Osteria da Fortunata

After a less-than-stellar Chinese dinner in Rome, we learned our lesson and went back to the well.  We did have Osteria da Fortunata on our list of places to eat, but it was nowhere near the Colosseum.  Our tour was in the morning and ended around lunch time.  We were pretty famished and tired, but nothing in that area interested us, especially with the restaurants displaying big pictures of their food and staff trying to lure us in.  So we made the decision to make the 20+ minute walk over to Osteria da Fortunata.  Luckily for us, the line moved fast and we were seated in less than 10 minutes.

Looking over the menu, we decided to get 2 appies including the Suppli with aborio rice, beef and fior di latte mozzarella.  These were fairly large and fried up until firmly crispy on the outside.  It had been fried long enough so that the cheese had completely melted in the middle.  We found the rice filling to be well-seasoned with a tomatoey sweetness and quite a bit of saltiness.  Rice was perfeclty al dente.  The other appie was the classic Prosciutto with Melon.  Nothing complex about this dish but the prosciutto was decent with its classic saltiness.  Not the best prosciutto but still good nonetheless.  The canteloupe underneath was supremely ripe, sweet and juicy.

Onto the mains, we went for a couple of pastas including the Strozzapreti Carbonara.  This was made with the pasta that was being hand-made behind the front window.  Well, that was completely legit as the pasta had an excellent chewiness to them.  Good rebound and bite while not being hard.  This was one tasty carbonara with the saltiness and fattiness of the guanciale as well as the nutty saltiness of the pecorino and parmesan.  To top it off, we had perfectly blended egg yolk to create a creamy sauce with a good amount of pepper.

Our second pasta was also very good in the Gnocchi Ragu.  Unlike the meal on our first night in Rome, the gnocchi here was served hot and also had a soft, yet chewy texture.  Ultimately, they were soft enough that they weren't stiff, but also had a nice rebound to them.  As for the ragu, it was plenty meaty and rich with lots of acidity from the tomatoes balanced off with sweetness.  This was a touch salty, but it couldn't be accused of being bland either.

We decided on 2 meat dishes including the Roman Saltimbocca similar to the one we had the first night.  Comparatively, the veal here was seared more aggressively, hence there was some nice browning on the edges.  It added a crisp texture to the rest of the tender meat.  It wasn't as floury as the previous one either.  It was topped with prosciutto and that provided the necessary saltiness.  The fried sage and butter added a luxurious flavour.

Our last dish was the Coda alla Vaccinara which as essentially stewed Oxtail in a tomato red wine sauce.  This was a fabulous value at $17.00 Euros as oxtail is pretty expensive.  Portion-wise, it was huge with large pieces of oxtail that had been cooked to the point of being melt-in-our-mouths tender (which is difficult to do with the larger pieces as they are leaner).  Flavours were strong being a bit salty, but it meant there was on longing for any more seasoning.  We also found some richness to go with the slight spice.  In general, the food at Osteria da Forunata is quite good and well-portioned.  They do use quite a bit of salt which may turn some people off.  We enjoyed it and thought it was one of the better meals so far.

The Good:

- Large portions

- Reasonably-priced

- Tasty

The Bad:

- Salty

- Hurried service (still nice, but hurried)