Mamma Angelina is a fish and seafood restaurant a fair hike north of the city centre in Rome. It was a Monday evening when we went and it was quiet; apart from us, there were only a couple of Italian families. N1 approved of the lack of tourists. It can get busy, though, by all accounts, so reservations still recommended.
The waiter thought we were asking for a cheaper wine than the one he had recommended, so he dropped down to the cheapest on the list. No, we said, more expensive. He still thought we were garbling our Italian and regretted there was nothing cheaper - then beamed when the penny dropped. At this point we got a visit from the manager, who doubled as sommelier – but no hard sell. We ended up going to the very top of the white wine list for a Gaja & Rey (next post), partly because it was no more expensive than we would pay in any shop. (And, an internet search later confirmed, in fact cheaper than in quite a few shops).
A julienne of seppioline - cuttlefish – was juicy, relatively soft and not too chewy, simply done, sliced and with a vinaigrette. Coppo di polpo, octopus sausage, was served with potatoes and mint. Again, the quality of the basic ingredient really stood out – it was the best octopus I’ve ever had, the flavour brought out by olive oil.
Quite a few of the mains we would have most liked were off the menu that evening – Monday is not the most logical evening to go to a fish restaurant, since not many fishing boats anywhere (in Europe and North America, at least) sail on a Sunday – and so we plumped for a turbot for two. It was a good choice, since it was a fine foil for our wine, and we’d already twigged that here, the ethos is high quality ingredients, simply cooked.
Viale Arrigo Boito 63
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