Alfredo e Ada — Restaurant in Rome

Bitterly disappointed. After all the 5 star reviews and local bloggers telling us this was the epitome of cucina Romana that nonna used to make, we found ourselves eating dry risotto and overly seasoned zucchini. It’s a small dining room so don’t be surprised if you’re sharing a table. Not an issue. No menus. What you see on a blackboard is what you get. English translation available. Tick. Service was efficient. More in the hope you’d eat and get out rather than any genuine attempt at a warm welcome. So to the food. Bizarrely they bring out the primi and secondi piatti out together. Again a sign of their conveyor belt approach. Mine was the amatriciana. Perfectly al dente rigatoni in a spicy tomato sauce. It was good but something I could make at home. The roast veal looked and tasted like school dinners. If you’ve been to school in the UK you’ll know what I’m talking about. And the gravy was so over seasoned. As was the sautéed zucchini side. How on earth can you get fried zucchini wrong??? Worse was to come. Mushroom risotto. Drier than the Atacama desert. I actually had to look up on google as to whether Romans served their risotto dry. I was flabbergasted. The food was a fiasco. Yes it’s cheap. But I’d have happily paid double to get some decent grub. Perhaps the kitchen had an off night? On passing the kitchen to the loo there was certainly no sign of a nonna busily spreading her magic culinary dust over what was being sent out. Just two blokes dishing up presumably overly...

I am a reasonable man with a reasonable appetite. I just "ate" at Alfredo e Ada, and I am still hungry! I am also confused! They're is a full multi-course menu outside, full of wonders! After being seated, the waitress quickly read us off a menu that was not at all what was posted outside. I ordered something on a whim, one of the few things I heard that wasn't "spaghetti". What a bizarre way to deliver the menu.

We drank the house white wine, pretended it wasn't awful, and waited for our food.

It soon became clear that the small plate of steak covered in tomato sauce, with stale bread, was the only course I'd be seeing. What a letdown!

We were then given what was meant to be dessert; a mostly tasteless biscuit that was meant to be dipped in wine. It was not good, but I ate it anyways, because I was still hungry...

Since we showed up at 9pm and did not get seated for 20 minutes, perhaps we did not get a regular service because of the time ? This place is supposed to be very good! If you're not going to serve your customers properly, then be upfront about it so that they can go somewhere else!

After all that, we were told it was cash only. This was not posted anywhere that I saw. Luckily we had a few Euro to pay for the "meal".

Alfredo e Ada ruined my first night back to Rome in 16 years. A pox...

Italian/Roman food at its finest!

We came here after reading the amazing Google reviews and weren’t disappointed. It’s a small & quaint little restaurant that only has 5 tables, so no matter what time you arrive, you’re probably going to have to wait in line.

Girlfriend and I arrived at 8pm, and waited for about 35 minutes, which was alright.

We shared a table with 2 other Italian gentlemen, and noticed that most other tables were sharing as well. To be expected considering they only have 5 tables in total.

The waitress is a superwoman, doing everything from queue management, to clearing tables, to reciting the menu by heart, to taking orders, to serving food, and finally collecting money! Please tip her when you’re there!

We ordered 3 dishes: The lasagna, carbonara and veal with potatoes, and had 1 portion of red wine, and 1 portion of white wine. Every single dish was amazing. The whole dining experience was like walking into someone’s home and having them cook us their signature dishes. Delicious warm HOMECOOKED food is the only way to describe it.

To top it all off, the final bill only came up to €32! For 3 dishes and 2 portions of wine... That’s insanely good value for money!

Will definitely come back the next time I’m in Rome, and have already saved the location in...