Don’t you love going out for dinner with friends?
What makes it so enjoyable of course, is great company, food and wine and atmosphere (oh and did I mention good wine?).
We had this tonight in droves.
A friend of mine organised a dinner at L’Allegro (the happy one in English) – owned by his friend Davide who is Roman but with Sardinian heritage.
So at 9pm (average dinner time in Italy!) 9 of us descended on this beautiful restaurant in the Trieste / Salaria district of Rome.
This is an elegant residential area north east of the city just out of the historical centre. It’s well connected from the centre by transport but a taxi from centro will get you there for around €15.
Dining at a restaurant when you know the owner quite well has its delicious advantages.
Once we were settled in with our water (liscia: still and frizzante: sparkling) and wine, Davide checked that there were no food intolerances or general dislikes and proceeded to design a Sardinian seafood feast fit for kings!
Antipasto after antipasto came out. Just when you thought it was the last plate, another surprise would present itself.
Marinated octopus.. poached salmon with herb oil.. zucchini and prawn salad.. fennel and mixed seafood.. calamari in olive oil and parsley.. And a traditional Italian mixed antipasto of cheese, bufala and salumi – all served with toasted focaccia and crispy fresh bread.
Oh and then the mussels!
Now I’m not a mussels fan so I can only tell you that they were fantastic by the fact that everyone absolutely devoured them. And by the look on everyones face. At one stage one of our friends looked like she had died and gone to seafood heaven!
It didn’t end there.
Next course was calamarata pasta (wide ring pasta – name aptly derived from the word calamari) served with a tomato based seafood sauce. Amazing.
And then a course of risotto alla crema di scampi (cream of scampi). Divine.
We collectively decided to stop here. Main meal was just not an option!
A couple of us ordered dessert (yes I was one of those people 🙂 ) and the choice here was difficult with all items home made, fatti in casa.
I chose the – not very Roman – apple strudel. It was delicious with the right amount of spice and had pinenuts in the mix, which I’d never had before. Another friend tried the babà – a sponge dessert soaked in alcohol and it looked as though she enjoyed it as I did the strudel 🙂
A few coffees, amaros (bitter digestive), sorbet and limoncellos later, dinner was over and we all just about rolled out of the place – very allegri! And all this for €35 which was beyond reasonable.
Recently refurbished, L’Allegro is a decked out modern restaurant with prompt and friendly service.
If you feel like taking a breather from Rome’s centre, check it out. It’s a really nice and well needed change from Roman trattoria or pizzeria dining. And if you are especially a seafood fan, you won’t be disappointed.
L’Allegro
Via Magliano Sabina, 6-8
Piazza Vescovio, Roma (zona Trieste)
www.ristorantelallegro.com
Signing off from Roma,
Baci Maria
