marathon dinner

Saturday night was our marathon dinner night. Peter, our resident tour guide, took us to a restaurant near the Vatican called Dino and Toni's Hosteria-pizzeria. We first arrived but because its such a small place they couldn't take all 10 of as at 8. So we walked to a random bar to just chill and have a quick drink before the festivities. The boys order Guinesses which looked like thick coffee and pretty gross to me, the girls got Hoegarten because its much lighter. It was a lot of fun just sitting around a table and getting to know everyone. Finally after two hours of hunger pains we finally made it back to the restaurant and sat down at this long table. We sat down and this aggressive italian man started throwing side plates down and wine glasses. Then he asked white or red referring to the wine, we went with white, and then sparkling or flat about the water. Apparently italians don't really serve tap water because the calcium in the water is said to distort the taste so restaurants think it changes the taste of their food if you drink it with it. So we dove into the wine and water, and then the first course, antipasti, which was prosciutto and salami,


and then came more antipasti which fried/stuffed green olives which were really authentic and good. There was a folded over spinach thing and some fried potatoes. Also there was another fried item which was kind of sweet inside and we couldn't figure out what it was but it was pretty good too.



This wasn't even close to the end and these plates whipped on our table as fast as they were whipped off. Most of the plates went away empty, but when we didn't finish one, we got one mean look from the waiter who made us feel pretty guilty about not finishing. More antipasti was the pizza with three divisions, the gorgonzola part (chrissy and I devoured that) broccoli, and margherita.






After the antipasti we were a little nervous about how much food was really going to come, so of us slowing down after three appetizers. Then came the pasta dishes which we all clearly looked forward to. The first was a small penne in almost like a vodka sauce with pancetta and then there was a folded over type large boodle with ricotta and spinach inside and some unknown spice none of us could figure out. There was also a one in a maranara that was a little spicy which most of us really liked and then finally the carbonara served with extra pepper on top and more pancetta.







Then there was the pesce or fish course which none of us really really sure what to expect but I think we all were thinking along the line os a white flaky fish like scrod. Well we were seriously mistaken. First came the fried antchovies which we started out excited about because we thought they were calamari but cleary very wrong. But once again the motto came out and everyone said "when in rome!" so we all tried it. Surprisingly they were really good and not very salty at all which I thought they would be. Then they brought out a very large plate of snails, in their shells.... Let is be said we all had a very good attitude about them. Shockingly enough almost everyone tried them, and I had about 5! Those who did try them had a few too. They really reminded me of muscles without their bellies, very chewy but tasty.




After that we were all pretty curious as to what the carne or meat course had to offer. We got three plates, two with beef or pork, both of which we are still not sure and then meatballs which words cannot describe. One, which I think was pork came with roasted potatoes with rosemary and were so good I kept picking at them until the waiter took them away. Finally we had completed the meal aspect, which I think we were all grateful for because we could barely fit another bite in, that is until dessert came. This is where I started getting sloppy at taking pictures because the food was devoured so quickly I barely had a chance. There was homemade tiramisu which was different from any I had seen before because of the yellowish cream but I loved it. There was a plate of pastries with almond thing and hazelnut thing and coconut thing and I don't even remember what else. There was a white pudding with raspberry which I didn't like too much because it reminded me of flan which was also on the table. And if you know me at all you know that I have to try every dessert, and honestly don't not like any dessert so when I say I didn't like it too much, it was still amazing. My favorite dessert was the granita which is like frozen/icy espresso with whipped cream on top and bottom.


The picture I took was and empty cup because I finished it so quickly in excitement. With all this dessert they served three types of dessert drinks. The limoncello was very good and very nice to sip and very traditonal italian. The Grappa I didn't try because those that did compared it to gasoline...so I passed. We also tried a dessert wine that was almost like someone mixed vodka, white wine and apple juice to give it a very sweet but strong flavor. I really liked everything and could not have felt like I had more of an italian dining experience. It was also nice that I didn't have to speak italian to the waiter ever because they just kept bringing food, no one ordered. If you ever come italy, you have to come here and eat in true italian style!