ROME – ROSCIOLI

Roscioli was a restaurant that Stephen and I stumbled on by chance. After an afternoon of exploring Rome, we were ready for dinner but also ready for home. So we ducked into a cafe to rest our feet and wi-fi access to look for a restaurant on the way back to our Airbnb. Roscioli was just a few blocks away and well rated, but reviews warned about how hard it might be to get a table. We decided to take a chance and luckily managed to get a table (right by the door).

Atmosphere: Roscioli was half deli half restaurant with one wall lined with wine bottles. The counter displayed gorgeous legs of ham at all different price points and shelves behind the counter was lined with a large variety of other meats. The restaurant was bustling and filled to capacity the entire night. We saw many people turned away at the door.

Service: Our server was very friendly and especially helpful with suggesting a bottle of wine to pair with what we had ordered. We didn’t have any issues with a language barrier and she answered all of our questions about the menu. When we ordered the artichoke, she made sure that we knew how to eat the dish dish and walked us through how much to peel off. I appreciated that the price for a basket of bread was clearly listed on their menu.

Food: Since Stephen and I spent the entire afternoon snacking, we weren’t super hungry. To start though, we opted to try an order each of Italian and Spanish ham. I liked the Spanish ham we choose more, as it was slightly more fatty, but both were flavorful and delicious. With a glass of wine, the plate of ham with fresh toasted bread was the perfect meal.

For mains, we ordered grilled Lamb Chops and a bowl of Cacio e Pepe. The lamb chops were so tender and just fell off the bone. I loved how cheesy the pasta was, which was cooked perfectly al dente. To round out our dinner, we had a side of artichoke hearts in olive oil as our vegetable. I would’ve loved to also try Roscioli’s carbonara and some more salumi, but we were stuffed with our few dishes (and a second bread basket).