Giggetto
Via Portico d’Ottavio 21/a- 22
Rome

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Victims: Feathers, Anna, Kellie, Julie

The Damage: About 20 euros each.

The Background: It’s our last day in Rome. We have plans to visit the catacombs, but we get all the way there and they are all roped off with police tape. That kills pretty much our entire plan for the afternoon. Plus, it’s raining.

So I suggest the Jewish Ghetto. The guidebook suggests that there are lots of galleries and shops in the area and it’s where all the cool kids are hanging out these days. We take a walk around it’s main drag and there’s not much going on. But there are a bunch of restaurants.

At this point, I’m tired of picking restaurants, so Feathers picks one for us. Giggetto.

The Entrance: There’s an old woman sitting at a till, ringing up orders from waiters. The waiters come out of the kitchen in a hurry and stop by the woman’s desk, showing her the food they’re delivering. The food looks great and there’s an energy and quirkiness about the place. I can’t stop watching the kitchen door swing open.

The Service: Our server is an older gentleman and charming, in that Italian-older-gentleman kind of way. He is so charming that he convinces us to order one fried artichoke each. Carciofi alla giudia, the Roman speciality. We figure out later that each artichoke costs 6 euros each. Yes, we’ve just ordered 30 euros worth of fried artichokes. My little carafe of white wine is 2 euros (again!) to put things in perspective.

The Food: I defer to our server’s recommendation. Bucatini all’Amatriciana. It is my best meal of the trip. The sauce…I can only describe it as zesty, and I hate that word. Really packed full of flavor. And although I complained about the lack of pancetta in my dish at Alle Fratte, here, there’s lots of pancetta to go around. And the pasta…the pasta….how they are able to cook their pasta to such a level of perfectness, I will never understand. It’s really firm and the sauce just clings to it perfectly. I am very happy.

The Funny Bit: Before I left for Rome, I asked my Italian colleague Salvo for some restaurant recommendations. He sent me ONE. Just one. I was sorta like, “Is this it? Just ONE recommendation for all of Rome?”

Giggetto was his recommendation and we had unknowingly and randomly just stumbled upon it.

The Verdict: I loved Giggetto. I loved the servers, I loved the atmosphere (wood paneling, people from all generations) and I LOVED my bucatini.

And now…back to our regularly scheduled London restaurant programming…

The post Giggetto, Rome first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Alle Fratte di Trastevere
Via delle Fratte di Trastevere, 49-50
Rome

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, April 18th, 2009

The Victims: Julie, Kellie, Feathers, Anna

The Damage: An unbelievable 20 euros each.

The Background: My feet are killing me. We’ve been everywhere. Walking. 3.5 hours in the Vatican, in particular. We’ve been on a tour with Eden Walks, and it was pretty darn fantastic. I’ve been to the Vatican Museum twice before and there are only so many bowls and cups and tapestries I can take. But Graham, our tour guide, is fantastic and keeps my interest.

At the end of the tour, Feathers and I prompt him for restaurant advice. He gives us the secret code to the list on his Web site and later on once we’re home, I peruse his suggestions and short reviews and pick Alle Fratte di Trastevere. Again, keywords being “fun” and “good value.”

The Entrance: Alle Fratte is PACKED at 9:30 p.m. when we enter. All Italians. With the exception of a mixed group of Scandinavians and Italians that arrive later. The gregarious proprietor seats us and starts suggesting all sorts of things. We start out simply with some antipasti and some bruschetta and both some house white and some house red.

This is what I love about Italy. I love house wines. I love the mystery of not knowing what they are. And I love the pricetag. At one point during our sojourn in Rome, my house white is cheaper than somebody’s Coke-a-cola. Now that’s funny. I think. I also love the carafes. No bottles. No ceremony.

The Food: I opt for the local dish. Penne all’Amatriciana. It is nice. The few crispy bits of bacon are the best part and I am sad that they are so few and far between. It feels homey. Maybe homey on a budget. And it is homey later when I admit that I’m from Long Island, as is the proprietor’s wife and son. I announce this at the end of the meal, and they all look at me strangely and say, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner???”

I will always wonder what sorts of goodies I missed out on.

The Limoncello: We’re treated to a free round of Limoncello before heading off into the night and into the Trastevere. A nice touch.

The Verdict: Well, at 20 euros per person, it’s really really hard to complain. I thought the food here was serviceable. Service was friendly. The loos were clean. And the atmosphere was lively and fun. In short, it was nice.

