L'Arcangelo

I had to go to L'Arcangelo for years. All these rankings putting it among the top for Roman first courses, rave reviews everywhere. Well, we finally went.

We got off to a bad start right away. They order the "Supplizio": a supplì and a croquette. 13 euros. Thirteen. For a supplì (dry, with this fennel seed that covered everything) and a potato croquette with smoked scamorza. Well-fried, sure, but come on. It's a complete rip-off, it tells you what's going on here.

But okay, we're here for the pasta. Carbonara and amatriciana, the ones that "are among the best in Rome." The plates arrive and I think it's a joke. Normal-sized plates, like what you'd have at home, with maybe four forkfuls of pasta inside. It felt like a tasting before the real course.

Pasta cooked well, that much is true. Sauces made properly, even if a bit light. Except the pepper was completely missing. Not just a little, properly absent. And then the guanciale. Madonna. Long, thick strips, practically raw. Not crispy, not melting into the sauce. Barely seared. Stuff that the kebab guy downstairs makes better during rush hour.

15 euros for the carbonara, 13 for the amatriciana. For those quantities and that quality it's completely out of proportion.

Oh, the desserts. Normal tiramisu, nothing special. The tenerina al cioccolato was three brownies (good ones, granted) with three drops of jam. 9 euros. Three euros a brownie.

At 9:30 pm the place was half empty. If you ask me, they're living off their old reputation and people have figured it out. Real shame, but like this, we're just not having it.