In between the little streets of Rome stands the famous Trevi Fountain. Tourists, and even locals, gather daily to throw spare change into the fountain, making a wish.

As with all tourist areas, there are 100’s of restaurants, charging higher prices than anywhere else. Being smart travellers, we walked a couple of streets down from the fountain and of course, found a few restaurants offering the same meals for way cheaper. We had a meal deal at Mannozzi restaurant for 13€.

Mannozzi’s Meal Deal

The deal consists of a pasta dish to start such as Carbonara, Bolognese, etc. It’s strange in Italy that they eat this dish as a starter, as they are not small portions and are really heavy. I would never normally choose to eat pasta before a main course. The pasta arrived and it was cooked beautifully. Al dente, and bursting with flavour.

The main course was a choice of Chicken, Veal or Pork with fried potatoes. The main course was a a let down in comparison to our starter. The meat was quite tough and the friend potatoes were very oily. We didn’t enjoy the mains.

For dessert, it was of course, Tiramisu or homemade icecream.

Once again, the tiramisu tasted amazing. The Italians are known for this speciality and do not disappoint.

We wouldn’t recommend eating at Mannozzi, as the quality of the main course was very poor. There are many restaurants in Rome serving a much better meal.

Via della Panetteria, 14, 00187 Roma

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The restaurant was just across the road from our hotel with about 36 seats. It is obviously a family-run business, by the warm welcoming and homely feel inside. We were immediately made to feel comfortable. It is an Italian-styled restaurant, with reds, greens and whites decorated on the walls. Simple looking decor but with amazing food!

There was a huge menu to choose from with lots of variants of home-made pizzas, pastas and antipastos. Everything in the restaurant is made from scratch. You can tell by the colour of the pasta as it has a vibrant yellow colour to it. Even the ice cream is homemade.

Charlotte ordered a pasta dish called Porta Castello, the same name as the restaurant. We wondered whether it was their signature dish so wanted to try it. The pasta came with cherry tomatoes, rocket and gorgonzola cheese. The tagliatelle was perfectly cooked al dente, with just the right amount of gorgonzola within the sauce. The cherry tomatoes and the rocket gave the overall dish a taste of freshness. The gorgonzola didn’t overpower the entire dish, which is an easy mistake to make. The whole dish was the perfect balance.

I was very jealous!

I chose to order a pizza (of course). It came with ham, olives and egg.

The pizza base was so amazingly thin. It was perfectly crispy on the outside but still moist in the middle. It needed a little bit of salt to bring out the extra flavour but overall it was a delicious pizza. One of the best I’ve had.

Charlotte fancied a dessert and ordered a White Truffle (name on the menu) hoping for a chocolately surprise. It turned out to be a scoop of vanilla ice cream with amaretto sauce. It was not what we were expecting but it was still great! The homemade ice cream makes a massive difference with a creamy texture and a subtle hint of vanilla!

Porta Castello definitely has our vote, and we recommend this restaurant to anyone in Rome!

Largo di Porta Castello, 28, 00193, Roma

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Walking through the streets of Rome by night is a must do! The little alleyways are lit up with fairy lights, there are 100’s of Italian restaurants that are filled with locals gossiping about their day. Pizzas, pastas and salads on their tables with bottles of red wine – oh, what a fab culture!

We walked into L’insalata Ricca because of its name ‘The Delicious Salad’. Charlotte was a bit sick of eating pizza and pasta and fancied some refreshing food.

Guess what we ended up ordering…? PIZZA.

Charlotte decided she wasn’t hungry and I never wanted salad in the first place! There were many people around us eating salads however, and they looked delicious, filled with generous amounts of ingredients. I did regret my decision for a moment, but then my pizza arrived.

I ordered a Quattro Formaggi pizza which is made with Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Red Vane, and Parmesan. This pizza is to die for.

I am Dutch, so naturally I am a huge fan of cheese. Pizza + 4 types of cheese is literal perfection for me. The pizza was huge, with a thin base and so rich in flavour. It was very moist, with melted cheese covering the entire thing, but still with a crispy crust.

I also ordered half a litre of red wine which only cost 4€.

L’Insalta Ricca – Another Cheap Meal

In total, we paid 8.5€ for the pizza and just 4€ for the wine, resulting in another extremely cheap meal.

