Rome Travel Answers

you won't be far from University LaSapienza, there must be good cheap trattorie in the area.

eating good pasta you should go to

PASTA ALL'UOVO LE GNOCCHETTE  (the name is self-explanatory)

Via degli armenti, 69

stop Tor Sapienza FR2

Be adventuresome! Explore Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood. Meaning “on the other side of the Tiber”, Trastevere is filled with restaurants, frequented by locals, and the prices are reasonable and food is very good. One I can recommend is Il Tulipano Nero (The Black Tulip) at 15 Via Roma Libera; +39 06 581 8309. You cannot go wrong where the natives eat.

Great info & yes when in Rome eat where the Romans eat eh!!!

In decending order of yummy (1) Lasagne (2) Cannaloni & (3) Gnocchi so I'll cross that river

Well I have to say that I agree with the advice to be adventurous. The Tastavere is quite a ways from Termini. Near via Marghera I have eaten at Meid in Napols Via Varese 54 It is just a short walk. Not cheap but it has been good each time I have eaten there. If you are on a tight budget you might try the Taverna Pretoriana. Via Palestro, 46-48, 00185 Rome This is not a fancy place but it is where the cops eat. The service I have had here has allways been good and many of the pasta dishes have been filling and inexpensive.

It is easy to find pretty good food in Rome just use your instincts and have fun.

Randy

Thanks and I tend many times to stick to local (close by accom.) but this time in Rome I want to break away from that and explore

Cities like Rome if you investigate the public transport will more than often get you close

Am going this time with some very good tips. Thanks all

Von.otter and RoscoGregg----am looking at google map and Viale di Trastevere a rather large road and see what appear to be trolley car symbols.

Do these trolley car ,if thats what they are,come to this Via from my area??

Ianbaz wrote:

Von.otter and RoscoGregg----am looking at google map and Viale di Trastevere a rather large road and see what appear to be trolley car symbols.

Do these trolley car ,if thats what they are,come to this Via from my area??

But the interesting part of Trastevere is the northern part, up around Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere. Here you can wander down the side streets and find what you are looking for. The southern end of Trestevere is, what, 2 kilometers away (?) and is less interesting.

The public transportation website (www.atac.roma.it) suggests that you take Linea H (which I assume is a bus), which starts at Termini, where Via Marghera runs into the side street, all the way across town to Trastevere. For you, knowing where to get off is easy - just got off at the first stop after the Tiber, and head due west on the Via della Lungaretta - you'll run into the northeast corner of the piazza. Take a look at a map and check out the ATAC website, and see if this makes sense...

Bill

Thanks Bill

OK got the bus from Termini area to Trastevere

Appears to be Linea H and aprox 15 minute trip

Hmpf, I would have thought that it was longer than that, but I guess it depends on the time of day...and my sense of time for such things is off, because I either walked or drove (when it was still legal)...that's why I told you that it would be the first stop after crossing the Tiber, however long that was ;-)

Bill

Going by the public transport map it leaves the Termini area and skirts the back of Forumto Colliseum then a bridge near an island in Tiber---they say aprox but to a person on vaction time not critical

Termini is filled with local people...it's a densely-populated area..so there are any number of ordinary places to eat where you will find the clientele are locals. I'd second Meid in Nepols, and also the AntiqaTaverna on Via Milazzo:

Antica Taverna: "Good basic food" - Antica Taverna Tip by leics

Both were as busy with locals on my 2012 visit as in 2008, but there are plenty more such places in the streets around Termini. And, if you just want a decent reasonably-priced meal, the branch of Ciao inside Termini station is ideal: good value food (sortof self-service) with a fascinating view of the comings-and-goings on the concourse below.

Trastevere is increasingly popular with visitors, in my experience. Best to wander well away from the main tourist streets if you want to eat in that area.

Lately Trastevere has become a chic (style) place, definitely it was not! Trastevere changed a lot. Also going out for dinner at Trastevere is not like it used to be, of course it's my opinion, the 'Parolaccia' (Cencio La Parolaccia) where you better book before is anachronistic and the expensive meals are so-so. Also the restaurant 'sora Lella' on Tiber Island, just a bridge far from Trastevere. In the past also for locals this was very well known to be one of the best, but not many locals lately and also for me is not as good as it used to be.

Anyway the best place to eat in Rome has always been rione Sant'Angelo, to be more precise the Jewish Ghetto. Carciofi alla giudía (literally "Jewish style artichokes") is one of the most famous dishes of the Roman cuisine.

About pasta

Sure, you get a right idea how the pasta should be, which most of the times is completely different from one you can have also in a Italian restaurant outside of Italy as they have to adapt to local taste and where it's hard to find who makes tomato sauce with fresh tomato.

As pasta...  you'll reach for lasagne and cannelloni and gnocchi..  well there's is not  lot of pasta cooked in the oven in roman tradition bedise pasta al forno, which  usually is the pasta left the day before, rarely cooked to be 'recooked with white sauce, and  you should avoid asking at restaurant, for Rome and around at the moment I remember only the gnocchi cooked in the oven.  Yes gnocchi alla romana which are not made with potatos but there are like disks made with semolina, milk, cheese and yolks. Then they are gratinéed in the oven with buter and cheese, my wife love them very much. Instead of lasagne or cannelloni as there are not in the roman traditions, try  bucatini all'amatriciana, rigatoni alla carbonara, spaghetti cacio e pepe, tagliatelle alla carrettiera, fettuccine alla papalina or fettuccine alla ciociara, pasta e ceci, lovely pasta alla checca made with farfalle (known as "bow-tie pasta") with mozzarella,  roman caciotta , fresh tomatos, fresh basil and olive oil.

of course all the pasta has to be fresh made

Buon appetito

btw pasta al forno with white sauce is really good if you knew when/where/who cooked before but it's like meat balls, you really know and trust otherwise give it up

It's over 35 years since I dined in Italy and Italian food never really took off in Australia at that stage

Since then I've eaten Italian regular in Australia so I have a pleasant experience in store I think

Ianbaz,

Glad to see you are game. Tastavere is well worth the effort. Be sure to allow time to wander because it is a very exciting part of the city.

May I suggest that you consider a stop at Fiore Di Luna ( Via della Lungaretta) for some of the best gelato in Rome.

Have fun and go for it.

Randy