La Villetta dal 1940Rome

We went to Villetta dal 1940, Piramide area, drawn in by this whole cofana thing. Basically they serve you the first course in a massive baking dish, enough for at least two people. The place is packed with celebrity photos plastered everywhere, but then you look closer and notice the bread basket seems already used, chairs all worn out. In short, they polish the image but ignore the substance.

Starters were overpriced and disappointing. Six euros for mediocre zucchini blossoms. The supplì at four euros each should be killer, instead the breadcrumb coating is so thick it kills all the flavor, and the mozzarella clearly went straight from freezer to fryer. Bad.

The pasta dishes are supposedly the strong point, except they're not. Amatriciana with pici—wrong pasta choice to begin with, way too thick, plus possibly slightly overcooked. Plenty of guanciale sure, cut into bacon-like strips, crispy but nothing special. A dish made for Instagram more than for eating, only the sauce saves it, and even that's just doing the bare minimum.

The carbonara was worse. Half-rigatoni al dente okay, but everything completely falling apart, egg and pecorino barely present. Basically dry pasta with guancial on top. And always this absurd quantity.

Tiramisu arrives in a moka pot, nine euros. Looks great, you divide the stuff both on top and underneath, but you can't taste the coffee at all. Nice to look at, that's about it.

Between the two of us we spent 63 euros. Too much for what you get. A place for tourists wanting the photo, not for people who actually want to eat well. Totally overrated.