Roscioli

Roscioli has been on my list for a while since the original location of this restaurant is in Rome. This New York City alternative offers a pasta tasting menu, which looked quite interesting and affordable. I was able to book a reservation about a few weeks out for a 6 PM dinner. Keep in mind that the tasting is located downstairs, whereas the normal restaurant is located street level.

Ambiance & Service

The ambiance felt like an underground, Italian speak-easy restaurant. Near the door, there was a hand-driven slicer that the attendee used for one of our early courses. Later on, they shred cheese on the plates and prep servings on a table. The vibe is pretty tight, intimate, and not too loud.

We had the bar seats, which seats 4 people. It’s a very tight, intimate fit, and the table is quite compact. The staff did a good job cleaning the plates and making sure that it’s not too crowded. There are hooks beneath the counter to hang small bags. I ended up hanging my backpack on my seat. The bar seat itself was a tad uncomfortable for a 2 hour meal since there’s no back to lean back on.

The service was very attentive and sharp. The restaurant definitely felt very casual.

Just note that when you pay the bill, they will bring the card machine where the predefined tip percentage is calculated post tax.

Food

We ordered The Roman Feast ($95) which was Roscioli’s prix fixe four course feat. They offered normal wine pairing (+$55), reserve pairing (+$135), and non-alcoholic pairing (+$35).

The bread had a sun-dried tomato paste on top and came with 2 olive oils, an EVOO Cappelli made especially for Roscioli and an EVOO SCIRTo. The former was much lighter in flavors, so I very much liked the latter. The latter had bolder flavors, but it wasn’t the best olive oil I’ve had.

The first course non-alcoholic pairing was Seedlip Garden 108, which was a herbal blend of peas and traditional garden herbs including rosemary, thyme, and spearmint. The flavors of this was quite subtle to me, but it reminded me a bit of gin, which I generally dislike.

The first course alcoholic pairing was Valdobbiadene Col Fondo Continue 2023 from Renzo Rebuli - Veneto. This sparkling white wine had some nice flavors once you let it aerate just a little bit. By itself, it wasn’t great, but it complemented the burrata and prawn for our first course.

They gave us a sliver of bread with mortadella. When we walked in, we saw them slicing the mortadella fresh with their hand-winded meat slicer. This little sandwich was quite delicious.

The first course was the Burrata Pomodori. The burrata came with sun-dried tomatoes and fried artichoke. The burrata once you cut into it was very good, and it tasted great with the tomatoes.

The Carabinero Prawn Crudo, Osetra Caviar (+$32) came with 2 prawns, caviar, and olive oil. The prawns were delicious, albeit slightly expensive. We were greedy, so we each added it on, but this could easily be shared between 2 people. The prawns were very sweet and tasty.

The second course non-alcoholic pairing was Three Spirit Spark. This was a sparkling rose alternative, made with bright, red fruit flavors and cold-brewed teas. The flavors of this had bright acidity, redcurrant, tea, and some chili kick to it.

The second course alcoholic pairing was Lambrusco Dreaming NV from Sottoillnoche, Emilia-Romagna. This was a sparkling red wine that I wasn’t too big of a fan of by itself, but it paired with the lasagna well.

The second course was the Lasagna Di Modena. This lasagna was baked perfectly, and it had tiny pieces of ground meat in it. In the end, it tasted like a pretty good lasagna, though there was nothing that really stood out. My first thought when taking a bite of this was that this way better than Serafina, so take it for what it’s worth.

The third course non-alcoholic pairing was the Ghia Soda Spritz. This was described as earthy, citrusy, and bright. From what I recall, the flavor reminded me a bit of a Shirley Temple, but not as sweet.

The third course alcoholic pairing was Dolcetto D’Alba Viglioni 2022 from Simone Scaletta Piedmont. This Piedmont red wine was pretty typical. By itself, it was not very memorable, but it did pair well with the pasta.

The third course was the Mezze Maniche All’ Amatriciana. The pasta sauce was made with guanciale (Italian cured pork jowl), pecorino cheese, and tomatoes. The guanciale tasted similarly to bacon, but it was much crispier, saltier, and definitely more flavorful. The mezze maniche pasta was cooked al dente perfectly. I quite enjoyed the bounce and chew of this pasta, especially when combined with the pasta. I thought the sauce was pretty straight forward, so again this course wasn’t anything particularly special but tasted great.

The fourth course non-alcoholic pairing was a Negroni. This tasted like a negroni without the alcohol.

The fourth course alcoholic pairing was the Barbagia Rosso Tzappu 2021 from Cantina Siotto Sardinia. This red wine tasted like a typical Italian Sangiovese red.

For the fourth course, they offered 2 options for the main course, so we each picked one for the purpose of sharing.

This was the Zucca Invernale Con Cacio e Pepe e Saba (winter squash with cheese, pepper, and salt). The winter squash had a nice crisp, and flavor was pretty straight forward.

The Costolette Di Manzo Con Cipolle Borretane (beef ribs with borretane onions). This came with 2 slices, and the ribs meat was very fork-tender. This tasted like a solid, braised beef.

The side salad came with olives, lettuce, and a light vinaigrette. The salad was fresh and very straight-forward.

For an intermediate course before the dessert, the 3 year old parmesan cheese came with some aged balsamic. I don’t remember how many years it was aged, but it was definitely more tangy than acidic.

The final non-alcoholic pairing was the Three Spirit Nightcap. This was made with tree saps and aromatic notes. It had some woody flavors, spices, citrus, and pepper aftertastes. Overall, it was pretty good.

The final alcoholic pairing was the Moscato D’Asti 2024 from Fabio Perrone Piedmont. This dessert wine was amazingly good. It had very gorgeous, succulent notes of peaches, apricots, and elderflower. This might be one of the few dessert wines that I would enjoy a repeat.

The final course was the dessert, a fantastic Tiramisu. This was a timid serving of it, but the base had a nice soak of delicious coffee flavors. Paired with the wine, it was definitely a good finish to this tasting.

Final Verdict

Roscioli was a pretty decent Italian restaurant. The tasting was good, though many of the courses were pretty straight forward Italian flavors. There was some creativity, but nothing was surprising or new. I can foresee a revisit for their a’la carte restaurant if we venture to this area. Regardless if this is what Roman food tastes like, it’s a cool experience to just try it out because it doesn’t cost too much compared to other Italian restaurants.

Yelp Jabs

Roscioli is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city.

There are just simply too many Italian restaurants in the city that have a much more elevated palette. The meal was decent, but I would say it’s far from one of the “best” Italian restaurants in the city.

I was not a fan of the tiramisu. The cream was overly sweet. There was almost no coffee soaked ladyfinger taste, so two of the most important components of the tiramisu were misses. The cookie crumble on top was a nice touch however.

This Elitist missed some alternative takes of the tiramisu dessert. The coffee soak was at the bottom layer, and I didn’t find it too sweet.

Revisions

1. Feb 28, 2025 - Initial revision.