tomarkot...thanks for taking the time to read this trip report and my S. Asia report too! I completely agree with your comment "not enough time to get to all the places"! :-)

looks great but sadly it will probably be outside the budget of my fellow language students. I'm definitely looking at the budget end of the market.>>

I'm going to post a TR, but just to add to this, we found some great budget places in the area south of the Vatican, where we were staying, rarely paying more than €25 pp including wine and water. none of them were exactly "gourmet" but the food was local, tasty, and by and large well cooked.

this is a place that we ate at on our first and last nights: http://www.ristorantevongoleefarina.it/

and this where we had a meal near the piazza navona [which was recommended to me when i visited 3 years ago by the owner of our apartment}:

http://www.anticatavernamangiabene.it/

we also ate at some other places so small and/or insignificant that they don't make it into the net [or i can't find them].

annhig...

Thanks for posting the links to the restaurants you dined at while in Rome, they both look terrific! Some of the best meals I've had were at small/insignificant places! :-)

LCI - I have found Rome to be one of the cheapest and best cities to eat in - better overall than Florence and Venice. I think that the food there is consistently good, and unless you are unlucky enough to stray into one of the real tourist traps, it's quite hard to have a bad meal there.

we weren't able to be too adventurous because the students were operating within quite strict budgets, but it was always possible to find more typical local dishes on the menus - one night for example i had trippa alla romana, which I found surprisingly good, and we must have had carciofi alla romana [artichokes in the roman style] at least 4 different ways.

we were never pressurised to have more courses than we wanted, and it was easy to share side dishes if we wanted to. Certainly no-one needs to worry about being expected to eat their way through all the courses on an italian menu!

Enjoyed reading this good Rome restaurant thread!

"none of them were exactly "gourmet" but the food was local, tasty, and by and large well cooked"
I find this to be true about any restaurant food in Rome, even the very expensive ones do not deliver despite their high price & reputation. Anyone knows a true gem in Rome where you can swear the food is amazing?

DAX - i can't help.

Any time i've been in Rome I've been eating at the lower end of the market, but I've no complaints about that.

Annhig I think you made the smartest move since IMHO no restaurant in Rome is worth splurging for.

might be nice to try though, DAX!

one can get a little fed up with paper table-cloths and €4/litre wine....though the bank manager approves.

"<i>Anyone knows a true gem in Rome where you can swear the food is amazing?</i>"
We found 2 that we really enjoyed:

Trattoria Monti; Via di San Vito, 13, 00185 Rome, Italy Phone:+39 06 446 6573. A bit expensive; but consistantly good - we ate there 4 or 5 times during our 3 month stay (Dec 2012-Feb 2013). Family run; Mother is the chef, 2 brothers run the front of the house. Starter of red onion flan is amazing.


Monte Caruso; http://www.montecaruso.com/inglese.html Also family run; brother & sister in the front of the house, father is the chef. This was our favorite; really good wine list; unique dishes; and exceptionally kind people.

Reservations a must with both restaurants.

Cyn

I'll agree with cynstalker about Trattoria Monti, we had an excellent experience there and the red onion flan is "to die for" and the brothers are pretty easy on the eyes. ;-)

I haven't tried Monte Caruso, but it sounds terrific. I'll also offer L'Osteria Monteverde, which I wrote about in this trip report...we thought the food was exceptionally delicious, the service friendly and the prices extremely reasonable. It's definitely off the Centro Storico track though being in the Monteverde neighborhood.

Tag

Great recs for Roma!! Thanks so much!

Reading this trip report did not involve gaining weight because I did not eat everything you described. I can only imagine if I did.

About Portuguese cream tarts. If you are ever in Salamanca, Spain, there is a bakery called Vasco da Gama on the edge of town on the north side. Yum. It was across the street from my home exchange apartment. Bet you can't eat just one!

Thanks for bringing this back up, I need to take some notes now.

I'm always surprised when I see one of my older trip reports pop back up. I hope the information I've provided can help in your own trip planning.

And...stay tuned for another Rome trip report because I'm heading back there in October with a list of new restaurants to try! :-D

Very timely return trip, LCI - we'll go in May, so updated info will be great.
I know you really did not want to go back again, it's only for research and helping us, right? LOL

Roll on October! I can't wait for your trip report. Our June 2013 visit was based around your recommendations. Enjoy!

Care to share your restaurant list?

Johnny...I'm using Elizabeth's Minchilli's app. But so far we plan on:
Renato e Luisa
Hosteria Monteverde (a repeat for us, but we LOVE it)
Perilli
Antra Grassa
Romeo

No reservations have been made yet, we are still discussing other options. There are so many on Elizabeth's app we wan to try but we only have so many dinners in 7 days. ;-)

We may also go back to L'Asino D'Oro, but for lunch this time and we are also hoping to get back to Pizzarium one day for lunch.

' but we only have so many dinners in 7 days'
I know - such a problem!
We too are thinking of Renato e Luisa
Hosteria Monteverde (because of your fab report!) and Romeo.
We couldn't visit Rome without a trip to Pizzarium - seriously, I can taste this pizza whenever I think of the Eternal City. Then there is gelato.....Fatamorgana for sure, but also Il Gelato Bistro, Gelateria del Teatro...the list goes on and on. 'Rome, a life time is not enough' and that is just for the food!!