Ristorante Il Girasole

We went to Girasole because I'd seen it in at least two online rankings for the best carbonara in Rome. Garbatella neighborhood, nothing special as far as the setting goes, spartan place, waiters rushing around everywhere. It's basically only open for lunch plus Friday nights, closed on Sundays.

Let's start with the carbonara since that's what we came for. Bombolotti alla carbonara: decent but nowhere near top 10 material. Not even close. Massive portion, maybe even too much, but the guanciale is mediocre, there's cream sure but it tastes kind of flat, skimpy pecorino and you can barely taste the pepper. Call it a 6.5 out of 10, it's fine but nothing more. If you're after quantity and price (like 4-5 euros cheaper than usual) then fair enough, otherwise meh.

The amatriciana was better than the carbonara. Even there though, I would've added more pecorino, which is always the same problem.

The fiore di zucca is killer. Truly excellent. We didn't get the carciofo alla giudia but watching it on other people's plates it looked absolutely delicious.

Overall the place has character, the food isn't terrible and the value for money is spectacular (12 euros a head). It's a raw, authentically Roman experience, and on that front it works. But calling it one of Rome's best carbonaras? No way. Honestly, those rankings probably only look at the price tag anyway.

Would I go back? If I'm in the area and hungry, sure, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get there.