This meal fulfiled our personal criteria, here we discuss what they are, and suggest our title might be correct!
from Tripadvisor:
We stayed in the Monti area of Roma, which is near many attractions, buzzing and full of eating experiences. And, we ate in many restaurants in the few days we had in Rome. Of course I have no idea at all where the best meal in Rome is, but let's think what that would be if you really could decide to eat anywhere, these are our criteria :
Clean and attractive premises
Friendly staff
mid price ££
Food that surprised and delighted
Great wine
Cool area
Full of locals
So, by these criteria, Taverna Romana in Monti was the best meal you can get in Rome! Loads of other restaurants in this pretty side road, they had all been full on our first night, but we wandered and saw this small Taverna which looked great, and seemed to be offering real locals a simple short menu of local product, much of which we didn't recognise ! So we booked it in our broken Italian for the next night "posso Pre notare un tavola per due personi per favore ?" Maybe that's what we liked ? They appreciated that we tried? Lol
Lets start where we finished : here's our bill!
Now water and potatoes you know! Saltimboca too no doubt! Absolutely delicious!
But Coda? Puntarella? Cicoria ripassata? Well isn't that the greatest joy? The staff helped so much, recommended, pointed at other tables , showed us in the cold cabinet, and effectively chose for us!
coda , look it up : Tail ... well this rich flavoursome Oxtail stew lived up to all possible expectation, great stew, home made and delicious.
The accompanying vegetables were equally amazing
chicory, sautéed roman style (cicoria ripassata alla romana)
Chicory: peppery, wild, grassy and beautifully bitter greens. Sauteed Roman style with garlic and chili pepper.
From Wiki:
Puntarelle or cicoria di catalogna or cicoria asparago is a variant of chicory. The heads are characterized by an elongated shape (about 40–50 cm), light green stems and dandelion shaped leaves. 'Puntarelle' shoots have a pleasantly bitter taste.
both veg were delicious complimented the mains and were really different from standard sides. Perfect, cheap, and surprising.
The red wine, I think was a cabernet grape, but could have been a merlot, probably what was described in this article as a VDT:
VdT – Vino Da Tavola
This signifies wines that have met no other criteria than that they were produced somewhere in Italy. Fine in an emergency, but most suitable for buying as a present to take home to relatives or colleagues that you don’t like very much. (2009)
So this review above I found on line from 2009! And it demonstrates brilliantly how much has changed : if a Colleague brought me this back , I would seriously consider trying harder with him! Really very drinkable would be a much better description now.
So there it is , our take on the best meal you'll find in Rome. Prove us wrong!
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