Da Gino al Parlamento — Restaurant in Rome

As a foodie, looking for REAL Italian food, this was the best restaurant I dined at. Nothing compares to it, it was mind blowing.

Here is a tip for real foodies looking for real Italian food: don't just rely on the 5* reviews, to avoid touristy traps, you need to: Avoid places with queues of tourists outside (like tonarello) Make a reservation Dine where locals dine (easier said then done) I repeat, avoid places filled mostly with tourists

At da gino, you will likely be the only tourist in sight. The restaurant is filled with politicians and locals, and the staff speak only a little bit of english, so brush up your Italian to compliment their food (and service)!

The carbonara absolutely stole the show, it was PERFECT. I have never eaten a pasta dish this good. If you are dreaming about getting a real taste of Italy / Rome, come here, order the carbonara, and ruin pasta for yourself for ever - you will never find anything this good anywhere else in the world. The sauce was so creamy, flavourful, fresh and beautiful. I couldn't get enough of it.

The house wine also deserves a special mention, it was absolutely delicious and the best restaurant wine we tasted in Italy.

Other dishes we tried included the amatriciana, cacio e pepe, and saltimbocca - all absolutely amazing, but far, far behind the carbonara.

We finished with a tiramisu, which was also out of this world. This is the only place we came back to twice during our trip, and the only place where we ordered separate desserts.

If you are researching places to eat at before your Italian foodie trip, add this to your list immediately. I don't think the reviews hype this place up enough, it was PERFECT. A truly Italian experience.

P.S. We loved the staff, they were so funny, kind, and welcoming....

Recommend you order a table, because the restaurant is very busy and the staff works really quickly which i at first thought gave a special atmosfere that i liked. But maybe that is the problem..

We had read really good reviews and had high hopes but the more time we spend at the restaurant the more disapointed i got.

The waiter was really quick to take our order and we actually did not finish it before he left. Luckly it turned out to be a good thing that we did not order more than 3 dishes.

After we got our starter it took about 40 minutes before the waiter came to us and said that they were out of risotto so we changed it to something else.

Then we waited a little more and got our food. The pasta was then not fully cooked (not near al dente, it was raw) and the eggs were cougulated. We did send the dish back which the waiter accepted. The other dish was not anything special but it was cooked.

Most of the time we felt like the staff really didn't care. A lot of the other tables with Italiens (not tourists) went through several dishes and not once did the waiters asked if "everything was good? " at our table.

It though looked like a lot of the locals had a blassed and a great meal..

So one star for an allright starter and a second for taking back the carbonara..

I have had a lot of better meals around Rome than what they were able to offer a...

So there we were, wandering the alleys of Rome like two lost pigeons and we stumble into De Gino al Parlamento, this tiny spot basically hidden between God knows what and an ancient wall. You don’t order wine here, you declare allegiance. Red or white, peasant, pick your poison. We said red, obviously, because we were feeling dangerous.

First of all, the artichoke salad! Holy actual sh*t. I’m convinced they summoned some Roman artichoke wizard to bless that plate because I’ve never tasted anything so absurdly good. We need to figure out how they made it.

Then the gnocchi floated in pillowy little blobs of happiness swimming in tomato sauce, and honestly, it was so gloriously simple. At some point during this lunch the wine just… kept coming. Did we ask for more wine? No. Did we stop it? Also no. We have no choice but to blame our server, who I swear thought he was training us for a competitive drinking event.

This turned from a wholesome daddy-daughter lunch into oops we’re tipsy in Rome real fast. No regrets. If you’re in Rome and you don’t end up accidentally drunk in an alley somewhere with artichoke juice on your face, are you even doing it right?

De Gino al Parlamento - bravo, 10/10, would get ambushed...