We didn’t have anything in particular planned for our fourth day in Rome which just so happened to be a Sunday.  Apparently quite a few restaurants and cafes were closed on Sunday’s.  At least all the ones I wanted to go to were anyway.  But after reading a few reviews and one in particular by Katie Parla (a New Jersey born, Rome based blogger) I had my sights firmly set on De Cesare Al Casaletto, just outside of the main part of Rome.  According to her blog Cesare is the place that she takes journalists that want to write about pasta and also where she takes Roman friends.  Sounds pretty near perfect to me and they were open on a Sunday so I asked reception at our hotel to book a table for four for that very evening.

Some random graffiti near our hotel that I thought was worthy of a photo

Earlier in the day we explored more of the city and I took us on a wild detour to find a gelato shop that had been recommended to me (again thanks Johanna).  Il Come Latte seemed a little off the beaten track as it was out of the main tourist areas and we found ourselves to be the only ones around which made me wonder if we had taken a wrong turn.  Turns out we did find it and my navigating was on point as usual.  Il Come Latte Gelateria was the cutest little gelato shop I think I have ever seen.  Very Pleasantville if you have ever seen that movie with Reece Witherspoon.  The menu was in Italian so we really didn’t know what all the flavours were but I was able to make out a couple of words including Pistachio and Ricotta so that’s what I ordered.  The inside of the handmade waffle cone was also drizzled with white chocolate (you could get milk chocolate if you prefer) with a chocolate dipped wafter chip on top.  Perfecto!  The server was lovely, even gave MS a warm cloth to wipe chocolate sauce off his shorts.

After our gelato we found ourselves back at the Colosseum eatery that we had eaten at on our first full day in Rome – Angelino Ai Fori – for a late lunch.  I had the Caprese Salad with some Bruschetta and MS had the Grilled Provola Cheese with Smoked Ham that we’d previously had.

My Bruschetta – would you look at those tomatoes?!

My mediocre Caprese Salad

We both thought the Grilled Cheese was pretty epic but my Caprese Salad was only ok.  For such a big and busy restaurant the waiter remembered us and was super friendly in his own brash Italian way.

Grilled Provola with Smoked Ham

Back to our hotel for a costume change and then off on the no.8 tram to head to De Cesare Al Casetto.  Upon arrival I had a look at the wine menu which seemed ridiculously expensive me.  Even my Google Translate app didn’t offer up any help so I asked the waitress if the prices were for a glass of wine.  She assured me that all the prices were for bottles of wine.  Phew.  15 Euro for a bottle of white Italian wine?  Winning!

One of the dishes Cesare is known for is the Fried Gnocchi with Pecorino and Black Pepper Sauce so that’s exactly what we ordered for our starter.  When it came out it was far bigger than I expected and it turns out the four of us probably could have just shared the one dish.  I could see why it’s a popular dish.  Mmmm it was delicioso!

Fried Gnocchi with Pecorino and Black Pepper

For my main (or as they call it First Course) I had the Tonnarelli All’Amatricana (9 or 10 Euros).  Two of my dining buddies ordered the same and the other ordered the Carbonara.  There was a slight mix up with the type of pasta that we received but that can only be attributed to the small language barrier.

Oh My Goodness… The Cured Pork Cheek was just to die for! This pasta was something special and to date the best pasta I have eaten on my journey so far, in fact the four of us all agree that our pasta dishes are the best we have eaten.

Tonnarelli All’Amatricana

This was also our last night in Rome so dinner at Cesare was a fitting end to what was a fantastic four days in Rome.  I honestly didn’t think I would like Rome, visiting mostly because it has quite a few ‘must see’ places that one needs to visit in their lifetime (i.e. Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Sistine Chapel) however I really enjoyed my time there, despite much of the city smelling like p*ss, and would love to go back again one day.