Sto Bene Roma

Our original plan was to hit up Forno Campo de 'Fiori for a quick bite at lunch while we peruse the market and the surrounding area.  However, after being dropped off by our Uber, we quickly noticed the place closed for the month of August!  Great.  Now we were standing there being solicitated by mediocre restaurants left, right and centre.  We quickly made the dash out of there and did a quick Google search for the best sandwiches near us and decided on Sto Bene Roma just a few blocks away.  It turned out to be a great decision as the place was inexpensive and their sammies were good!

For myself, I tried the Fiori with tuna, tomatoes, lettuce and seafood sauce.   This was all served on some really crunchy and crusty bread.  It was still light, but firmly crunchy on the outside.  There was a good amount of delicate tuna that had been dressed in both olive oil and the seafood sauce (which was really mayo and ketchup mixed together).  Fresh thick-sliced tomatoes and crisp lettuce completed this excellent sammie.

Viv decided on the Piramide with ham, artichokes, onion marmalade and ricotta.  I took some bites out of this one and it was even better with lots of freshly-shaved ham that offered up both moisture and saltiness to the sandwich.  The creamy ricotta provided even more moisture and the artichokes afforded some tang and aroma from the olive oil.  What really brought this together was the sweet onion marmalade.

My son went for the Augusto with prosciutto di parma, buffalo mozzarella and parmigiano (he omitted the arugula).  This was a classic combination of saltiness that was tempered by the blank slate of the mozzarella.  Due to the meatiness of the prosciutto, it was imperative that the bread stay intact so that each bite wasn't resulting in things slipping out.  The crunchy bread did its job and each bite yielded all of the ingredients.

My daughter opted for the Farnese with mortadella, pistachio pesto, brie and a balsamic cream.  I do believe this was the best tasting sandwich as well as being the moist impactful.  There was a nutty herbaceousness from the pesto and the creamy sweet tang of the balsamic complimented the buttery brie.  Of course there was a bevy of sliced-to-order mortadella which made this sandwich fulfilling.   Well, I guess this proves sometimes we don't have to think too hard to find good eats.  Somewhat random, but ultimately delicious and easy on the wallet.

The Good:

- Loaded sandwiches with quality ingredients

- Super nice people

- Huge selection

The Bad:

- Mostly take-out, very few seats