VyNIQUE Enoteca Regionale del Lazio — Restaurant in Rome

We were very keen to go back to this place as we had one of our best meals when we visited last time we were in Rome (about one year ago). After some time searching we managed to find this place again (it had changed its name and decor but the menu looked familiar and it had retained the 'enoteca regional de Lazio' as a descriptor. We also knew it was the same one by cross-checking against co-ordinates of pictures taken there from our last visit. What a disappointment! Service was, at best, indifferent and somewhat brusque. We were prepared to give one of the staff some allowance for language differences when he greeted us with 'are you ready to order yet or do I have to wait around?' The starter of beef 'tartar' was a bland tasteless mound of large lumps of unseasoned cow. But that was nothing compared to the main course - served up to us in very quick succession - ( it seemed like they were keen to get us out of there as quickly as possible). My partner opted for the duck dish which was grey and chewy - well overcooked - and mine was a lamb dish served on pureed vegetables. The lamb comprised of mostly fat and grissle - I started chewing but had to give up as I was unable to swallow much of it. I pointed this out to the waitress who came to pick up our plates. She asked if I wanted something else instead. No apology. I declined as I was not convinced there would be any improvement and, in any case, it would have meant my partner waiting while I ate another dish - which I was not keen to do. The waitress again appeared to be non-plussed about the whole thing - she did not appear to be enjoying her job. So we just paid up to get out of there - it was - with the wine - the most expensive meal of our trip in Rome and the worse one. We mentioned this to one of the managerial staff before we left who spoke to someone else who said he could not give us discount (we had not asked for one) as we had already paid by card (not sure why that mattered?). In any case we were just keen to get away and get something nice to eat elsewhere - which we did. This place might be good for cocktails wines and small plates but good food and service it is not - my advice would be to stay away. It is a shame as this used to be a good place. I understand they are a different organisation now with different staff including chefs. We wished we had known this...

My family and I (5 people) were visiting the Piazza di Spagna area and hoping to get dinner around before going back to our hotel in Trastevere where we ate dinner the night before for 167 Euros. So, we looked at three or four restaurants in the area and thought the prices were a bit steep. This is a very gorgeous and chic area in Rome. So we decided to go back to Trastevere and eat there. As we were heading back we had one last look, here in VyNIQUE. We realised the menu was similar to the other places in the area but each dish was around 3 to 5 Euros cheaper. So we decided to step in. Very beautiful and well appointed place; we even felt not appropriately dressed for it :-) We were taken upstairs where there was another group of people just finishing and leaving. I saw that we were going to be the only ones and thought that was bad news because when they put you upstairs in a restaurant they tend to forget about you after they have served you your meals. As I was looking through the menu, I could not believe the quality of what was on offer and the prices. I kept thinking, there is something I am not seeing, there is something hidden, I am going to regret this. Quite the contrary. The service was number one. We had this well presented and respectful lady looking after us. She made sure she was present and available upstairs throughout our dinner. The food was superb, exquisite and gourmet made. The wine was fantastic. At this point I felt that if there was something I didn't realise of and the check was high I wouldn't have minded. This was our best meal in our whole visit to Italy. We are recommending this place to anyone who asks us. And when I got "il conto" it happened to be exactly 167 Euros; the same money I had paid the previous night for a lesser quality meal in Trastevere. Thank you for a...

Palatium is a restaurant sponsored by the region of Lazio to highlight local products.

It is not really an enoteca in the sense of a tasting room. Only five red wines are available by the glass, and all of them are young (and inexpensive). But I had an excellent bottle of Consilium Migrante (Cesanese di Olevano Romano, 22€) which was full-bodied, fragrant, and rich. Again, strangely for an enoteca, the menu said it was a 2008, but I was served a 2010.

My first course was a flan di ricotta romana, marmellata di pomodorini. The flan was a mixture of ricotta with herbs, light and fairly bland. The tomato marmelade was delicious.

Main course (I skipped the pasta course -- they don't offer half-portions and it would just have been too much food) was polpette alla romana con crema di Cacio di Morolo. The six small meatballs were good, the sauce a bit too subtle. At the next table, I saw a baccalà alla romana which smelled and looked much more interesting (and was served as a very large portion). The vegetable, sauteed broccoletti di Anguillara, was delicious.

I ended with the cheese plate -- some delicious cheeses, but most of them very salty. It might make more sense if split four ways as one of several antipasti instead of as a cheese course.

I had been looking forward to this restaurant (it was closed on my last visit) and must say I was rather disappointed given its good reviews in restaurant guides and online. Perhaps I should have stuck to the more...