Dining recommendations in Rome please
 

Can anyone recommend great dining spots in Rome city centre? Thanks!

It would be helpful if you could define what is great in your opinion. I suspect it's not the funky little cafe in Trastevere that I love, or the touristy place in Piazza Navono with the great tartuffo.

A good starting point is the Michelin Guide to restaurants for Italy It identifies the "top" restaurants (1-3 stars) but it it also identifies many non-starred but solid places to eat. The "bib gourmand" category is a particularly good one as it recognizes places where one can get a good meal at a relative reasonable price (for the area). As everyone's idea of what is a "great" restaurant can vary, it might help to look over some alternatives to see which cater to your taste and budget. Michelin is probably not the best source for the newest trendy restaurant but they do recognize the time-tested. Another good site (and app) is thefork.it - it's a little more likely to find the trendy places but it also doesn't screen out poor choices as well.

Sure, Michelin will miss some good (particularly newer) places but I've never been disappointed in their recommendations and it is my go-to resource when I'm in places that aren't in my backyard. And when I'm traveling I don't need a huge number of places to try but I do need a quality set of alternatives as there is nothing sadder than wasting a bullet by having a poor meal.

just a personal opinion, if you are looking for sophisticated cuisine with a 9-course tasting menu like those you found in Paris, you are better off go to Milan. Rather, the best food in Rome is a little bit down to earth and I will classify them as pizza, pasta (especially carbonara) and seafood. My recommendation will be Emma Pizzeria for pizza, Luciano Cucina Italiana for carbonara pasta, and Pierluigi for seafood (a bit on the pricey side but well worth it). They are all in or near Campo de' Fiori.

If you want to try the best Pizza Napoletana in Rome, there should be no other choices than 50 Kalò di Ciro Salvo, Via Flavia 3B, Rome

Slightly off-topic, but a Neapolitan pizza compared to a Roman one corresponds to comparing a modern Rolls-Royce to a Goggomobil from the '50s! I know, I know, this is slightly exaggerated (yes, I'm Greek) but... ;)

I am not sure if your comparison stand as and what you actually mean for “Roman Pizza”… the actual Roman “pizza” tradition is purely the “square” pan focaccia type, where you can get really exceptional examples like Bonci…

Roman round pizza, crispy and thin, has been really a bad attempt at imitating Neapolitan pizza without having the tools (e.g. a Neapolitan Pizza Oven capable of 45-90 seconds even cooking) not the skills.. in the last 10-15 years they have compensated this with nice selection of toppings etc, but hopefully you were not really suggesting that the Roman was the Rolls Royce, and Napoletana the Goggomobil, as whilst taste may be subjective, history and baking science and technology simply would not back such a comparison up (I am still hoping that you actually wanted to do the comparison the other way around).

Apologies! As suggested by marcopizzaiuolo, I meant the exact opposite (I did not re-read what I wrote before posting - edited now): I consider Neapolitan pizza to be by very far the queen of pizze, the Roman version (and all similar ones with the very thin dough) are the "goggos". Again, honest apologies to the Neapolitan gastronomical culture!!! I admit, though, that I still eat (with pleasure) a good pizza bianca when in Rome, along with some prosciutto di Norcia and accompanied, of course, by a glass or two of a bianco from the Castelli Romani... :cool:

PS And, you've guessed correctly, New York pizza is not a... pizza, but a typical American product.

If you want to try Roman cuisine you absolutely have to go to Felice in Testaccio, typical and delicious dishes. I recommend you book in advance.

It's famous for cacio e pepe pasta. Recommend it as well, but now they want a 25 euro prepayment at booking. Pisses me off a bit.
Best carbonara is at Flavio al Velavevodetto, Testaccio as well.