Baldassini B&B

Via delle Coppelle: restaurants, bars and nightlife

2009-12-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

Via delle Coppelle, located right between the Pantheon and piazza Navona, is a well known street among the Romans for the dozens of bars and restaurants and for the vibrant nightlife.

Here below a list of the places I have visited and reviewed.
Every comment reflects my critic and objective point of view.
Where possible, menus, pictures and videos are provided for the benefit of the aware tourist.

PANTHEON area

Café Friends/Osteria Margherita (website)
Caffé Universale (website)
Taverna Le Coppelle
Riccioli Café (website)
Hostaria La Nuova Capannina (website)
Quinzi&Gabrieli (website)
Maccheroni (website)
Vinoteca Novecento
The Golden Gate (website)
Osteria Da Mario
Le Coppelle Cocktail&Wine (website)
Coco Restaurant (website)
Ristorante La Tavernetta (review)
Il Bacaro (website)
Ristorante Sangallo (website)

CAMPO DE' FIORI area

Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara (review & video)

TRASTEVERE area

Bir&Fud (website - review & video)

Baldassini B&B NEW VIDEO

2009-12-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

RED ROOM AND BLUE ROOM

YELLOW ROOM

Bir&Fud

2009-06-19T14:15:00.001-07:00

Coming soon review

16/06/2009

Ristorante La Tavernetta 48

2009-06-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

June 4th 2009.

Rating: 6+/10 (average+)
Food: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: ***
Quality/Price: ***

Bill: 71,50 euros

REVIEW:
Located in the quiet via degli Spagnoli, right off the hustle and bustle of piazza delle Coppelle, this restaurant offers an average Roman food experience.
Walter, the Brazilian chef, with the help of his young sister, Denise, and another nice waitress, has run this place for the past 10 years.
8 tables inside, split between the two tiny ochre coloured rooms, and 7 tables outside make this place ideal for a relaxed dinner.

From the varied menu, we picked the following dishes:

Antipasti:
1. Zuppa di Moscardini (Curled octopus soup).
Good taste but too much tomato sauce compared to octopus quantity.
Anyway, this allowed me to use three slices of bread for a necessary "scarpetta".

2. Antipasto Mare e Monti (Appetizer "Sea and Monutains").
Abundant appetizer served in two dishes:
"Mare" consisted of some marinated anchovies, salted at the right point, two delicious salmon filets, cocktail of octopus, mussels, shrimp and boiled potatoes.
I noticed some traces of sunflower oil (probably from the anchovies, mussels and octopus jars sold in supermarkets) mixed in extra-virgin olive oil.

"Monti" consisted of grilled zucchini, eggplant and peppers and mushrooms.

Primo
Bombolotti con melanzane e provola (Bombolotti with eggplant and provola cheese).
Generous dish of pasta, cooked "al dente", with chopped eggplant and smoked provola cheese. Average quality.

Secondi
Trancio di salmone al cartoccio (Piece of salmon in foil packet).
Tender and delicious slice of salmon served with mussels, clams, pachino tomatoes, black olives and capers, aesthetically presented in the form of a foil swan. Very good!

Scaloppine al barolo (Veal escalopes with Barolo wine).
Excellent and tender veal escalopes with a sauce made with Barolo wine. Served with some mixed salad aside. Very good!

Dolce
Tiramisù
Generous tiramisù cake. Simply delicious!

Wine
Vermentino di Sardegna
Average quality for this Vermentino di Sardegna produced by Sella&Mosca.

Bill
71,50 euros for 2 people.
Reasonably priced restaurant.
No cover charge for bread!

I recommend Ristorante La Tavernetta for a good dinner with traditional Roman dishes in a relaxed ambience.