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Piccolo Abruzzo
Via Sicilia, 237
Rome

Date of Last Visit: Friday, April 17th

The Victims: Kellie, Julie, Feathers, Anna

The Damage: 40 euros each?

The Background: In preparing for our trip to Rome, I consulted a ridiculous number of reviews and resources in order to find some good places to eat. Guidebooks. Discussion forums. Blogs. I wanted someplace fun for our first night. Not expensive. Honestly, “fun” was really the operative word.

One place came up again and again. Piccolo Abruzzo. Ms. Expatria gave it rave reviews. Chowhound loved it. American in London was very lukewarm about it. But it still sounded fun, so I booked it.

The Entrance: Piccolo Abruzzo LOOKS fun. The walls are action-packed with Italian stuff and there’s a huge table overloaded wtih food as you enter. Our server is friendly and kind and gracious and brings us some assorted salamis and wine to start.

There is no menu at Piccolo Abruzzo, so it’s a go-with-the-flow kinda place. They bring us two cheeses–a mozzerella and a ricotta–and some wild boar to kick things off. They are all very pleasant. The wine even more so because you don’t pay by the bottle. They just keep bringing you wine. It’s all included in the price. (Although Anna complains later in the evening that the wine didn’t get her drunk enough. It is her weekend away from the three-year-old and the baby, after all.)

The Mains: I think it’s this dinner that makes me think, “Hey, maybe it’s time to give up carbs for a while.” Because they bring us two pastas and I think they’re pretty darn good. Why so few outside of Italy are capable of cooking pasta al dente, I will never know. There’s a penne first. Penne with RABBIT no less. Hop hop! And then a spaghetti.

And we’re not done. There’s still another dish coming our way. It’s a generously thick slab of veal and half a potato. It’s all too much for me at this point and I stop eating. But from the tiny bit I tasted, it was nice. This is followed by some dessert (which I again skip) and some grappa. (Blech.)

The Loos: Holy tilework! Clean at the begining of the evening. A mess at the end. Oh, and we all had to take trips to check out the large plastic phallus standing guard over the kitchen. Classy.

The Verdict: Piccola Abruzzo isn’t super gourmet. It’s just a fun place to go with a large group of friends. I would probably say that four or more people is about the right number. Somehow, eating all of this food if there’s just two or three of you seems excessive. But if you’ve got no place to be and you’re looking for someplace casual and good fun, this is a pretty good option.

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Pizzeria Leonina

Pizzeria Leonina

Via Leonina 84 (just off Via Cavour)
Rome, Italy

Date of Last Visit: Friday, April 17th, 2009

The Victims: Julie, Feathers, Anna, Kellie

The Damage: 25 euros for five people to eat delicious pizza, washed down with Coca Cola. 25 euros TOTAL.

The Background: When I first moved to London, I thought I’d only be here for two or three years. And well, I just celebrated five years on March 30th. Time–it gets away from you.

So you know you’ve been here a while when people who’ve moved here AFTER you decide to return home. So it is with my friend Julie, who’s heading back to the States for good this coming weekend.

We decided to send her off in style with a girls’ weekend in Rome. Julie was in charge of sightseeing. Kellie was in charge of walking. And I was in charge of food. (As a mother of two, we let Anna have the weekend off. And Lee was in charge of speaking as she knew more Italian than the rest of us.)

The Entrance: We’ve just been to see the Forum and the Coliseum. My third time. Julie’s first. We’ve worked up a powerful hunger and our feet hurt already. It’s time for a break. I have it on good advice from Rome blogger Ms. Expatria that Pizzeria Leonina is where it’s at for lunch near the coliseum. Her review was highly complimentary.

We arrive and I’m slightly disappointed. It kinda looks like a dump.

But the greeting is warm and genuine and the pizzas look interesting and, well, they’re CHEAP.

The Food: So we load up. I opt for the potato and prosciutto pizza. There’s a sundried tomato pizza and a sausage pizza and a crushed tomato pizza. The guy behind the counter slices them all up into tiny pieces which makes sharing easy.

There are no tables at Pizzeria Leonina. It’s not really a restaurant, more of a cafe. There are just some bar-style stools along the wall. We happily perch and eat, reflecting that our 25 euro bill is actually 60% food and 40% coca cola.

For the rest of the trip, we talk about how great the pizza here was.

Pizzeria Leonina Verdict

Cheap. Delicious. Friendly. Can’t beat that now, can you?

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