Hungry Jenny: Restaurant to try: Trattoria Al Tettarello, Colesseo, Rome

Tucked away down a side street near the Colosseum is a charming little restaurant called Trattoria Al Tettarello. It has a welcoming local feel and warming atmosphere - which you'll appreciate if you're looking to escape the hurried service and not-so-authentic food served amongst the swarms of tourist trap restaurants that line the main streets.

Um, yeh, that's the Colesseum, not the restaurant - it rained when we got there too!

The plastic wallet lined menu is a little off-putting, and I do get a bit nervous when I'm going through a large menu which has is a bit too much to choose from, but this place is alright you know.

My friends and I sort of stumbled across the place when we decided to find a 'proper' restaurant to dine at on our last night. Over our short 4 day trip, we tended to just wander into the nearest place we saw because we were so hungry after sightseeing all day!

It was quite empty when we walked in, though many tables were reserved. I imagine it could get pretty hot in there depending on where you are seated (there is an open kitchen), so try and get a table outside if you can. We were seated by the open door, so we were grateful for the cool evening breeze wafting through.

Now, the food.

Bresaola, rocket and parmigiano salad

Alright, you can't really see the bresaola here, the dried salty beef slices buried beneath the rocket and parmesan. But I kinda forgot to take another photo as I tucked into it because it was so tasty! Now I'm not much of a salad person but this was right up my street because it wasn't drowning in dressing. Just a light bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. As you can see, it's a pretty generous portion so make sure you know you have room for your main too!

Boscaiola pizza

Boscaiola is like a creamy mushroom and ham based sauce, which I think is mainly used in pasta dishes. But atop a pizza with sausages and sliced mushrooms on fresh pizza dough is yummy! The base is quite thin in true Roman style, and soft with a crispy crust (my mouth is watering now thinking about it again...). I would quite happily go back again and try a different pizza each time!

Although the pizzas are massive, they don't give you that stodgy feeling in the pit of your stomach. So I still had plenty of room for dessert - an 'apple pie with chocolate drops'. It sounded a bit strange to me but I thought I'd try it anyway. It was more like a cake than a pie and it didn't seem as fresh as it should have been, but was still nice and moist.

This was a lovely last meal in Rome with my friends but this isn't the place to go if you're in a hurry. The service comes across a bit haphazard and inattentive at times, which can be annoying - for example, we were seated for some time before having to call someone over to get some menus, and they brought bread out to start but forgot to give us plates. Also, I'm not sure if it was because they were forgetful or just laid back, but you did have to wait a while to get something you asked for - and it's hard to get their attention too! At times, we saw the waitress walk past us a few times after asking for something, before she then went off to get it.

But if you let this wash over you and are in good company - this is a great place to relax and enjoy some really good Italian fare.