Ristorante "Pasta Urbana" — Restaurant in Rome

I wish I could rate this venue higher, but the dinner was disappointing.

The place is small and cramped, and I sat on a stool at a tiny table, finding it difficult not to bump against another customer back-to-back. The ambiance is rather anonymous and the back of the main room, which I had to cross to reach the loo, is somewhat shabby.

The antipasti were barely sufficient, including fried artichokes ("carciofi alla giudia") that were too hard, plus fried mozzarella in bread slices ("mozzarella in carrozza"), which was slightly bland. We were served some bruschetta we hadn't ordered, which we ended up eating (and obviously paying for). The "rigatoni alla gricia" had pecorino cheese that appeared to be clotted rather than blended with the pasta's starch as it should, and the jawl bacon ("guanciale") in them was undercooked as well as cut too large. The pasta itself, made on the premises, was good but nothing to tell home about. The tiramisú was nice and at the right temperature, but served in a small plastic container rather than in a proper plate.

We had a good white and a mediocre rosé, both largely overpriced.

The staff was generally attentive, but the mains arrived too early, while we were still at the starter. We were given cheap paper napkins and there were no tablecloths. Forks and knives were not changed by the staff after the starters. At our arrival the waitress cleaned our table, which had been just left by other customers, by spraying a cleaning product that had a strong and unpleasant smell. She repeated the spraying again on ad adjacent table during the dinner, exposing us again to the strong odour.

At nearly 50€ per person, the dinner was overall...

This surprisingly was one of our favorite pastas of Rome. I got the pistachio cream + tomato pasta and loved it. Pasta was perfectly al dente and the favor was so delicious.

One of my kids got Cacio e Pepe which was decent.

The 2 younger ones got the kids meal and it turned out the amount of tomato basil pasta was just as much if not a bit MORE pasta than the non-kid dishes! The kids meal comes with a soda (they chose orange Fanta). And their kids meal also comes with a large scoop of gelato at the end! My kids loved the gelato (one chose hazelnut & the other strawberry).

The only downside was we ate here during a heat wave season and it was hot in the back room. The AC from the front room just didn’t reach.

Shout out to our server Kemp who did 100% of the order taking, bill ringing up, making all the aperol spritzes, and 85% of the delivery of food and drinks to every single table! All in a very hot and stuffy room! She was hustling and did a great job! She also helped me narrow down my lunch selection to the pistachio and tomato pasta and it was sooooo good.

Would highly recommend...

Of the two staff members, only one was friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately, the other had a moody attitude, as if serving us was a burden.

I ordered the pomodoro meatball fettuccine. It was disappointing— the sauce tasted like it came from a tin. My husband’s dish, with a white pecorino sauce, was a bit better but still nothing fantastic.

What really shocked and disappointed us — and the main reason I’m giving this place a 3 and wouldn’t recommend it — was the portion size. Our servings were significantly smaller than those of the couple at the next table. I honestly don’t know why. Perhaps it was because they were Italian and we’re not, or maybe it was something else. I don’t know but it wasn’t fair.

For €14, I was expecting a good portion, not a small serving that looked like it came off a fine dining tasting menu — except the place is not a 5 star restaurant, the dish itself didn’t look fancy and tasted more like something quickly thrown together. The tomato sauce had that tinny flavour, and the meatballs were bland and unseasoned. Disappointing. I’d suggest...