Found 2 blog posts with tag: Quartiere X Ostiense
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 :: 
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.
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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 ::