53 Untitled — Restaurant in Rome

The whole experience started with the booking, i found it very easy to get in touch with the staff there through google chat when i first found them on google maps. Quick response where they accommodated me on very short notice.

Located in a small street, hidden away lies one of my best food experiences in the world, and the absolute best in Rome. Considering that i've been eating exclusively at Michelin star restaurants in the city, this is not a small feat.

The staff was friendly, very serviceminded, easy to talk to and instantly acknowledge your needs.

The atmosphere is relaxed, the venue was cosy and gave a rustic feel. The seats were more than comfortable and the lighting was just right. I was placed at the bar in direct view of all their mixing which i enjoyed as a solo traveller.

I started off with what they told me was the champagne of beer; Geuze Tre Fonteinen. With an acidic taste and bitter after taste, it was perfect for what was about to come, just to reset the tasting buds. The first dish presented to me was the Ceviche, it is without a single doubt in my mind the greatest i have ever tasted. Fresh fish and an exceptional spice mix with condensed milk of a kind made my eyes teary over how good it was. I actually wanted and was about to order this dish again after the maindish.

I moved on to the Patata Brava, three perfectly shaped cubes of mashed potatoes amazingly rebuilt and fried, topped with a coating of something i don't recall because the taste of it just melted me away. I believe it was homemade garlic sauce. Everything, and i mean everything they make in the kitchen is made inhouse, which is reflected in the taste of their food.

We move on to the Carbonara; while it traditionally has becomme a boring dish due to being offered many places, it is a dish that is difficult to master to perfection. 53 Untitled has done the latter. Paired up with the acidity of champagne of beer, the saltiness of the peccorino in the carbonara was all to perfect, the smell, the presentation and last but not least the taste.

By this point i am full, but i need to taste what else this gem of a restaurant has to offer as everything so far has been perfect. During all this time, the server explained to me what the meal consisted of, while the barmaid explained me where it came from. I did what everyone should do, and that is to order more food before being served my dessert and they were happy to accomodate with a lightheartet joke, the atmosphere as i mention in this place is just lovely.

I asked the barmaid for her best cocktail, where she recommended an Italian Negroni, from her explanation this is a traditional Italian drink, made with Campari and Martini, both Italian brands - in addition to the purest gin i have ever smelled and tasted. The Negroni gave a very bitter aftertaste, which was absolutely perfect for what was to come.

Next up was the scallops which was part of the secondary order i made. Carpaccio di capesante. Amazingly it gave off a sweet acidic taste, a unique taste one may say when mixed up with the sauce and fruit that was on the plate. Like the ceviche, the taste of this dish also made me fell a tear as how good it tasted. Words really does not do the food justice as they really cannot explain my food experience here.

Further on we move onto the next dish which was dumplings with ox tail. Even with the smallest space in my belly, i could not stop eating as everything it consisted of made me crave for more. I cant fathom how they are able to push out dish after dish to a perfection. Their consistancy and detail to every single dish is marvelous.

By this time i have next to no space left in my belly, but right infront of me - i am presented my final dish, my dessert, a highlight in itself. Male e Moscovado. I have nothing more to say than that i absolutely loved it. I could go on and on about the food and the service here, but unfortunately google does have a character limit. To sum it up, i can recommend...

I’ve just returned from my visit to Untitled 53. I made an online reservation here after reading the excellent Google reviews and I wanted to have a good meal at a good restaurant on my second last day visiting Rome. I am not here to trash this place but to leave an honest opinion. To those 5-star reviews I have to ask, Are you joking? When I arrived here I was seated at the bar where the eating platform came up to my chin. I was told that tables were only for phone-call reservations. This had not been stated anywhere. I am paying the same price as anyone else so why differentiate between online and phone call reservations? I felt like I was invited to a family meal and then seated on a balcony ledge. Throughout my meal there was an empty table beside me which I was told had been "reserved". Obviously that was not true. The wine was mediocre at best. The water was obviously from a tap and charged for. The bread was badly cut up remaining bits from the leftovers of other bread baskets. I ordered the deep fried artichoke and the chef came and served it with a little eulogy and told me to eat it with my fingers, “like chips” as if she was asking me to do something unique. The artichoke had some green and white goo over it which made what was supposed to be crispy rather soggy. The “fish stew” was an exercise in passive-aggression: this is how you treat a guest you dislike - 3 thumb sized pieces of fish. The croutons were badly cut pieces of bread which looked like the leftovers from the bread baskets. You can see it in the photograph, how awful it looks. They were not crisp, not soggy, they simply defied description. The fish tasted like boiled fish. The "stew" was a small jug of salty liquid some of which was poured on top and then taken away. This plate for 22 euros from what I remember. I am surprised the chef did not come and serve this fish with yet another eulogy and ask me to eat with my fingers. It would simply have been far easier than the added humiliation of balancing the tiny morsels on a fork while passing it from chin level table to my mouth while perched high up on a bar stool. Also, I am not sure what “flavour” these Google reviewers are talking about. This is simply what I would call bad cooking and certainly not Michelin worthy. There are far better restaurants in Rome which serve truly wonderful food and seat their guests at actual tables. Whoever wrote the highly imaginative descriptions in the menu , you probably had a lot of fun arbitrarily deciding the overblown prices as well. That one...

My travel partner and I have each been to Rome several times and were excited to try something with a bit of a creative and modern take. I’m not one to typically write reviews but I rely a lot on others’ feedback, so I felt inclined to share our insights given the VERY high overall rating here and write ups in various big name publications.

The atmosphere was quite cosy and enjoyable - an intimate space. But overall, food and service need improvement. Maybe we experienced an off night, but it was easily the most rushed service we have experienced in all of Italy. There is a team of servers that all assist, which leads to a disjointed guest experience. The servers were reluctant to offer suggestions for the food even when asked directly what dishes they recommend. We ended up ordering a la carte so that we could try more items shared between the two of us.

The food arrived, as mentioned, very fast and within quite a consolidated timeline overall (they kept having to shift our plates or rush us to finish one dish to make room for the next - it hadn’t been long). The price point for the quality and serving size did not meet the expectations of Rome. Flavors and preparation were inconsistent.

One positive standout - the roasted porcini dish was excellent and complex, quite unique. Patatas bravas and mortadella were also good but nothing overly special. The artichoke was really disappointing given the fact that it’s the peak season currently. It was lacking in flavor and undercooked despite the array of sauces on the dish. Lastly, and most dishearteningly, the pasta we ordered was so severely al dente that a knife was needed (truly) and there were probably 10 total rigatoni noodles.

If prompted, we would steer friends away from spending their time and money here for dinner. Hope you find...