Trattoria Der Pallaro — Restaurant in Rome

This place was recommended by an Italian-American foodie friend of mine. I read the reviews, so I came in with realistic expectations. I really wanted to like it.

I used the Google link through quandoo to make a booking. Getting to dinner proved harder than I expected, so I used the site to push my reservation back 30 minutes and then 15 more. When I arrived, I was asked whether I had a reservation. I said I thought I did. Without asking my name (I was a solo diner, and probably the only one), the host told me I did indeed have a 19:30 reservation and I was late. I did not argue.

I was then seated at a table in a completely empty and dark room. He turned the lights on as he sat me. At first I found this a bit odd, but I grew to like my table quite a bit. There were huge parties of Americans outside acting like stereotypical noisy Americans. As I was seated near the toilet, people would come in looking for it and invariably enter random rooms which were not the toilet. Quite entertaining.

I was asked for my beverage preference. I knew it was a question of still or sparkling water and red or white wine. I ordered sparkling and red and received a litre bottle and a very full quartino of something that was drinkable.

Not long after, three appetizer courses showed up. Decent prosciutto with two bocconcini, a salted tomato and basil dish that reminded me of what often tops bruschetta in the States, and a big plate of lentils. A bread basket came as well. These items were pleasant. As I finished them, another plate with three random fried things arrived. A visit to google maps suggested it was two rice balls and a veal meatball. These were unremarkable.

A little time passed and the pasta course arrived. It was rigatoni. About 60% was in a red sort of sauce and 40% in a white one. It is billed as amatriciana and carbonara. It was tasty, but it was nothing special. Reminded me a bit of food at a buffet. I have nary a drop of Italian blood, and I make my carbonara with bacon rather than guanciale, but what I make is two orders of magnitude better. And I serve it hot.

Quite a bit of time passed, during which two locals and their dog were seated next to me. I noticed that they were offered choice of pasta, including cacio e pepe.

Eventually the secondo and contorni arrived. I believe I had roast lamb, sautéed escarole, and homemade potato chips (crisps). The lamb portion was tiny and it was tough. I would not say it was in a sauce, but the plate was oily and salty. I didn’t recognize the escarole at first—it was room temperature, so I assumed it was salad. The chips were tasty; in my opinion they did not complement the other items.

Eventually a thin slice of a cake with custard arrived with a tiny glass of what tasted like orange juice. I would have liked a custardy dessert; this was a cakey one. YMMV.

Nonna checked on me a couple times during the meal, mostly because she was chatting with the Italian couple at the next table.

I did not know for sure whether I would need to ask to pay. Eventually I told Nonna I’d like to pay. She told me it was €30, and I paid her. As I got up to leave, I noticed that the neighbour table had a darker green for their contorno; more of this dish was on plates in the kitchen as I left.

I’m glad I went. It was edible and filling. I get the impression that Italian-speakers, especially locals, get better treatment.

It is a tourist trap. It is overpriced. And if you dine early in the evening you’ll likely be joined by noisy Americans.

I believe the place is legit; Nonna is truly a Nonna. Coming from the land of chain restaurants, it’s fun to eat at one that’s definitely one of a kind. The catch is, Rome and Italy are full of independent and family-owned restaurants. Read your guidebook or Google Maps and find yourself...

Wife and I left hungry and disappointed.

Service was okay, the staff tried.

Cash only and is €30 per person.

It’s good value for money at face value considering the variety of dishes you get plus the bread, house wine and water, but this is where the pros end. The wine was barely passable and bread was stale.

The food portions were scarce and the quality was mediocre at best. This was very disappointing as we came to this restaurant based on great recommendations from friends. We really tried to see the best in this place.

The food started with a few antipasto dishes which gave you fine dining portion sizes but with simple food you would normally eat in abundance. The fried balls in the antipasto were good but the rest were not. Then the pastas came, it was good but not close to great. The mains were the worst, not only were the portions small (the photos in my review are servings shared between 2 people except for the cheesecake where we each got a slice), but the quality was not up to standard. The pork was dry and the seasoning was confusing. I had some hope because some of the cubes looked like thịt kho. The little side of spinach and lettuce you see in my photo was what we got for 2 people. The food itself again was not good and it barely fed one person. Finally dessert arrived, a thin slice of cheese cake came, it was dry and the cheese filling was more like jelly. Not good. The berry shot was good however.

Perhaps too much hype around this place, the food was no mediocre at best. I suspect it is a tourist trap.

All tables around us were English speaking tourists but that wouldn’t have bothered us if the food was good. Some patrons were claiming the food was best they’ve had. They probably haven’t had the chance to try great Italian food yet.

The grandma is a nice narrative for this place because it seems like an off-beat spot serving home cooked food. The price tag is not as you will find many places that will serve much higher quality food for the same or less spend.

I post this not with ill intentions. Only to share my experience and to help others like me looking for great food and avoid being...

Amazingly simple and delicious, no-frills Roman dinner. Just what we were looking for and so grateful after our experience the night before at an extremely overrated place in Trastevere. Quiet, but active setting and a nice outdoor terrace. We were greeted at the door by the family to let us know it was a traditional fixed-price set menu - €25 for 4 courses and €20 for 3. Antipasti was served family-style with no-frills, but extremely flavorful dishes - fresh bread, toasted bread with garlic & olive oil, red ripe tomatoes & basil with olive oil, prosciutto, mozzarella, and really, really good lentils. There were also some veal croquettes as well as some rice & cheese croquettes. Also included is water & vino di casa. Second course was pasta. I’m vegetarian, so I just had the simple tomato sauce & cheese that was mouth-watering and everyone else additionally had carbonara. These all tasted fresh and truly homemade. They also brought us some hot-from-the-fryer potato chips while we waited for dessert which was a slice of cake and a small cup of flavorful strawberry juice. I didn’t care much for the cake, but honestly I was so full, a few bites was all I could eat. Service was great - they spoke English if needed. They only take cash, so have that ready, and be sure you’re hungry because it would be a shame to have to waste any of this deliciously...