intention is not to make a comprehensive list of restaurants, nor to report the most famous, fancy (and expensive) ones, but to report about restaurants that we think offer quality for the food, atmosphere and service, and which also give value to money spent. Some of them offer a 10% discount to Roman Homes customers, for which you need to show your rental contract or our business card. Many of these restaurants are hence off the beaten tracks. As soon as we will discover new ones, we will inspect and report about them, trying also to make the owners apply a discount for our customers. So if you have any suggestions about a special restaurant that you have discovered, please let us know about it at our usual e-mail address: info@romanhomes.com. Also restaurant owners following the above criteria can write to us asking to be included in the list. We will contact them and we will inspect their service, and possibly included them.