Impiccetta — Restaurant in Rome

Impicetta was the worst dining experience during my 14 days in Italy. The food was forgettable, borderline tolerable. There were better places I ate at in Rome and Trastevere.

Starting with the experience, we were sat in the back room in the corner. Several minutes after this, we were told to move to a different table. Once relocated, we waited for a little over 10-15 further minutes until we flagged a waiter to place our order. At this point, we had been in the restaurant for 25 minutes and no one had come to take our order, let alone give us bread or water or wine. When we flagged down the waiter who moved us, he took out his notepad and told us he was ready. When we said we wanted to do the tasting menu, he ran away, saying he needed another waiter to help us. Five minutes later, we got a quirky waiter who explained the tasting menu in a confusing manner. Our choices were also limited - no beef - which was not noted anywhere on the menu. Regardless, we placed our order.

We got an appetizer of roman classics- fried zuchini flowers and a plate of meat and cheese. It was all just ok - we had just come from Parma where we toured and tasted fresh prosciutto and parmesan reggiano. After we finished, we sat there with these plates for about 20 minutes.

Next came two massive portions of pasta each which were just not good. The carbonara was basic, with the pork belly barely cooked, as if thrown in last minute as an after thought. The pasta itself was cooked fine, but the "sauce" was clumpy and stodgy and just not appetizing. But the fun was just starting. Once we finished the pasta, we sat for another 30 minutes waiting for our secondi. No one would take our plates, no one would even look at us.

To make a very long story short, three hours into our meal, we hadn't gotten our secondi (or main) meal. We were hot, thirsty (no one asked if we wanted more wine or water), and miserable. My wife flagged the waiter, who in typical form for the night, acknowledged the flag, and then walked away, only to come back five minutes later. Three hours in, the secondi was decent but nothing worth waiting three hours for.

There are a few reviews which echo this experience... being ignored and treated like a second class diner. If there is any doubt, go elsewhere. My other meals in Rome were much better both in food quality...

Dear Martel and team, I am very disappointed that I have a tiny stomach and that I could not fit any more food of your menu. Everything was exceptional. We ordered the sautéed mussels and clams. When you dip the crispy sourdough bread in the white wine and stock sauce, you taste the depth in flavour. For once, we found an Italian restaurant that did not hold back on garlic. The mussels and clams were very tender and juicy. Obviously cooked delicately. DELICIOUS. We then ordered two small size pastas. Note, they are still a generous size and I'm thankful for previous reviewers who noted this. I don't often compliment many Italian restaurant's pastas but both the cacio e pepe and carbonara were perfection. Al dente. Well seasoned. Full flavours. We ordered this dishes as a benchmark as to how well they can nail their basic dishes and both were out of the ballpark. My wife was eating the carbonara sauce after we finished the pasta as the juices of the gaunchale, egg and cheese was so delicious! I made the rookie mistake of not eating the cheese basket together with the cacio e pepe which was regrettable.

As for the desserts, the tiramisu was true to its form. Perfect amount of moisture, obviously house made sponge that wasn't soggy, and smooth mascarpone. I have only had 3 exceptional tiramisu in my life, and this was one of them. The other two were from tonnarella, just around the corner and my brother's home made one. BRAVO.

And the caramel panna cotta. Smooth as silk. Caramel was perfectly caramelised without being burnt, and it was not overpowering the vanilla base.

House wine was also a generous serving and was perfect once aerated.

Our best meal in Rome. We will be returning to try their Ragu pasta, lasagna and rest of the dessert.

Thanks again Martel for amazing, tentative service. Food served in a timely manner and waiters would check up on us to see how we were going. It was a perfect way to...

I’m going to echo the others, saying this felt like a very Roman experience. This was our fifth day in Rome and our first day experiencing the community in this way.

The restaurant is a bit tight, but that lends itself to a more homey atmosphere than many terraces I’ve eaten at this week. Our server was engaging and fun.

The food was amazing!! Every food we were told that was a Roman specialty I found on this menu. We tasted all of it and it was so deeply delicious I don’t know how I’m supposed to go back to US dried pasta. I may have to learn how to make my own!

The drinks were wonderful as well. The prices were great. I made a reservation for 8:30 and I’m glad I did, it got busy. Almost no guest spoke English, but the waitstaff spoke English very clearly.

The food is in HUGE portions. I ordered a medium and I’m a large person and a good eater. Had to take more than half of it home. Even though it was busy, every staff member went above and beyond.

OF NOTE: we did not have euros on us and they did not accept tip via card. Even though we were unable to tip (and deeply wish we could’ve!) the server ran after us outside to give us a better bag for our takeaway. Not something I’m used to seeing in my own country - it’s left a lasting impression.

It’s also in a lively neighborhood unlike what we saw near the Vatican. Roman citizens everywhere, drinking and laughing and enjoying life. I so cherished my evening and it was a beautiful way to say...