Insalata Ricca

There were many flies at the table, maybe it was dirty in the kitchen. The house wine was terrible, even for that price. The service was negligent. The food was mediocre.

Just to confirm, this review is for the Insalata Ricca in Viale Aventino. The pear salad was bland, even after I added the dressing which I had requested on the side. The bread was studiously commercial and tasteless. But the kicker was that the cashier exited the men’s room without washing his hands. Grotesque. Emblematic of the contempt they feel for their mostly tourist clientele.

Conveniently located along one of the main roads towards the Colloseum, but not so close as to be negatively affected by tourist overcrowding, this nice spot serves up some excellent food.
We enjoyed the house wine, good stuff, but the experience really shined with each new item that came to us —
The pasta vonngole with mussles was excellent — flavored in a garlicy butter sauce and who knows what else, this one scored high.
The spaghetti polpette was also excellent — just one of those «fork wasn’t put down until the plate was clean» dishs — the tomato sauce with meat was exactly what I was hoping for. Nice flavors that make my mouth water just thinking about it — a bit of pepper, a bit of kick, and a bit of sweet.
Closing off the meal was tiramisu. I’d had a few OK tiramisu experiences thus far in Rome, but finally found one that totally was everything I had hoped for — nice sweet flavor with a tad of a liquor kick, textures from the creams + lady fingers — I think I may go back for 2nds, 3rds, etc on the dessert!
Good thing we’re walking it off, right?

A huge menu to choose from (so yes, you can take your picky tourist palate here) and they have great salads and pizzas. I like the pastas too. Its a go-​to for lots of FAO staff and those attending conferences there.
They are pretty efficient and you are in and out in around an hour (a roman hour that is… ;)

Get the focaccia and any salad and I can’t imagine being unhappy. And they take plastic!