Restaurant Bar del Fico is one of the best kept secrets in the Piazza Navona district in Rome. This charming restaurant, located in one of Rome’s busiest and most touristy areas, is a surprising haven of peace and good food.
Read on for the full review of Restaurant Bar del Fico and find out why I highly recommend this restaurant when dining in Rome’s historic centre!
Bar del Fico: an iconic bar in an iconic piazza
Even if you haven’t heard of Restaurant Bar del Fico, you may have stumbled across Bar del Fico, an absolute icon in the Roman bar scene. Opening onto a pretty piazza, named after its ancient Fig Tree (piazza del Fico), in the daytime, you will find the neighbourhood’s elders playing slow games of chess at its tables. By night, the bar is heaving with young people, serving thousands of cocktails per night as local folk and travellers in the know spill out into the piazza.
It’s a busy and hectic spot but you should probably drop by Bar del Fico once in your life – perhaps for a capuccino in the morning, or for an refreshing spritz by night.
Restaurant Bar del Fico and Hotel Navona Palace
While lively and capacious Bar del Fico dominates the piazza, the family empire is even bigger than this. Behind and above Bar del Fico, rises chic hotel Navona Palace, while Restaurant Bar del Fico is tucked around the corner.
If you’re expecting a riff on Bar del Fico at Restaurant Bar del Fico, you’re in for a surprise. Restaurant Bar del Fico – or Ristorante Bar del Fico – contains a much more upmarket cocktail bar of its own, and a spacious, open-plan restaurant space flooded with natural light. It’s a calm and peaceful place, where trees grow indoors, and the staff are smart and attentive.
Ristorante Bar del Fico leads with a gourmet menu, but it’s also a great place to grab a pizza from the wood-fired pizza oven. Whatever your choice, start your meal with a freshly baked plain pizza with sea-salt and rosemary.
In terms of the gourmet dining options, chef Massimo Baroni serves a modern take on Mediterranean cuisine following a recent spell in Singapore.
Restaurant Bar del Fico review
Our dinner at Restaurant Bar del Fico started with a tasty range of starters. We tried everything from baccala balls on chickpea puree to beef tartare served with crunchy ham. Cured ham rolled around bitter chicory greens created a lovely savoury mouthful.
In terms of the first courses, we tried well-executed classics such as cacio e pepe and spaghetti served with butter and anchovies. Stand out second courses ranged from roast octopus on potato puree, to tuna tataki. My favourite was probably the roast pata negra piglet served with mushrooms and wasabi.
Don’t forget to leave some room for dessert – the stunning creations come from Cristalli di Zucchero, a boutique confectioner who won’t leave you disappointed with their glossy creations, rich in fruit and delicate creams.
Highly recommended!
Ristorante Bar del Fico | Via della Pace, 34 | Rome | tel +39 06 6889 1373
Testaccina was a guest of Restaurant Bar del Fico
