ROME – TRATTORIA VECCHIA ROMA

Trattoria Vecchia Roma was our first big miss in Rome. Despite thousands of 4 star reviews from multiple sources online and a queue outside before doors opened, I found our meal incredibly disappointing. There wasn’t any dish that I truly enjoyed and none redeemed the meal. Stephen and I walked out of the restaurant confused and wondering what went wrong.

Atmosphere: The restaurant was located in the basement of a building with traditional decor, wooden tables and some exposed stone details. There were lots of tables and large parties could be easily accommodated. The majority of diners were tourists and the menu was written in Italian and English.

Service: We had no issues with service, which was professional and quick. Drinks, including water, was 2-4 Euros per bottle, but clearly priced on the menu. There was also a bread charge, again clearly marked.

Food: Perhaps I just didn’t enjoy what we ordered, but out of 5 dishes, I didn’t enjoy any of them. They couldn’t have all been duds or translation misunderstandings. To start, we ordered an appetizer of fried vegetables, verdure fritte that was served on a plate with a piece of parchment. The assorted vegetables were all shapes and sizes, which turned out to be mostly mushrooms. All of the pieces were pretty oily without much flavour.

Looking at reviews online, pretty much all I saw were plates of Cacio e Pepe. Since we had that the night before, we wanted to try something new. The pasta dish we ended up choosing was the Spaghetti with Guanciale, Zucchini and Truffle. This was the best dish of the night but not even close to the best pasta of our trip. The spaghetti was a good texture, but I felt the plate was under seasoned again. Maybe we should’ve stuck to a classic. For our protein, Stephen and I decided to try the Lamb Skewers and signature Oxtail dish. Continuing the theme of the night, I felt both dishes were bland and the oxtail quite oily. Our last plate was an attempt at getting another serving of vegetables, grilled vegetables, which included eggplant, peppers and zucchini. A pretty underwhelming side and again, underseasoned. Maybe my taste buds weren’t working that night.

Overall, Trattoria Vecchia Roma was fine. The restaurant was cozy and the service excellent. I’m not sure the food warranted lining up for a table or any of the rave reviews.