La Bottega Del Caffe

This restaurant, located in a small piazza near the Cavour metro stop, was always very busy at night. The restaurant was always full and at night they opened up a take out bar next door, and most patrons took their drinks into the piazza to socialize. To us, that sounded like a good thing, so we tried this for dinner one night. As always, they were busy and did not have a table outside available, but they did have tables indoors, so we were able to be seated inside immediately.

We ordered the caprese salad and a pasta dish so unimpressive I don't even remember what it was. The caprese was delicious - the tomatoes fresh and crisp and the mozzarella was incredibly fresh, you could see and taste it. The pasta, however, was under cooked and the sauce unimpressive.

I would recommend this spot for a drink and a quick bite - the caprese is good - but not for a meal. If you can get a table outside, it is a beautiful square and a lovely spot to enjoy a glass of wine in the evening.

Ristorante Gli Angeletti

This restaurant was right around the corner from Hotel Duca d'Alba, the hotel we were staying at. A couple of nights we came back to the hotel to find the outdoor seating area crowded and stopped to look at the menu. Our last night in Rome, we decided to eat here for dinner.

We ordered the classic lasagna, and the spaghetti with pecorino and pepper. We also ordered a liter of the house white wine, which was mildly sweet and bubbly.

The lasagna was delicious. Meaty and cheesy, without feeling heavy the way American lasagna feels in your stomach. It was a nice sized portion and perfect for sharing between two people. We also shared the pecorino and pepper dish, which was perfectly cooked; fresh pasta - a thicker spaghetti - which was tossed in cheese and pepper, then topped with shaved cheese. Again, perfect. The combination of the hard cheese and the al dente noodles was a perfect match. And the pasta was definitely fresh, not dried or pre-packaged.

The staff we interacted with during our visit were friendly. We would recommend this to travelers and locals alike.

The restaurant is about a 2 minute walk off the Cavour metro stop.

Mouth of Truth

The "Mouth of Truth", a marble carving of a man-like face at Santa Maria in Cosmedin was made popular in the movie Roman Holiday. The face and the church are both free to enter, however, a very long line forms to take photos with the Mouth of Truth. Even in the off season, we waited approximately 30 minutes to see the statue, and there was a guard monitoring guests so they would keep their photographs to a minimum (to keep the line moving).