What the lists agree on
No restaurant is on more than six of the ten lists. Luciano Cucina Italiana is on six and Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina on five. Four places share third with four lists each: L’Arcangelo, Romanè, SantoPalato and Trecca – Cucina di Mercato.
Some lists name very few places. Gambero Rosso’s carbonara award went to one restaurant, Hosteria Grappolo d’Oro, which is joint 13th. Time Out’s pasta list has one carbonara, at Luciano Cucina Italiana. The MICHELIN Guide names three: Luciano Cucina Italiana, La Pergola and Il Marchese – Osteria, Mercato e Liquori. CiboToday names the most, 16 of the 19 ranked places, and Romeing names 14.
Campo de’ Fiori and Ostiense have three ranked places each. In Campo de’ Fiori they are Luciano Cucina Italiana, Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina and Hosteria Grappolo d’Oro. In Ostiense they are Trecca – Cucina di Mercato, Osteria Fratelli Mori and Trattoria Pennestri.
The dishes to order use different pasta shapes: spaghetti at Luciano Cucina Italiana and Armando al Pantheon, rigatoni at Romanè, Baccano and Trattoria Da Enzo al 29, and mezzi ziti at L’Arcangelo. The MICHELIN Guide’s pick at La Pergola is fagottelli alla carbonara, a filled pasta.
Carbonara in Rome
Carbonara is typical of Lazio, the region around Rome. It is made with eggs, cured pork, hard cheese and black pepper. In Italy the pork is usually guanciale and the cheese is usually pecorino romano. Most Italian recipes use no cream. Spaghetti is the most common pasta for it, and rigatoni is also used.
Roscioli, Da Cesare al Casaletto and Flavio al Velavevodetto have other places in Rome. The lists name the ones shown here.