Ristorante Da Massi
Dave and I explored Trastevere the day we arrived in Rome and wanting an early dinner we chose Ristorante Da Massi. You will find them on Via della Scala which is on the west bank of the Tiber, south of the Vatican, in the old city. What attracted us to the restaurant was the fact that they do not have a tourist menu. Run by a third generation chef / owner who creates Roman historical dishes following old local recipes, we knew we could not go wrong.
To start
We chose a 375ml bottle of Prosecco Treviso Extra Dry (€10) to enjoy with our meal. We started with Tagliere Tipico Romana (€13), a plate of Roman meats and cheeses. I was not really taken with the dried pork as it was too spicy for me. Everything else was a great way to entice the taste buds for the meal to follow, especially the roast pork which was soft, succulent and tasty and the pork sausage which was divine.
Our meal
Dave had the Fettuccine alla amatriciana (€9) for his main meal which was packed full of flavour. In the Roman tradition it contained guinciale and is the house specialty. I chose Maltagliati ai carciofi e guanciale (€11). I had never heard of this pasta before which was the first prompt for me to order the dish, the second being that I love artichokes and they were in season. Maltagliati literally translates to badly cut and my meal came with rough cut pasta that was super thin. My plate was a bit too bland for Dave, but just perfect for me without the added heat of chilli that he had in his meal. It was finished with olive oil and parsley and might have needed a little bit more salt.
Dessert
I was not going to order dessert but the waiter told me that they served the best one in all of Italy. I could not pass up the opportunity to test theirs and I must say it came a close second! The best one being a plateful I was served in Florence on our honeymoon.
Our impressions
The owner was present at the restaurant, warmly greeting regulars and overseeing the tables, making sure to visit each one. The service was very good and both our waiters made sure we were paid the right amount of attention. They spoke English which is most helpful if you want to eat at a local restaurant but don’t speak Italian. The restaurant was busy at 19h00 which is early for Europe. I can highly recommend you eat here when visiting Rome for a good, decent meal.
Contact them on: +39 6 5833 3868
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime May 17:
- 2015 – The Woman Who Stole My Life
- 2013 – Col’Cacchio Celebrity Chef Signature Pizza Collection
- 2011 – Chicken With Chickpeas
- 2010 – Choux Pastry
Sounds like a wonderful place, we also enjoy eating at the local restaurants, best way to see a city.
For sure!
Everything looks seriously heavenly!!
It really was 🙂
This sounds like a lovely restaurant. So nice to have local recipes and food. Going to Italy for your honeymoon seems to be a South Africa tradition. Terence and I also went to Italy and so did most of our friends.
It must be the romance of Italy that people choose to go there 🙂
What a lovely restaurant – the food sounds delicious! Can’t wait to visit Rome later this year. Have a lovely weekend, Tandy!
Enjoy Rome – and hope you visit Trastevere 🙂
Sounds wonderful! Trastevere is such a good area for restaurants ?
There were a lot of choices 🙂
Ahhh pasta in Rome! I have so many fond memories of it 😀 I love the classic Roman pastas but I haven’t heard of the one you had! 😀
I am going to make this one at home soon 🙂