(35 Via del Vantaggio in Rome, Italy)

Just off the heaving via del Corso you will find an outpost of civility and authentic Roman feeling ...in Al Vantaggio. Founded in 1920, this traditional eaterie was originally a tavern for carriage drivers, but now has a much more comfortable ambience – half-paneled walls, 17th century style frescoes, white tablecloths, artfully folded napkins, air conditioning. Run by a pair of brothers who grew up with this restaurant and are dedicated to it, Al Vantaggio is a relaxing and elegant place to enjoy a true Roman kitchen with a few Calabrian twists. Dishes include a rather spectacular spaghetti con frutti di mare, rich oxtail stew, and home made tiramisù. Italian wines complete the picture. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Al Vantaggio restaurant is located near Popolo Square. Opening hours: Wed - Mon 12pm - 3pm & 7pm - 11pm Tue: closed all day Al Vantaggio has been used for filming popular Italian movies [moreless]

(1e Via Eleonora Duse in Rome, Italy)

All’Oro restaurant in Rome’s Parioli quarter north of the Villa Borghese is a news-flash addition to... the Roman dining scene. Chef Riccardo di Giacinto has worked with Europe’s hottest chefs – Ferran Adria and Marco Pierre White to name two – assimilating their perfectionist tendencies about flavour and quality. All’Oro, his first restaurant, is a tiny gem in shades of cream and gold. The décor is modern in a Pan Am, dolce vita retro kind of way, with classy dark wood tables, pale seating, cutout screens, and spotlit walls. Just sixteen dishes adorn the menu, changing all the time. Breads and puds are home made and everything exalts cooking to the highest level. Dishes might include starter of parmesan soufflé with calamari ragu and roast porcini, first course of lasagne of duck ragout with juniper berries and orange peel and formaggio ubriaco, main course of roast cod with chickpea and rosemary butter, carrot marmalade and saffron sauce, and dessert of bavarois of crema catalana with caramel sauce and chocolate cannoli. The short wine list is entirely Italian and you may find yourself greeted by di Giacinto’s beautiful fiancée, Ramona. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table, if there is availability - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of 30€ per person will be charged for a cancellation within 2 days or for a no show Opening hours: Mon - Fri 12:30pm - 2:30pm & 7:45pm - 11pm Sat 7:45pm – 11pm Sun: closed all day Closed during the month of August [moreless]

(, 9 Largo Del Teatro Valle in Rome, Italy)

The Antica Biblioteca Valle restaurant, (formerly Acqua Negra)in the heart of Rome is a new incarna...tion for a new century of an iconic club that prospered during La Dolce Vita. The new restaurant arises on the very spot where stylish stars of that era played, but now you can build an entire day around this smart, hard-working restaurant. From breakfast of Italian delicacies and superb coffee at 6.30 am through lunch, tea, happy hour, dinner and lingering snacks with wine until 2 am, the smiling hospitality never falters. The dining room features a swooshing leather banquette, woven chairs, informal table settings and elegant wine storage. The dinner menu, all modern Italian, concentrates on fish and on stunning presentation – try starter of citrus-marinated fish carpaccio, pasta course of spinach pappardelle with gorgonzola and walnuts, main course of a tower of beef fillet with herbs. The breads and decorations are works of art in themselves. Use the private dining room or hire the entire venue for private events, from weddings to corporate parties. Antica Biblioteca Valle – La Dolce Vita is now. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Mon - Sun 7am - 11:30am & 12pm - 4pm & 7pm - 1am [moreless]

(18 Via Garibaldi in Rome, Italy)

In the 17th century, the Antica Pesa was an inn serving the peasants who came to deliver grain to th...e Vatican’s customs office. In the 19th, the bocce champions of Trastevere challenged each other in the in the court at the rear. Now the Antica Pesa is one of the best restaurants in Rome, and the old bocce court is a charming garden where a well-dressed, well-heeled and well-known clientele revels on summer evenings. Everyone from Hollywood stars to high government officials has dined here, including many Trastevere-inspired artists from the mid-twentieth century, whose paintings and sculpture are on display. The menu is a combination of regional traditional and innovative Italian under the direction of Simon Panella. Dishes change with the seasons and on a daily basis, and include steamed shrimp with zucchini blossoms, ravioli stuffed with white truffles, thyme-crusted lamb, and basil sorbet with caramelized apples. Enjoy the international wine list and the buzz in the air. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Mon - Sat 7:30pm - 11:30pm Sun: closed all day [moreless]

(62a Via Vittorio Veneto in Rome, Italy)

On the Via Veneto and just by the American Embassy – how fitting – the Hard Rock Café has set out it...s stall of down home American cooking, international rock god and goddess memorabilia, and snazzy souvenirs. Madonna togs feature here, as does Elvis’s jogging suit, Dave Gilmour’s guitar, and some other highlights. One day when the archeologists of the future unearth this cache of treasures, we’d love to know how they explain it. The décor is fun and modern, with a painted rotunda ceiling depicting rock n roll heaven, and a great glassed-in patio for people-watching. Thumping music keeps the buzz going, as do the Hurricanes and frozen alco-drinks – all good fun. Dishes are reliably the same as other HRCs: chicken wings with three different sauces, mountainous nachos, burgers (difficult to find in Rome), pulled-pork sandwiches, various steaks and BBQs, and hot fudge brownie sundae to make the meal complete. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Sun - Thu12pm - 12am Fri - Sat 12pm -1am [moreless]

(25c Via dei Soldati in Rome, Italy)

