A sweet life… #notonlygelato

Posted on Feb 2, 2016 in Foodies & Shopaholics

[revised February 2024] Well, we know gelato is a great attraction, but we have many alternatives in the “dessert field” and here are some good addresses for every sweet tooth coming to Rome:

  • Forno Boccione: the bakery of the Jewish Ghetto, the best place for “ricotta e visciole” pie, a tart with sheep cheese and sour cherries. They also have a version with chocolate chips and ricotta and you can buy just one slice (which is enough for 2 people!)
  • Innocenti Biscottificio: located in the nice quiet side of Trastevere (Via della Luce 21), this cookie factory seduces you from far by its wonderful smell and you have the chance to taste many different kind of traditional Italian cookies for a moderate price… Try the little “meringues” or “brutti ma buoni” (literally “the ugly but good cookies”!) and you’ll be back again and again!
  • Pascucci:  just few meters from the Pantheon, that’s the place for milkshakes (“frullati” in Italian) since 1937. I remember going there when I was 5 and ordering my “Monterosa”, a cherry flavoured smoothie… still it’s my favorite. Try also the  traditional Amalfi,  based on mix citrus fruits.
  • Pasticceria Regoli: near the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, this is another traditional address since 1916, still managed by the same family and still serving one of the best “maritozzo” in town, next to millefoglie, profiteroles, tiramisù, mont-blanc and so on….
  • Pasticceria Romoli: a bit out of the centre, but still worth a visit, maybe when you go to S.Agnese catacombs and the beautiful Costanza’s mausoleum. Here, among other specialities, try the “torta della nonna”, grandma’s cake, a vanilla and lemon custard pie sprinkled with pine nuts.
  • Said: you have to go the extra mile here (which is worth, as San Lorenzo neighbourhood is so interesting!), but this is a real chocolate factory founded in 1923 and now converted into a cafè-bistrot-restaurant-shop…. a winter break there is a fabulous experience!
  • Bar San Calisto: this is our favorite bar in Trastevere, “vintage” style as all the bars looked like when we were kids, not fancy at all but welcoming and cheap, serving great coffee and the best hot chocolate in the centre of Rome. With whipped cream on top, of course.
  • Pasticceria Valzani: in Trastevere, another classic stop for a sweet break. You still find here traditional roman cakes like pangiallo, mostaccioli and panpepato. But also a great Sacher torte, endless pralines, cannoli, meringues…..

And to conclude… if you wish to satisfy your gluttony and your hunger late at night, maybe after a long walk or a bit of clubbing, you can join the young Romans in this little ritual, the “night cornetto”! Bakeries (or better said cornetterie, which only bake cornetti, not bread) work all night to prepare cornetti for the following breakfast and you can buy them hot, when they are just out of the oven and filled in many different ways (Nutella filling is the most popular, but try also the wholemeal cornetto with honey!) You will surely meet young “urban tribes” chatting and indulging in this whim out of those places:

Go back to  “Eating in Rome” section