Frascati

[MaLO]

We had a week in Frascati at the end of August. We have been here a few times and stay at Villa Grazioli. It is handy for Rome but it is a different place. I like Frascati. It has plenty of casual places to eat and drink well and for quite little money.

I have stayed in Rome a few times but I find the slower pace in Frascati more relaxing not to mention the difference in prices.

Trattoria Al 19 is always busy. They do what they do quite well. We ate here a few times.

Fritto misto - assorted vegetables and salt cod.

Pasta with hare

Prousciutto and figs

Shoulder of lamb

Veal chop

The outside dining area at AL 19

Service is efficient and they looked after us quite well.

Another place we frequent is Cantina Bucciarelli. This is excellent value for money. Litres of wine are E5 - pastas E7 and other items range in price but I dont think there is anything more that E7 or 8.

Antipasti del casa - Pig in various forms, cheese and olives

Caprese - simple, fresh and tasty

Simple pastas

There are about four or five places doing food on this road. They mostly do similar food and share an excellent view over Rome at night.

There are a number of places who set up in squares or the road side selling wine and simple food. There are also a number of porchetta vendors not to mention the take out pizza places.

I would say it is worth an late afternoon trip from Rome for an evening of drinking and eating. The train takes about 30 minutes and I think the last train back to Rome is at about 22.30 giving plenty of time for a good evening.

There are a couple of more 'proper' restaurants like Cacciani or Neff for a more expensive dinner too. We did eat in Cacciani on this trip and on past trips; it has been very good although on this occasion we were not to impressed with our very well done chicken main - the starters and pastas were good though and they had some very interesting wines for quite little money.

[janeer]

Thanks. Never been to Frascati but looks like a nice stop.

[HungryC]

Just down the road in Colonna is osteria Il Bersagliere....so very tasty! http://www.osteriailbersagliere.it/index.asp

Your photos make me want to hop on a plane.

[naguere]

Thanks for posting that MaLO.

I have viewed your adventure several l times.

Oh to have the warm evening air on your shoulders and that first glass of chilled white wine.

[MaLO]

Glad you liked it. It is a nice little town.

As I said above, it is well worth an evening trip from Rome if you are in the area, or even a few nights if you are travelling in Italy as you can get into Rome in half an hour then retreat into the relative calm of Frascati.

[JBailey]

I very much enjoyed my stay in Frascati. I, too, stayed at Villa Grazioli which is a wonderful place and is highly recommended for anyone wanting to stay in Frascati. They have a great dining room there. The Casal Pilozzo winery was a great stop. Also, we ate in a restuarant a short way to the north that had the most perfect view over a valley and the outside terrace seemed to hang on the cliff, but at the moment I forget the name.

[MaLO]

I went back to Frascati at the end of July.

Inevitably we did many of the things we enjoyed on previous visits with the addition of a walk to Grottaferrata for lunch. We looked at Taverna Dello Spuntino and it did look very tempting but was a bit pricey for our lunchtime requirements and we had just walked about three miles in 100 degree heat.

We settled on Osteria Furlani. It was very busy and very reasonably priced.

We had a plate of grilled vegetables to share and a pasta each and it was all delicious.

Grilled Vegetables

Pasta - pancetta, lardo, tomato

Pasta - speck and coutgette

It is well worth giving this place a try should you be in the area. Very good pasta, amazingly drinkable wine for E4 a litre.

I had hoped to get a taxi back to the hotel as it was the same walk in the same heat but up hill all the way. There were no taxis. I think I may have had a calorie neutral lunch.

We also had a very nice lunch at Zaraza in Frascati. I will add a bit more another time.....