A molto trendy destination restaurant – claimed to be the city’s oldest hostelry -- that can give y...ou a fine meal and a terrific evening out. Set in a beautifully restored medieval building with views of the Tiber, Hostaria dell’Orso has been a bar and hotel at various stages and hosted such historical luminaries as Rabelais, Goethe, Onassis, Clark Gable. Now you’ll find a three-level establishment with piano bar on the ground level, ristorante in the middle, and lively disco/nightclub on the top, with the ancient details cheekily offset by modern ones, like orange leather chairs . The menu is under the direction of starry masterchef Gualtiero Marchesi, the Michel Roux of Italy, and features both antique dishes and newer interpretations of Roman cuisine. Dishes include seared scallop salad with ginger and pink pepper, homemade tortelli stuffed with pumpkin, butter and marjoram sauce, caramelized suckling pig with honey and spices and apples and celery tart. The waiters wear dinner jackets. The sommelier is widely acclaimed too. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table, if there is availability - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of 30€ per person will be charged for a cancellation within 3 days or for a no show Opening hours: Mon - Sat 8pm - 1amSun: closed all day [moreless]

(129 Via dei Banchi Vecchi in Rome, Italy)

Il Pagliaccio, named for the weeping clown, is a winning balance of elegance, even formality, and ca...sual warmth. The area, between the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Tiber, is charmingly characteristic of the not-so-heavily touristed areas of Rome. The two dining rooms joined by an arched doorway featured checkered tiled floors, traditional wooden ceiling, one with stone paneling the other with a blood-red brocade wall, indirect lighting, white table linens, leather chairs, restrained original artwork. The two chefs, for whom Il Pagliaccio is a labour of passionate attachment to this great city and its culinary tradition, have worked all over the globe and bring a sense of discovery to their creations. Even so, the Mediterranean is the main inspiration here, and the things that swim in it. Starters include starter of brandade of salt code with potato rolls and crisp spring vegetable salad, pasta course of cuttlefish cannelloni filled with artichokes and Granny Smith apple salad, main of lightly-smoked roast duck in asian broth with shitake and tapioca, and dessert of mango beignet in yoghurt and rose water soup. Nearly 150 wines populate the list. Sampling menu available. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required for bookings of 8 or more people and the management requests that at least 7 days notice is given for cancellations. Opening hours: Wed - Sat 12:30pm - 2pm Mon - Sat 8pm - 10:30pm During the 15th century, Charles the V lived for several years in the building. [moreless]

(14 Via Di Porta Pinciana in Rome, Italy)

Mirabelle restaurant in Rome is a Michelin-starred, gloriously lavish, exceeds-all-expectations supe...rstar. The mirrored seventh-floor dining room with its sumptuous pale gold décor and elegant crystal and china frames a magical rooftop view of the Eternal City. Chef Giuseppe Sestito uses superbly-sourced ingredients for haute cuisine dishes like artfully-presented seabass tartare with fennel salad and orange, oven-baked rack of lamb pre-sale with rosemary, and the famous Settimo Cielo – ‘Seventh Heaven’ – dessert. The excellent wine list is mostly Italian with some heavy hitters from beyond. Manager Bruno Borghesi, formerly of The Ritz, leads formal, friendly service, attracting jet setters, politicians and other beautiful people. Wear a jacket and be ready to have your senses ravished. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required to reserve a table, if there is availability for all bookings - this is simply to secure your booking, absolutely no money will be charged to the card except in the case of late cancellations. A fee of 100€ per person will be charged for a cancellation within 24 hrs or for a no show Opening hours: Daily 12:30pm - 3pm & 7:30pm - 11pm The lobby chandelier was used by Visconti in the ballroom scene of The Leopard [moreless]

(5/6 Via delle Coppelle in Rome, Italy)

Quinzi & Gabrieli restaurant in the heart of Rome’s centro storico, is celebrated for the freshness ...and quality of its fish menu. The dining rooms, set in a 16th century building near the Pantheon, are small, with vaulted ceilings, open kitchen, and tables that spill onto the terrace in warm weather overlooking a typical Roman square. Trompe l’oeil murals of seaside scenes set the tone, as do the VIP diners and starry big names who show up regularly. The fish is the freshest from Italian waters, cooked as little as possible so the flavours shine through. Wines are French and Italian and the service is renowned. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. A credit card is required for group bookings, absolutely no money will be charged to your card, this is just to secure the booking. Opening hours: Mon - Sat 7:45pm - 11pm Sun: closed all day [moreless]

(8/9 Via Della Rosetta in Rome, Italy)

La Rosetta restaurant – one of the few things on which Romans agree. La Rosetta is widely known as ...the best fish restaurant in Rome, and therefore one of the best anywhere. Chef-owner Massimo Riccioli took the helm twenty years ago, twenty years after his parents founded La Rosetta as the first all-fish restaurant in the city. On the doorstep of the Pantheon, the small, white, luxurious dining rooms attract high-rollers who adore the innovative Eastern-inflected new dishes as much as the traditional Sicilian ones that the restaurant was founded on. Fish are bought quayside daily so the menu is at the mercy of the catch, and all the stronger for it. Dishes include carpaccio of fresh fish drizzled with olive oil, tagliatelle of Mediterranean tuna with greens, chocolate mousse with candied orange. Tasting menu available. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Please be aware that Ristorante La Rosetta does not allow children under 6.A credit card is required to confirm all bookings. Absolutely nothing will be charged to the card, unelss in the event of late cancellations (less than 48 hours notice) or no-shows.There is a strict 2-hour time limit on all bookings, and sitting times for dinner are at 7:30pm & 9:45pm (please book the 9:30pm slot for this sitting). Opening hours: Mon - Sat 12:45pm - 2:45pm & 7:30pm - 11pmClosed Sundays and most of August. [moreless]