REVIEW: In amore with food in Rome

Daaamn Mari! Back at it again with the restaurant reviews! 

Sette Oche *****

Via dei Salumi 36, Trastevere, Rome
And the foodgasm award goes to… the rigatoni a la carbonara! Unlike the boring creamy carbonara I’m used to in the UK, this was drier, based on strong parmesan/pecorino with egg and topped off with lots of black pepper. Simple but delicious. The pasta itself was enormous compare to the rigatoni you buy here and was cooked extremely al dente but something about the chewiness was very comforting. The other dish we ordered was gnocchi which was also delightful, melting with mozzarella in the tomato sauce. To top it off we had a scrummy hot chocolate cake with runny hot chocolate in the middle served with whipped cream, but it was quite a small portion. The whole service was fast, perfect for when you are hungry. Unfortunately charged us for the bread and olives which we didn’t actually ask for. Reasonable cost at 34.50 euros including soft drinks/water.

La Fiorentina ****

Via Andrea Doria, Rome
We ordered a thick spaghetti with the typical amatriciana sauce (tomato, pecorino cheese and cured pork cheek) and a four cheese pizza. The quattro formaggi was as you’d expect but got a bit dull after a while. In contrast the pasta was really really tasty but the bits of meat might be too salty for some. Still well worth a visit if you value flavour!

Spaghetteria L’Archetto *** (and a half)

Via dell'Archetto 26, Rome
I had a lovely tomato bruschetta for starter – although there were more interesting bruschetta varieties  available I’d never heard of before such as melted cheese and mushroom, if you want to get fancy. The carbonara was nice safe option, but it didn’t blow my mind, as it was quite similar to what you would get in Prezzo and lacking originality. The pizza L’Archetto after its namesake comprised of tuna, bacon, mushrooms and amatriciana sauce (in this restaurant called “matriciana”). I thought they were extremely stingy on the bacon as the entire pizza had around 3 bits (bits not even pieces) on it and I also deducted a star because the tuna wasn’t well drained and so the whole thing became one of those watery messes due to the thin bases typical of Italy. But don’t let my harsh critique put you off, it is still a good restaurant with plenty of fantastic reviews from other diners. And its good value too, coming in at 26 euros for two mains and a water.