9 Best Eats in Rome 2016


Here are our nine 'best eats' from our September trip to Rome - in reverse order of favourites!

Amatriciana from Osteria dell'Arco - We felt that in a small way we were playing our part in sending relief to the victims of the earthquake in Central Italy as some of the cost of the dish was donated to the Italian Red Cross.



Pizza, Nuovo Mondo - This may not be in the foodies top ten of pizzarias in Rome & the harsh lighting doesn't make it one of the warmest eating venues but my goodness you can't beat the pizzas fresh from the oven. Roman fast food at its best.




Alici Arraganate, Piatto Romano -  This spicy anchovy dish from the Adriatic coast looked and tasted spectacular. In fact the whole meal at this Testaccio trattoria was one of the best that we had this trip.




Pizza Bianca with Mortadella, Passi - We absolutely love this bakery in Testaccio where you can watch the bread being made through an open door on the side street. A breakfast ritual is to pick up a salty slice of pizza bianca stuffed with mortadella & take it to the piazza to enjoy whilst experiencing a snapshot of Testaccio life.




Suckling Pig, Tavernaccia da Bruno - The crispiest crackling and sweetest, tender pork made this one of the best Sunday lunches ever. The wood fired oven produces a fantastic lasagne as well as the aforementioned pig. The dining room has a warm ambience and the staff are friendly to all, whether tourists or locals.


Patate Pizzette, Da Artenio - These little potato pizzas are totally addictive and it has taken eleven trips to Rome to discover them! We can thank Rachel Roddy who introduced these little delights as part of our 'Market to Table' day, more of which later. Needless to say we paid many more visits to Da Artenio's stall in Testaccio market throughout our trip.


Risotto of Dreams, Retrobottega - Who would have thought that something so simple could be so tasty, with flavourings of Szechuan pepper, lemon verbena & rocket, this risotto was amazing. Read about the whole meal here


Beans with Salted Ricotta, Rachel Roddy at Market to Table - The runner up in our '9 Best Eats' is a simple dish elevated to another level by quality ingredients. The beans were gorgeous borlotti, luckily still in season while we were there.


The salted ricotta was from Volpetti. I am not actually a fan of this delicatessan as I feel that the staff, whilst welcoming, are a little too 'in your face' but I am going to visit on our next trip as the salted ricotta was sublime. It was far superior to that which I bought in the market.
Best of all this dish was cooked by Rachel herself, to her recipe which you can find here

And the winner is.........

Foccacia, Carla Tomesi at Market to Table - Returning home after previous trips to Rome I used to dream of the pizza al taglio from Bonci's Pizzaruim. Gabriele Bonci is the Michelangelo of pizza dough but I'm afraid he has been knocked off the pedastal by Carla's breads. Simply amazing. Enough said.