Trecca

We rushed in because we had theater afterwards, so straight to the first courses. Two classics: carbonara and amatriciana. Well, what can you do.

I really wanted to try it because everyone says it's one of the most authentically Roman places in Rome. You book through the website, but we arrived early at 8 pm and they seated us two without any fuss.

Let's start with the carbonara, and honestly I expected more. Too salty. The guanciale was lean, really lean, so when you bite into it it's basically pure salt. And not all of it was good either—some pieces tasted almost rancid. The crispiness? Random, frankly. Some pieces yes, others no. And the egg cream was too thick, almost gluey. In short, a far cry from the carbonara you'd expect from a place like this.

The amatriciana was better, but still. The tomato was decent, good even. Except you hardly saw any guanciale in it, same with the pecorino, and the portion wasn't exactly generous for the price.

The service—now that was Roman, through and through. Though a bit too half-hearted for my taste. Fair enough with the casual style, but these people were just inattentive.

It's a shame we were in a rush because the menu had interesting things on it. Maybe the other dishes are better and would have saved the evening. For now though, based on these two first courses which are what really matter, I'm disappointed. Seventeen euros each for just a starter, and not even a memorable one at that.