(43 Via di Ripetta in Rome, Italy)

Ad Hoc restaurant in the heart of Rome is just a few steps from the Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo... and the Via Condotti. The ground floor of a 15th century building has been transformed into this delightful – and delightfully affordable – restaurant, with travertine wainscoting, high ceilings, elegant drapes, and a mixture of Dali-esque clocks and classic prints of Rome adorning the walls. The menu uses the very finest and freshest Italian ingredients and changes frequently to reflect the seasons. Dishes include Colonnata ham with bruschetta, famous handmade pasta with white ragout, black truffle and grana cheese, classic grills, ossobuco with saffron rice, orange and Grand Marnier semifreddo. The wine list includes more than 300 labels from around the country, and service is welcoming and friendly. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Closed Mon LunchOpen daily 12pm - 3pm & 6:30pm - 1am [moreless]

(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: Mon: 12pm - 3pm & 7pm - 11pmWed - Sun: 12pm - 3pm & 7pm - 11pmTue: Closed Al Vantaggio has been used for filming popular Italian movies [moreless]

(53 Via Giraud in Rome, Italy)

L’Altro Mastai is a fabulously chic, trendy restaurant a few steps from the Piazza Navona. This exc...iting newcomer to the Roman restaurant scene attracts a flock of beautiful people and foodies. The décor is warm and smart in cream-coloured marble, detailed with mosaics and modern art. It’s Michelin-starred, and why not? Head chef Fabio Baldassarre has worked under Raymond Blanc and Heinz Beck in the legendary La Pergola, among others. He’s a chef to watch. The cuisine is beautifully well-sourced Mediterranean with exquisite attention to detail. Seasonally changing dishes include starter of watermelon and taleggio cheese salad with macaroon syrup, first course of rabbit and endive tortelli with anchovy butter, main course of red mullet with pickles and mustard seeds, and dessert of sfogliatelle with cream, morellos and lemon sorbet. Enormous wine list, mostly Italian and French. L’Altro Mastai is also known for its service. On arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Tue - Sat 7:30pm - 12am Mon - Sun: closed all day [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]

(8 Vicolo del Bottino in Rome, Italy)

Attention, wine lovers, architecture lovers, and romantics. Il Palazzetto is a unique gem in the hea...rt of the Eternal City, set in a remarkably beautiful restored palazzo right on the Spanish Steps which is also home to the International Wine Academy of Roma. Wine tasting courses take place here and there a four luxurious bedrooms – it’s run by the Hotel Hassler folk – so there are 400 wines available at dinner. The restaurant, under the inspired care of chef Vincenzo di Tuoro and his superb staff, is arranged in the covered garden or cosy indoor Library Room. The freshest ingredients, home made bread and pasta – Di Tuoro employs the best raw materials to create his excellent creative cuisine. Dishes could include an Artichoke and Soft Cheese Tartlet; Lobster Ravioli with lemon balm, parsnip and ginger cream; Short “Martelli” pasta with lamb ragoût, sun-dried tomatoes and Fossa pecorino cheese; Italian scorpion fish with fava bean and wasabi sauce; and Almond milk ring cake with white chocolate and Cubeb black pepper mousse. Upon arrival, please inform the restaurant that your booking was made via toptable. Opening hours: Tue - Sat 12:30pm - 2:30pm & 7:30pm - 10:30pm Sun 12:30 -3.30pm Sunday evenings and Mondays are available for private events. [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]