I was stuffed, tipsy, and probably one of the happiest men in Rome!

I would definitely recommend going to L’Insalata Ricca. Whether you want a delicious pizza, or wish to eat something a little less heavy, they have an extensive salad selection so something to suit everyone.

Piazza del Risorgimento, 5-6, 00192 Roma 

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St. Peter’s Basilica is in the heart of Vatican City which is a very popular area for tourists. It is unusual to find cheap deals in these particular areas, but this restaurant offered just that.

The deal consisted of either a Pizza or a Pasta dish, followed with either a Tiramisu or a Crème Caramel and a drink of your choice. The drinks included red or white wine, a beer or a soft drink.

We wanted to see what the standard of food was like for the price, and quite honestly we weren’t expecting much.

Ciao Restaurant

Most people were sat indoors in the warmth but we fancied something a little different. It was lovely to sit outside in the small, cobbled street of Rome, people watching while we ate our lunch.

We ordered a Lasagne and a Proscuito Pizza, a glass of wine and 2x tiramisus.

The meal can only be described as “Cheap and Cheerful”. Just like a good old English Pub meal, but an Italian version.

We were served a simple, small pizza, half the size of the pizzas in most other restaurants we ate in. It was however topped with a generous amount of ham, rocket and cheese, but lacked in flavour. Charlotte ordered a Lasagne which tasted nice but was presented very poorly.

The glass of wine was average and the Tiramisu was very small in size. Enough for an after meal bite but not big enough for a standard dessert.

This restaurant could improve greatly in a number of areas if they spent a little more money to increase the quality of food (and increasing prices), and spent the time getting to understand their ingredients and flavours. The food was more than edible, it just lacked flavour.

We can’t complain for a meal at that price.

At the end of the day, we would recommend eating here to anyone looking for a cheap meal in Rome, but if you are wanting to experience the true meaning of Italian cuisine, visit Ristorante di Porta Castello.

Borgo Pio, 146, 00193 Roma

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There is also seating area that is elevated from the ground, kind of like your own personal tree house for dinner.

Carl’s BBQ is known for its ribs. They serve up either a half rack, or full rack depending on your appetite. Half a rack of ribs costs around 350php and the full rack about 550php.

We tried various dishes at Carl’s BBQ. Of course, we ordered the famous ribs and they were delicious. The meat is very succulent and tender, falling off the bone and smoothered in BBQ sauce. I would highly recommend coming to eat at Carl’s BBQ if you are a lover of ribs!

We also tried the kebabs, which were just as tasteful. Marinated in sauce, and served with veggies.

Carl’s BBQ is definitely on our list of the Best Restaurants in the Philippines, serving nothing but tasteful dishes!

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Every single night this place is busy with people queuing out of the doors. It is only a small restaurant with around 7 tables, but it is very popular amongst the tourists and for good reason.

La Bruijta serve all homemade meals such as curries, soupls, eggplant (aubergine) based meals, etc.

I would recommend ordering the fried mozzarella to start. It is amazing, (if you love cheese) but so heavy!

Make sure you have someone to share this with or don’t order a main if you don’t. After failing to eat our main course because we were so full, we asked the owner how much cheese was in there and he told us there was a whopping 250g.

I couldn’t eat half of my main course after eating the fried Mozarella (& I shared it!)

The dishes at La Brujita are very flavoursome and extremely fresh. It is definitely worth a visit if you are in Coron. We would have eaten here every night if the queues would have allowed it!

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The staff are lovely and so welcoming. Julio the owner is very helpful and loves what he does. He is originally from Italy and the ingredients for his food are all from traditional Italian recipes, making it taste wonderful.

We enjoyed Marco Polo so much, we came back again the same day for dinner.

There is an outdoor seating area with hammocks and tables overlooking the sea. This is the perfect little sun spot, with a lovely breeze passing through the trees. We chose to eat outside our lunch outside and gazed over to the water followed by a swing on the hammock while sipping a cold beer.

There is also fantastic WIFI in the restaurant which is very hard to find in the Philippines. It is a bonus if you have emails to respond to, or someone to message.

Overall, Marco Polo is a great restaurant.

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