My mom and I tried to be worldly and stay off the beaten path in Testaccio. Unfortunately we had no dinner reservation and every place was crazy busy. We stumbled around - desperate, hot, hungry until we came upon this beautiful oasis. It was quiet and cool and calm and welcoming. The owner seated us immediately and went through the menu in great detail in impeccable English. In addition to clearly infusing love and great pride in his food, he is also just a really friendly and interesting gentleman and we had a great time speaking with him. He was happy to talk about his own traveling experiences and give us recommendations about other places to visit in Rome and beyond.
In addition to the phenomenal atmosphere and service, the food was tremendous. We shared the eggplant and some kind of potato dish as starters and they were incredible. My mom has the carbonara, which was the best I’ve had in Rome. I had the octopus over puréed potato which was truly something special. For dessert the soufflé, which was well worth the wait. I paired it all with a glass of white wine and good company. It was all reasonably priced and we were full and happy and sorry to leave at the end.
I highly recommend this restaurant and look forward to coming back the next time I am in Rome.