Food Tour of Rome - Testaccio Neighborhood
Thank goodness a work friend told me about Testaccio, an industrial turned hipster foodie neighborhood nestled on the southwest of central Rome. And thank goodness we went there on our last day during this whirlwind-long weekend getaway (36 hours in Rome Travel Guide) because it completely redeemed and left our Roman food experience on a high note!
Being the typical me, I did my research on Testaccio before going. Originally, I was looking into signing up for a food tour that the work friend has spoke so highly of. Due to timing reasons, (4 hours for the food tour!), I decided to take the matter into my own hands and craft my own abridged version of the Testaccio food tour. Unfortunately, we went on a Sunday so a lot of the places I had on my list were CLOSED! (note to self and reader: if you are looking to do stuff on Sundays in Europe, please take a mental note to double check on the hours for Sundays!) Luckily, 2 out of the 4 places I had on my list were open and we were able to do a few tastings of fantastic local Roman food.
Stop 1: Trapizzino
Holy cow! This semi-hole in the wall with minimal seating blew my mind. The concept is quite simple: handmade triangle breaded sandwich with a selection of topping to top off the bread. It’s pretty much a vertical pizza cone.
We tried the chicken with white wine sauce and zighini, which I believe is northern Africa inspired beef stew with a wide-range of delicious spices. Both meats were so juicy and tender—practically melted in my mouth. And the amazing thing about the trapizzino is all the meat and the gravy from the meat marinates into the soft focaccia-like soft bread.
In addition to the trapizzino specialty, we tried the fried rice ball in mushroom and sausage flavor. I wasn’t so keen on it at first but it’s no joke when they say don’t judge a book by its cover! Although it was fried, it did not taste greasy at all; and the crunch of the fried outer shell mixed with the fluffy rice and savory flavors of the sausage and mushroom was just too perfect!
Stop 2: Taverna Volpetti
We were trying to check out the Salumeria aka. Deli, but it was closed (thanks to Sunday again) but the restaurant was open! We were the only ones there with a full-on staff because we stepped in a minute after they opened, no exaggeration. The waitress strategically sat us by the table next to the front window near the entrance to entice additional customers to come in.
After much examination of the menu, we decided to opt for the local specialty - traditional Roman pastas and the House Pasta. Specifically, we ordered the Pasta Alla Cricia and the homemade Ragu Fettuccine. My Ragu was the bomb! The freshness and texture of the pasta was brought out through the ripe flavors of the tomato and the al dente manner of cooking the handmade pasta. I took a few bites of Pierre’s Pasta Alla Cricia and it was also quite tasty, but not as good as my ragu. Firstly, the pasta was cooked a bit too al dente that it was almost crunchy at some parts. The cream and bacon bits were too salty. Personally, I don’t think the concept of Pasta Alla Cricia works for me - too meaty, plain, and salty. Not sure if it was the way the restaurant prepared it or that’s merely what Pasta Alla Cricia is suppose to taste like. Either way, I wasn’t crazy about it!
Although we didn’t try it, the restaurant also offered an array of cheeses and meats that could be customized to a cheese and chacuterie platter.
In addition to the delicious food experience, the quiet residential neighborhood of Testaccio gave us a glimpse of the typical Roman way of life on a Sunday. It seemed that most people attended Sunday service and afterwards spent time with the family together. We saw many cross-generational families walking around and the local bakery was completely jammed with people buying cakes. I wonder if that is a local tradition with Romans or Italians, having lunch with cake as a family after Sunday Church service? Perhaps that would be an interesting short research article to write about for next time…
