The #1 Italian Restaurant In Rome! and other Rome, Italy Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Ristorante La Pergola

Whenever I visit the Eternal City for work or for a fun-filled weekend, I always include a dining pilgrimage to this absolutely fabulous restaurant (esp when I don't have to pick up the tab for dinner or lunch).

Situated atop the Hilton Hotel and overlooking Rome and the Vatican City, you can choose to dine either al fresco or inside the restaurant. It's definitely a great place to come on a date or if you wish to impress your date. Gorgeous tulips in beautiful small glass stones adorned each table. As we entered the plush restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly manager and waiter (who made it a point to remember our names and addressed us accordingly!).

The Italian cuisine - supervised by the mega-talented German chef (!) - Heinz Beck - is par excellence! Each time we dine here, a different menu awaits us.

P.S. Photograph taking is a strict no-no here! I had wanted to snap some photos of their exquisite dishes using my mobile phone camera and well, you know the end-result....

Favorite Dish: My favorite is their lobster dish - and each time I try it, it's prepared/cooked in different styles. The last time I ate here, it was Baked Lobster.

Another favorite of mine is their Tagliolini with Scampi. Exquisite!

Even the little baguettes served was yummy. And when you dip it in their Felsina Berardegna's Leccino olive oil - it's pure heaven!

My partner simply adores their Mushroom Ice Cream! Me? No comment. ;-)

Oh... and do try their Golden Tea. It's possibly the BEST tea I've tasted in this lifetime!

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: most expensive
Prices: US$41 and up  » Currency Converter
Phone: +39 6 35091
Address: Via Cadlolo 101, Rome 00136
Website: http://www.cavalieri-hilton.it

Restaurant Name: Various

Hm, let's see.... I'm still not too familiar with Rome (but give me a few more visits and I promise to familiarize myself with every nook and cranny in this city!). What I'll do is to recommend the better places I've eaten in when I am in Rome.

Ristorante El Toulà
Address: 29B Via della Lupa
Tel: +39 06 687 3498.
Remarks: Wow, this restaurant (located near the Spanish Steps) must be one of the best places I've been to in Rome! I don't think the food here is inexpensive - considering the ambience and how other diners are dressed for dinner.
Recommendation: You must order their Broetto (a kind of fish soup... delicious)!

Ristorante Antico Arco
Address: 7 Piazzale Aurelio, Rome
Remarks: Another hip and trendy restaurant patronized by very well-dressed Romans and tourists. I dined on their delicious Ravioli and would highly recommend it.

Ristorante La Rosetta
Address: Via della Rosetta 9, Rome 00186
Tel: +39 6 68610 02
Remarks: Their seafood is mama mia! I'm sorry I don't know how much a meal here costs and I had no chance to scrutinize the menu in detail because every thing has been pre-ordered before I arrived.


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Theme: Italian
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$41 and up  » Currency Converter

Restaurant Name: Il Gelato di San Crispino

You can call me an unofficial ice cream expert :-) because I adore ice creams! My friends who know me will tell you that I only eat Haagen Daaz ice cream.... that is until I discovered the Italian Gelato.

Italians seem to excel in everything that they put their hearts and minds to. And their Gelato ice cream deserves an Oscar award!

And the best Ice Cream shop in all of Rome must surely be - Il Gelato di San Crispino. The gelati here are soft, creamy... delicious... and really, if it weren't for the fact that it's fattening, I'll probably eat it all day... and yes, all the time!

You can also buy a Gelato anywhere in Rome. But the most expensive places to buy one must surely be at the Spanish Steps. The gelati at Il Gelato di San Crispino isn't cheap either. :-(

One of my ex-colleagues bought a gelato just a stone's throw away from the Spanish Steps for - Gulp! - US$8 (and he didn't even sit in their cafe). Go figure.

Here I am (see photo please) - comparing whose Gelato is more appealing. By the way, I only eat chocolate ice cream and chocolate flavored Gelato. ;-P Just thought I'll elaborate a little in case you might want to buy me a nice Gelato when I am in Rome!


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Theme: Ice Cream
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter

My favorite hangout is in PIAZZA NAVONA.

And I only eat la cucina Italiana (read: Italian cuisine) when I'm in Rome.

I have no favorite cafes here in Rome so long as they are located in the Piazza Navona area (I know, I know... I'm kinda biased when I'm in love with something... Aren't we all?).


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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: Piazza Navona

Restaurant Name: Ristorante Mino

This was the first Italian restaurant we dined in on my first visit to Rome in the early-1990s: Ristorante Mino, located a stone's throw away from the legendary Trevi Fountain. The restaurant is still there today. I checked. ;-)

Our main course consisted of a deliciously huge T-bone steak. Too bad I don't eat beef steaks. So I donated my main course to one of the guys who was hungry. Their salad was just.... so-so.

However, the FREE flow of Frascati wine, coke and mineral water was indeed the icing on the cake! My, I've never drunk so much wine before in my entire life!

Entertainment at this ristorante was via their strolling minstrels who were singing their lungs out in Italian.

Surely the most interesting aspect of the evening was when one of the waiters actually planted a kiss on my girlfriend(Elaine)'s cheeks! I think she fainted after this chivalrous act.

Hey, we were only this young during this trip! No wonder we were so giggly... and enjoyed all this fun!

Favorite Dish: No favorites. But I did enjoy their Frascati wine!

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: Somewhere near the Trevi Fountain