What to eat in the centre of Rome in the Summer.
Eating well in the centre of Rome in the Summer? For many it is an almost hopeless feat: heat, crowds, a generalized slow service and standardization of food and wine on offer discourage a lot of potential customers. We have drafted a quick vademecum to help you choose your restaurant on lazy Roman Summer nights, a few but reliable guidelines to avoid disappointment, starting with the quality of available restaurant summer menus.
Lunch in sunny Rome
Whether you are in Rome for tourism or business, as well as if you are an inhabitant of this extraordinary city, the advice in summer is to avoid lunches with overly elaborate dishes and to aim for fresh, light, and flavourful dishes. Unless you want to spend the afternoon taking a nap!
You can choose a cold first course such as rice salad dressed with seasonal vegetables and a good extra virgin olive oil. In order to truly appreciate this traditional summertime dish, avoid overly touristy establishments that offer a cheap version, a recipe sure to disappoint.
Excellent alternatives, for a tasty but light first course, are cold pastas: here you are spoiled for choice, from all-vegetarian versions, such as the one with tomato, mozzarella and olives, to those with fish, among which the one with fresh tuna and capers stands out.
The second course offers a wide range of possibilities. You could choose a one-pot dish, such as the classic Caprese, especially if prepared with a buffalo mozzarella from Campania and datterini tomatoes, a magical combination, with lots of basil, high-quality EVO oil and salt. Or, an eggplant parmigiana, as long as the fried is super light or the eggplant is baked.
Alternatively, you can choose a fish main course, such as swordfish rolls, a delicate traditional Sicilian dish, or a lightly seared slice of tuna. If you want a second course, go all out for seasonal vegetables: accompany the main course with a caponata or grilled mixed vegetables.
How to end the meal? Leave spoon desserts for the evening and enjoy some fresh seasonal fruit. A few examples: a slice of watermelon, a mixed fruit salad or berries. A viable alternative is ice cream, as long as it is artisanal and priority is given to fruit ice cream.
Dinner in Rome with the ponentino
Roman summer evenings can be very humid, especially in the middle of Summer, but when you get a pleasant sea breeze, the famous “ponentino” much mentioned in Roman literature, I recommend finding a table outside and enjoying the coolness. Above all, don’t forget to book early and maybe secure a place from which to enjoy the fascinating views of the Eternal City. Do avoid busiest hours, when the service is more likely to slow down and the noise will be excessive: better to dine around 7:30-8 p.m. or directly after 10 p.m.
At dinner we can enjoy some appetizers: in Roman restaurants there is often a choice of many dishes presented in rich buffets, where you will find every ingredient you need to compose your ideal dish.
Your first course could be a delicate pasta dish, topped, for example, with seasonal vegetables and shellfish: a common dish on summer menus in Roman restaurants is the one that combines courgettes and shrimps.
Then, among the specialties of traditional Roman cuisine, you can’t miss tomatoes with rice cooked with baked potatoes, a unique dish that you can pair with a seasonal vegetable, such as chicory or broccoletti, in the two classic versions, cold with lemon and oil (all’agro) or sautéed.
Among the second courses, why not choose one of the most famous Roman dishes, saltimbocca alla romana? Or, if you’re in the right place, a good main course of fish, ideally baked, such as a sea bream or potato-crusted sea bass.
Finally, let yourself be seduced by the house desserts: a fruit tart, a tiramisu, a baked custard, just to name a few. You could accompany them with a good sweet wine, a Malvasia or Zibibbo from Sicily, or a Tuscan Vinsanto.
Our menu for the summer
Also Amedeo Restaurant has the right menu for dining in Rome in the Summer! We take inspiration by Roman cuisine, with several excursions into the typical cuisine of other Italian regions. As always, maintaining a deep respect for tradition, but without sacrificing our passion for gastronomic innovation that has allowed us in recent years to come up with new dishes that have always met with the approval of our clientele.
Come and meet us! We look forward to offering you a top-quality and affordable Summer lunch or dinner!
