Rome - eating out

One Italian speciality that is particularly good in Rome is called porchetta. It is clearly not something for vegetarians, since it is the meat of a small pig, often still a suckling, roasted and spiced with a lot of pepper and various herbs. It is usually clearly distinguishable in both shops and restaurants by the fact that it looks like a real pig, head and all, only roasted. It is very salty and has a great flavour, if you like pork. It is great both in sandwiches and served with pickles and vegetables.

Another typically Roman dish (even though it is popular all over Italy), is called pasta all’amatriciana. It is pasta served with a sauce made with olive oil, onions, pepper, bacon and pecorino cheese (and occasionally tomato sauce, but this is more frequent outside Rome and is a slightly "heretic" variant). It is very good, obviously.

Beside the usual fast food chains, there are several good options to eat for little money in Rome.

First of all, the so-called pizza al taglio; it is a type of pizza, different from the standard one since it’s not round. It is prepared on big baking-tins (a metre by half in size), and then cut in small squares, which are sold individually. It comes with every sort of stuff on them, from ham to vegetables, different types of cheese (apart from the standard mozzarella), mushrooms etc, and is always a take-away food, even if some places will have small tables or stools where you can eat. Each pizzeria will have their own special varieties. The Pizza al taglio is usually thicker and softer than normal pizza, and varies a lot from place to place. Rome is full of small pizzerie al taglio, all of them cheap and a good option to eat quickly and in a healthy fashion.

Secondly, you can have your own sandwich made: just enter one of those small food shops and ask for a "panino". You can choose your own type of cheese / ham and have it put in a loaf of bread, all for very little money. You might need to know some Italian to do this, since it is a bit more complicated than pointing out something on a menu. You can also go to a normal bar: they will have a list of sandwiches and salads you can choose from.

If you want a full meal, you can go to a normal pizzeria, where you can sit down; they are usually significantly cheaper than restaurants, unless they’re right in the centre of town or particularly trendy. The cheapest options are the Pizza Margherita (mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce) and the Pizza Marinara (tomato sauce, garlic and anchovies, without cheese). The latter one requires some tolerance from your friends about breath issues, however. And some waiters might be a bit supercilious if you order the cheapest pizza and, say, a bottle of water. After all, Rome is full of supposedly "happening" people, and in Italy one of the best ways to prove that you’re one of the beautiful people is to spend a lot in restaurants.

Another option is to go to a trattoria or osteria, the first word indicating a cheaper restaurant, the second a place where mostly wine is served (even though all will serve more solid options). Be aware that, since both words are old-fashioned, and tend to convey a feeling of "good, traditional cooking and/or wine", some of them might actually be very expensive restaurants and wine bars who want to give themselves a "traditional" flavour. So check the price list (and how expensive the furniture looks) before ordering. If you’re sure you’re in the right place, you are likely to eat good traditional Italian food for a cheaper price than in restaurants.