What others said about this restaurant:

For dinner we headed to Tavernetta 48, located on the tiny Via Degli Spagnoli. Once again we had a superb dinner. Chris and I had gotten so lost earlier in the day, we ended up off our map. We probably walked 14 miles. So were were definitely ready to eat. We started with an ok antipasto. I would not recommend getting it. But it was not bad. But our pasta dishes were perfect. I got the amatriciana with bacon, garlic, tomatoes and onions. The pasta was cooked perfectly. It was al dente! But once again Chris picked the best. He ordered a fusilli in a cream sauce with sausage, mushrooms and one of my favorite ingredients in the world- truffle oil. I was so jealous, but fortunately Chris believes in sharing. For our second course I ordered the veal in a barola wine sauce and Chris ordered a chopped sirloin steak with a gorgonzola wine sauce. Both were fantastic. For dessert we split the tiramisu. It was pretty standard stuff, good, but did not blow us away.
Source: olivesherbs.wordpress.com

A due passi dal caos notturno di piazza delle Coppelle c' è un angolo tranquillo di un piccolo locale che promette relax e chiacchiere nelle due salette color ocra (ambiente) arredate con minuscoli tavoli o nel dehors su via degli Spagnoli. Relax e cena, se non pretendete una cucina diversa da quella dalla trattoria economica. Tant' è, forse val la pena di andarci a pranzo, dato il prezzo davvero attraente per chi lavora in centro: il menu a 10 include primo, secondo, mezzo litro d' acqua, un quarto di vino. Il servizio è caratterizzato dalla cortesia e dai sorrisi di due giovani ragazze brasiliane. E brasiliano è anche il cuoco che, volonteroso, cerca di interpretare la cucina romana. Dalla lista pranzo: bombolotti alla gricia, penne ai moscardini e olive nere, scaloppine al vino bianco, salsiccia ai ferri. Dalla carta per cena: antipasti di polipo e patate (7,50), bruschette al pomodoro, funghi o carciofi (3), sauté di cozze o zuppa di moscardini (7,50), fusilli porcini e salsiccia, gnocchi gamberi e calamari (7,20). Eppoi una piccola scelta di mare su cui spicca l' ingenua traduzione «spigola at crazy water» (13) e i classici filetti al pepe o alla griglia (13), straccetti alla ruchetta, saltimbocca alla romana (9,30). Lastricato di buone intenzioni, il percorso gastronomico di questa tavola inciampa però su una gricia snaturata da abbondante soffritto di cipolla o sulle scaloppine affogate nel vino bianco. Dolci ordinari (tiramisù, torata al cioccolato, crepes alla nutella un po' cari: 5,20 ) e totale assenza di una lista dei vini (cantina). Ma, vista la vicinanza con i goderecci frequentatori di piazza delle Coppelle, i ragazzi brasiliani han pensato bene di offrire almeno spumanti e champagne. Prezzi: a pranzo menu fisso a 10 euro, a cena primo, secondo e contorno per circa 25 euro. Luca Zanini TAVERNETTA 48 via degli Spagnoli 48, chiusa dom. 06. 68308691. Provato il 15.09.04
Source: archiviostorico.corriere.it

Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara

2009-06-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

As the name suggests, Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara is specialized in "Filetti di Baccalà": battered and fried cod fillets, a ritual for the Romans. The fish fillets, which literally melt in the mouth, are presented wrapped in paper, and you eat them with your fingers rather than with a knife and fork. A few selection of antipasto dishes, salads (including a Roman favourite of "puntarelle" with an anchovy and garlic dressing) and desserts are also available. You can satisfy moderate hunger and thirst for around 6.00 to 9.00 euro.

Where is it?
88 Largo dei Librari (off Via dei Giubbonari, near Campo de' Fiori).
The sign on the place reads only "Filetti di Baccala."
Cash only.
Closed Saturday evenings and Sundays.

What others said about it:

The epitome of the frugal eaters' temple is Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara, whose signature — and only — main dish is cod fillets coated with a thin batter and pulled sizzling and crispy out of a bubbling fryer you can hear from the dining room. People in the Campo de' Fiori neighborhood come in, line up at the counter and walk out munching steaming fillets, as Americans would a pretzel or hot dog. You're not paying for ambience here. Tablecloth and napkins are butcher paper. Simplicity is a good watchword for the frugal buongustaio.
There is a small menu listing salads, and I had a great giardiniera, along with the fillets.

Source: Los Angeles Times

3 sisters at the Marble Foot Apartment

2009-05-21T02:18:00.000-07:00

A short video of 3 Canadian sisters talking about the Baldassini's

Baldassini B&B video

2009-05-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

Here a short video of the Red room at the Baldassini B&B + a guest interview