My only goal in Rome was to find excellent pizza and excellent coffee.
In my short week roaming around Italy’s capital, I visited many different restaurants and ate a near vile amount of pizza. Italian food has always been a favourite of mine, so my hopes and expectations were quite high in both a critical and romanticised way. I sickened myself trying to find a pizza that could compare to some of the best I’ve had in my life, of course expecting standards to be higher in its birthplace.
I was disappointed for quite a while and my hopes were very near dashed. Of course, being the classic tourist that I was, most restaurants we visited were ones nearby to all the touristiest spots; typically overpriced and funnily enough had almost all identical menus. Nothing special, and the most we really hoped for was a friendly waiter.
It wasn’t until we went off the beaten track that my melodramatic tensions were relieved. It was recommended to us by a friend; a pizzeria called La Pizzeria Loffredo on Via Vestricio Spurinna; a residential area eight metro stops outside of central Rome.
It was a small, more reasonably priced, family place. It had a homely vibe, and we were offered fried dough bread while we waited for our table (delicious). The pizza menu was extensive (despite not having any pineapple of any description, but that, unfortunately, seemed to be a normal thing in Italy; felt distraught but comforted on my return home).
The pizza itself was just, simply, divine. It was one of the few pizzas I’ve had in my life that not only tasted incredible and filled me up to the brim but also didn’t give me a pot belly afterward. The crust was perfectly cooked, soft and spongey. It was lightly salted in a way that was mouth watering instead of parching. The ratio of tomato to cheese was perfect; not being too cheesy and sickening or too tomatoey and acidic. I noticed in general in Rome that the tomatoes were sweeter and less harsh on the stomach. I just ordered a margarita to keep it simple, but my family members, who were more adventurous than me, ordered more topping heavy types, and the chefs were more than generous.
And not that they needed to, on our way out, the lovely woman at the counter gave us some free pastries and hinted at us to give them a good review on Trip Advisor. She seemed surprised, they must not get many Irish people in very often. It was a sweet gesture!
Out of all the fancier looking restaurants I went to, this little place down a street with not much else on it turned out to be the best. Definitely worth the little trek.
-Fiofs
Fiofs 