I am very happy about today’s post, as I will be reviewing one of my all-time favourite restaurants. It’s not a famous or a starred restaurant, but it serves amazing food. Whenever I travel, I don’t care about fancy places, what I look for in a restaurant is genuine local food. I like places where the locals eat, as that is a sign that the food will be the real deal. This is what Da Bucatino is all about. This trattoria, is located in Testaccio, one of Rome’s traditional working class neighbourhoods. This area is home to several of Rome’s culinary highlights and its reputation among tourists is expanding. I first visited Da Bucatino 11 years ago. My husband was in Rome for work and I joined him during the weekends. Some of his colleagues from the Roman office took us to this place and we immediately fell in love with it. It is usually filled with locals and the food is as traditional as it gets. The prices are fair and the portions are huge. But what is so special about this restaurant? Well, as the name suggests… its Bucatini (thick hollow spaghetti) all’Amatriciana. We liked them so much, that my husband has wanted to go back there ever since.
That’s why when we decided to visit Rome, we immediately knew that we would dine here at least once. We walked all the way from our apartment to the restaurant and took a bus on the way back. When we arrived we noticed that nothing has changed! The place looked exactly like 11 years ago and the people working there were the same too!
We started off with some Bresaola with arugula/rocket and Grana Padano.
Then came the star of the night: Bucatini all’Amatriciana… with guanciale (cured pork cheek). They were to die for!!! They come with lots of sauce and a generous amount of Pecorino Romano on the top! They were al dente and they were still as good as we remembered them. So much so, that my husband had 2 portions of these! Ah, they also give you a nice bib to wear… as eating bucatini can be a messy experience if you are not used to it! But it’s so much fun!!
My mum had Pollo ai Peperoni (chicken with bell peppers), another typical Roman dish. This too was very good.
My father ordered Fagioli con le Cotiche – aka beans with pork rind, which was very hearty.
My girls shared a Pizza Margherita (sorry, no photos!), which was good too.
By then we were too full to order dessert, but they do have a very good selection of local sweets.
The portions were very generous and the service was quite good and attentive. We had a great experience over all… again. If you like good food and pasta, this is the place to be! Highly recommended!
RESOURCES ON MSM
RECIPES FROM THE REGION OF LAZIO:
Puntarelle alla Romana
Gnocchi alla Romana
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
Stracci di Antrodoco
Abbacchio a Scottadito
Saltimbocca alla Romana
Bucatini all’Amatriciana
Supplì al Telefono
Fried Zucchini Flowers
TRAVEL IN ITALY:
Venice Guide – Italy
Milan Guide – Italy
Rome Guide – Italy
RESTAURANT REVIEWS – ITALY:
Nonna Betta – Rome
Da Enzo al 29 – Rome
MAP
[…] Nonna Betta – Rome Da Enzo al 29 – Rome Da Bucatino – Rome […]