A simple rustic menu. Click here for ABBA location of Da Enzo Al 29 Sas Di Di Felice Roberto & C., Via dei Vascellari, 29, Roma RM, Italy Like many
dining joints in Italy, some of the best are tucked in small allies. This was
no exception. With a small seating capacity of 20-30, this place was quickly
packed at its opening and a queue ensuing there after. The scene was no
different when walking past the same place the next day to Roma Sparita a little further down (reviewed below)
Ordered On: 16May2015
Bread and Olive Oil€2.50
Defiantly
quality olive oil. A thick, beautiful golden color with a nice deep, slight
spice after taste.
Carciofo Alla Giudia €4 Deep
fried whole globe artichoke
An
interesting dish, perfectly fried and the artichokes petals tasting like
delicious crispy potato chips. A really good and assuming seasonal dish. (This
was the best artichoke had during this trip's exploration) Ricotta D.O.P Laziale €5
Fresh
ricotta cheese made with local Latium sheep milk, served with artisanal jam.
No overly
strong cheese flavors here, but a light, subtle, creamy texture and taste. A
perfect, salt and sweet pairing with the well balanced jam. Matriciana O Amatriciana €9
Rigatoni
pasta with guanciale (type of bacon made out of pork jowl) from Amatrice,
pecorino cheese and tomato sauce. Carbonara €9.00
Percorino
Cheese, organic eggs from San Bartolomeo farm and black pepper.
Gircia €9 Rigatori pasta with P.G.I
(protected geographic indication) guanciale from Amatrice and P.D.O (protected
destination of origin) pecorino cheese from Agro Romano and Black Peoper
Cacio E Pepe €11
Tonnarelli
(handmade pasta of our production made with organic Mulino Mario flours.
Percorino cheese from Sgro Romano and black pepper.
Appetizers
were, hands down, phenomenally good and a great teaser of things to come.
Unfortunately that was all that it was on this trip, a tease.
I'd
recommend the tomato based pastas as they aren't that 'heavy'. The Cacio E Pepe
was way too heavy handed on the black pepper to the point it couldn't be
finished. Further more, the other cream dishes were overly heavy handed on the
salt. Although, with that said, the salt, fried pork bits were amazing good,
unfortunately the salt on salt did not aid it.
Total: €67.50 Fed 5 with half a bottle of wine and a bottle of
water ordered.
Overall,
an off the beaten track from the norm. A place where locals go to have their
meals. Top scoring appetizers but pasta falling short due mainly to overly
heavy-handed seasoning.
I
wouldn't completely write off this place. Possibly upon request for staff to be
light handed on seasoning, then this would be a cheap and a very good pasta
joint to go to. Their desserts in the windows look good as well, but we were
unfortunately turned off after the lack luster mains. Again I stress that the
large portion of the blame to dishes being too salty. I'd return here to try
the dishes and desserts again but being clear on a much needed reduction of
salt in the dish.
La Cabana is a pleasant pasta joint located in
an alley just off of the main walking/shopping street.
Ordered On: 16May2015 Fried Zuchinni flowers stuffed with mozzarella and
anchovies (each) €3x2
A classic
pairing of cheese and Zucchini flower, but never before with anchovies. It
gives that unique slaty pop and it was a crowd pleaser.
Fillet Minion €18
Cooked
over a wood flame grill, it had a good char and done the perfect medium
rare.
Aglio olio €11
Tomato
Based seafood pasta with mussels, clams, shrimp/salmon. €13/14
Tiramisu €6
Total Fed4 : €71
The
pastas were all done to a pretty good standard. Done Al Dante and balanced just
right. Not overly salty and staff were happy to cater to our request of pasta
options and change of seafood ingredients. The only draw back would probably be
that they were quite restrained on the ingredients.
Overall,
a good pasta joint. The place serves up decent appetizers, good mains and
average dessert in a nice environment. A little more pricey then Da Enzo
(located in the local part of town, reviewed above), but pasta here are
seasoned much better.
Located
away from the tourist side of town, lays home to a quaint dining location located
in front of a quadrangle and by a church.
Anthony Bourdain on Cacio e Pepe(2:50Mark) at Roma Sparita
Ordered On:
10Oct2016
Beef with aragula salad
*Cured meets and fresh vegetables can't go wrong*
Fried Zucchini
*A little too heavy on the batter, but it's alright.* Gnocchi with clams and zucchini flowers €12
*Clams are a little small and the gnocchi ought to have been finished off on the pan to give it somecolor and caramelization.In Chinese terms, it is missing the wok-heh (taste of the char) flavor* Fettuccine with porcini mushrooms €12
*It's okay. Could be more a little more mushroomy on the flavor. The home made pasta are very starchyand heavy, but with a drizzling of the olive oil table side helps cut the heaviness and brings a lightness and fruitiness to the dish.* Cacio e Pepe €13
*Too 'heavy' for two person to be had. Still the signature dish, but probably for the cheese fans. After a year not having had it, the review is the same. Nice but heavy! Relooking at the review from last year, the heavy handed black pepper wasn't really evident.* Ravioli filled of Ricotta and spinach €10
*Pretty nice. The tomato sauce is a little tart, but as the flavors come together, it is pretty good.* €16per pax. Fed 6
Still cheaper than eating at the touristy places, however this time around, staff seem tobe hard selling their seasonal dishes. The nature of the pastas here are very starchyand heavy. Best is for creamy or starchy dishes to be shared amongst 2 guys or threegirls.
Not as wow and experience as the first time going, but here you won't be charged the tourist prices. In my opinion its still worth a visit to try out the unique take of the Pepe for cheese lovers but remember to order one for the share. The rest are okay. Go for what you want rather than be pressured by wait staff to push for their own dishes.
Ordered
on:
16May2015
Taglioni Cacio e Pepe (Thin noodles with cheese and pepper)
€12
This is
the dish that is synonymous with Rome. Hand-made pasta noodles with black
pepper. We did request for less pepper out of fear of heavy handed spicing.
Served atop a cheesy cream sauce, in a crispy cheese basket, this truly was the
dish to come back for. Amazing flavor and fresh pasta were all that starchy.
The only draw back would probably be that, the cheese on cheese on cheese, does
get a little rich towards the end of the dish, but that couldn't stop anyone
for finishing it all.
Seafood Pasta €15
Cooked
well with a generous spread of seafood.
Mussles €18
They
definitely give you your weight in mussels. You'd suspect that after clearing
the top layer of shell fish there'd be none left but one would be gladly
mistaken. Again the down side was the overly salty broth, leaving one to
believe the mussels were boiled in seawater. The broth though delicious was way
to salty but taken with bread, a little more passable. Mussels were good but
overly salty broth hurt the dish a bit. Tiramisu
Tiramisu
to me was a little too watered down. Their ladies fingers were soggy and
drenched in diluted coffee. However, the other two found it quite pleasant.
Cheese Cake
It was a
first time for all parties to having a warm cheese cake. Unique and
interesting-good was the verdict. Crumbly, warm cheese cake made with ricotta
cheese! Worth the order.
A definite return for the Cacio e Pepe. The rest of the pastas are good too and pizzas are only available in the evening.
