Molto Ristorante is perhaps one of North Rome’s best kept secrets.

Located in Parioli, Rome’s posh residential district, it boasts a wonderful garden which makes it one of the best places for al fresco dining in North Rome.

Of course, location and atmosphere are only part of a dining experience but this candle-lit terrace makes it a great spot for an ice-cold aperitivo with freshly made crostini and hand baked crisps and olives if you’re just passing through.

Otherwise, the menu offers recipes with their roots in Roman cooking which have migrated towards a modern European style cuisine.

We started with a crispy king prawn wrapped in rice noodles, accompanied by vegetable mayonnaise. This provided a great combination of textures.

Next up, a masterful squid carbonara, possibly my favourite dish of the night. Strips of tender squid replace the pasta in this recipe, combined with an emulsion of egg and parmesan, plus cubes of crunchy guanciale.

The surprises continued with a fake olive – really a juicy morsel of baccala wrapped in a squid ink jelly. This was served with crumbled bruschetta.

Next, it was time for the real pasta course – a perfectly prepared local classic, Amatriciana, hitting all the high notes with its tasty, meaty rigatoni oozing with sauce.

Fortunately we were pacing ourselves as there were still four more courses to go! We moved onto a seared piece of steak, served with a a porcini mushroom granita of flavour infused crushed ice. Unfortunately, the granita didn’t really work for me in this dish and would have worked better as a solo palate cleanser.

The final savoury dish was a Roman classic which couldn’t fail to please any omnivore. These roast piglets – with crispy crackling on the outside, and succulent pork meat within – were carved and brought back to the table. Just delicious.

We were lucky enough to try two dessert courses. The first, a deconstructed tiramisu, left me a little disappointed compared to the classic recipe. The dinner closed with another crumbled chocolate biscuit base, served with a fruit caviar.

Molto is very in keeping with Parioli’s elegant style and is a good option for diners located near and above villa Borghese, particularly for a special event or romantic dinner. Recommended.

Viale dei Parioli, 122 | Rome | Tel +39 068082900 | moltoitaliano.it

Testaccina was a guest of Molto Ristorante