Burro e Sugo
Where? Burro e Sugo (Quartiere X Ostiense, Rome, Italy) Map
I'm at a local joint near my hostel in Rome, which I know is authentic because most of the wait staff don't speak English and the menu is mostly in Italian, save for the combo specials. I'm not that hungry so I've opted for the light meal, which gives me two bruschetta, a main - fettuccine al salmone, and a cake of the house. After some complications with my accommodation, I'm hoping to take it easy and relax today.
Antipasto
House Bruschetta
The bruschetta arrives. One is tomato and the other is beans. The bread is warm to touch and crispy, with lots of herbs and olive oil to bring out those classic Mediterranean flavours. I like the tomato one better, the bean one needed a bit more salt, and I'm not too much of a fan of celery either. A quick glance sideways and I'm glad that hands is an acceptable way to eat bruschetta, otherwise I've been doing it horribly wrong since day one here.
Primo Piatto
Fettuccine al salmone
The fettuccine arrives and a wonderful smoked salmon smells fills the air. I like it. The creamy sauce and smoked fish go very well together, and this would be too rich without the fresh green herbs sprinkled on the top. The serving size is pretty generous and there's a lot of salmon within the pasta. I'm getting full.
The lights of the restaurant are turned off, leaving only the romantic glow of the candles and fairy lights illuminating the restaurant. Too bad I'm here by myself. This does pose a serious problem though, how am I going to take pictures of my dessert without attracting too much attention? Worse, I'm asked what dessert I want and have no idea what the waiter is saying. He spouts off some stuff and I recognise only panna cotta, so I just order that. It comes with Nutella. Yusssss.
Holy moly. This is a panna cotta in a bowl covered with about an inch of Nutella. I'm not going to take a picture of this because it's probably culturally insensitive and, when in Rome, literally...
I have to scoop the Nutella to one side. It's too rich and sweet otherwise. That was almost unpleasant. What a pity because the rest of the meal was very good. As I leave, a crowd of at least 20 are waiting outside to get in.
----------------
Addendum: I've got food poisoning. I think it was either the salmon fettuccine or the panna cotta. I'm leaning towards the panna cotta because I did feel quite unpleasant after eating it, but I thought it was just the excess Nutella. Let's not go into details. Hopefully I'll be back on track tomorrow.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:07pm on Friday April 28, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 