Osteria La Gensola

Booked New Year’s Eve dinner for 14 people. Service was discouraging. Waiters were inattentive. Food came at different times, waiters did not check in throughout the dinner for what we needed. Lovely and rustic ambiance. Disappointed with the food. The antipasti - swordfish with eggplant was delicious! The primi - tortellini en brodo - was Blah- I’ve had better. The strip of chicken was very dry, stringy and tough The secondi - sirloin steak was dry chewy and overcooked. Not all slices were evenly sliced or cooked. The desserts were lackluster. The chocolate cake was dry, the apple crumble mushy, cheese cake was blah. However the Panettone was excellent. Was looking forward to a delicious meal for a special occasion of a family reunion in Rome. We were all so greatly disappointed. With a bill of €1,316 - certainly not worth the amount we paid.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - This is an example of a restaurant that specializes in something (mostly seafood) and gets it absolutely right. The appetizers were perfect - carciofi Romano and Punterelle salad. The entrees were delicious - John Dory and Calamari. The staff was knowledgeable and friendly. We went twice on our 5-day trip. Don’t miss it.

This was a great place. Food was excellent. The oxtail croquettes with cocoa worked really well and were lovely. The caponata was so soft and beautiful (tomatoey and not oily). Monkish Raghu pasta really nice, and grilled squid that were soft and perfect. I read some bad reviews on service (not food) because waiters were Italian and those customers were not! We had a fab Italian waiter who spoke some English’s and really engaged with us, and the all waiters were very attentive. So I say service was fantastic and with a smile and local knowledge. He chose a lovely glass of wine for me at the end when we didn’t want to order another whole bottle. Also, I had a Limoncello at the end (I’ve not had many) and even that seemed gentle and cut above others I remember. Overall, this is not a tourist trap, off the beat and track but well worth finding (we only found it as it was next door to our apartment). N.B. I only gave atmosphere a 4x because we were there early at 19:40 and quiet at that point. By the time we finished it had got darker and was full and still very relaxed

One of the most enjoyable dinners we had in Roma. We would probably miss the place as nicely hidden a few steps away from top tourist locations. Our hostess recommended it to us. It was not easy to find a good place on Easter Sunday. Amazing food with great selection of sea food, and we went for it. However menu with meat looked very appealing too. We had Amberjack: absolutely amazing! I went for grilled calamari and it was a great choice, fresh & tender. Our daugther had pasta with sea food and a hint of chilli & sundried tomatoes. All fresh & very tasty. Food + the overall atmosphere of the place, friendly staff, great wine made it a full 5* experience!