When in Rome... where to get Indian, Thai, Ghanian, Middle Eastern food?

June 29, 2017 7:41 AM

What are your favorite non-Italian food restaurants & cafes in Rome?

I'll be spending a week on a food & nature tour enjoying all kinds of regional Italian deliciousness, but was wondering if there are some great non-Italian food places to explore during my before/after time in Rome. Might anyone have some favorites and suggestions?

posted by raztaj to Food & Drink (4 answers total)

Be careful with people's personal recommendations if they're a few months/years out of date, because the food landscape changes quickly and places in Rome go from hidden gems to tourist traps in a heartbeat.

You can't go wrong with Katie Parla's advice. She has a guide for 2017 which includes a "Non-Roman" section. I also highly recommend her app, Katie Parla's Rome.
posted by bimbam at 7:57 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

The Jewish quarter of Rome is unique — Jews have been there more than 2000 years, and are not really part of either the Sephardic or Ashkenazi communities — and the food is unique too. Try one of the kosher restaurants there. I am Jewish but don't keep kosher, and I often find kosher restaurants dull and expensive, but not so here. The fried artichokes are amazing. I don't have a specific recommendation, but there are several kosher restaurants on Via del Portico d'Ottavia. The quarter in general is quite central, in the mainland area due north of the Isola Tiberina, and worth a trip even if you're NOT eating there.
posted by ubiquity at 8:42 AM on June 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Try these.
posted by aqsakal at 10:04 AM on June 29, 2017

I'm afraid I have to recant. My girlfriend, who is Italian, tells me that the food in the Jewish quarter is no different from food that can be found elsewhere in Rome, except that it's kosher. My mistake was in assuming that Roman food would be similar to either northern Italian or southern Italian cooking, but apparently it is quite different.
posted by ubiquity at 7:28 AM on June 30, 2017