La Maisonnette Ristrot
Where? La Maisonette Ristrot (Quartiere X Ostiense, Rome, Italy) Map Menu
When? Wednesday April 12, 2017
Who? Me
Food Style? Italian with French Influence
For my last night in Rome, I've chosen a restaurant that is one metro stop away from my BnB. They've portmanteau'd the words restaurant and bistro in Italian to make "Ristrot". The menu, all in Italian but an English one is available online, sounds appetising, and has a fair bit of French flair in it. I can't wait to dig in. I'm going three courses.
Antipasto
Terrina d'Anatra - duck terrine with zibibbo, mango, tender salad, tangerine
The duck terrine arrives. I'm impressed by the colours on the plate, it's got a spring/summery vibe to it. First bite - wow. The sweetness of the fruit, especially the mango, works so well with the terrine. I'm hit with all sorts of amazing flavours and textures, it's such a well thought out dish: the crunch of the pistachio, the meatiness of the duck, the various gels and chutneys, even the little leaves of salad have a role to play. Very good start.
Secondo Piatto
Filetto di Maialino - pork tenderloin, creamed potatoes, red cabbage and porter
The pork fillet is here. It smells lovely. It is perhaps a smidgen dry but it tastes great. I think it is just the right amount of sweetness, I wouldn't want anything more sweet than that. The cabbage and potato are spot on, but I do have one criticism. To borrow the famous phrase of one of my favourite reality TV chefs, Manu Feidel, "where is the sauce?!" I would have loved more of that delicious sauce with the pork, and then have some leftover to soak up with the bread.
A waitress asks what I would like for dessert and I've chosen the cassata. I don't really know what that is but Wikipedia tells me it is a traditional cake from Sicily. The waitress tries to tell me something but my face goes blank and she goes to call someone who can speak English. He explains to me that their cassata has different ingredients to what they would normally put; orange reduction, pistachio, hazelnut, ricotta, some others I didn't quite catch in his thick accent. I'm not too fussed though, I like hearing the spiel and I would have happily ordered it with whatever ingredients they wanted to experiment with. I'm here for an adventure!
Dessert
Cassata Mon Amour
I had a feeling this would happen, but it is deconstructed. I don't mind though. I've never had constructed cassata so I don't have anything to compare it with. My favourite elements are the hazelnut creme and sesame spice wafer. I would have liked a bit more texture on the plate, but flavourwise is this very good. The balance between each ingredient is well done and again, it shows that a lot of thought has gone into making this dish. That was a memorable meal to make up for all the bad experiences in Rome, and I'm feeling a bit happier about my past week here.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:56am on Saturday April 29, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 