A good honest neighborhood restaurant…read more
A large honest neighborhood restaurant.
It is in the Aurelio neighborhood which is one of Rome's many ugly neighborhoods.
There are two walled-in complex that are beautiful -
The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and
A Spanish Language Collegium designed to provide advanced training to Catholic Priests working in Latin America.
Both establishments have stunning beautiful grounds inside their walls.
Outside, it is brutal every day Rome.
Grim apartment buildings, a lot of traffic, factories and stores selling practical items like automobile parts.
The general area is a restaurant desert - except for some very small and grungy mini-cafes.
In this grim world of concrete reality,
Ferro e Ghisa stands out like an oasis.
They serve industrialized food but good industrialized food.
They have a fine bar.
The place feels relaxed and spacious.
You go outside and you feel like you are going to be run over by speeding cars every six and a half seconds.
* * *
When we came in at 4:30 on a warm sunny late afternoon, their vast room was completely deserted.
Golden light poured into the front from outside giving the establishment a warm glow.
By the time we left at six, only one other set of customers had come in ... an Indian family.
However, as we sat there one waitress after another after another reported for duty.
A look inside the kitchen showed an army of cooks.
So even if the place was nearly empty while we were there,
It looked like they were preparing for an onslaught of hundreds of customers.
Given how few other good establishments there are in the neighborhood, their expectation of an onslaught of customers was probably right on target.
* * *
I had the house white wine (they were pouring Riesling),
and a Fritto Pazzo.
The menu said clearly the Fritto Pazzo was made from frozen ingredients.
It was absolutely peachy, frozen or not frozen.
* * *
Fritto Pazzo means Crazy Fried Whatever.
Like American vegetable soup,
There are no standard rules as to what has to be included.
Certain items show up frequently.
Rice Croquettes show up nearly always.
Those come with and without tomato sauce inside.
It is common to throw in both kinds.
Fried vegetables show up.
Some kind of fried potato shows up.
Fried seafood can show up if the house is feeling expansive.
The Ferro e Ghisa version features very very curly fried potatoes making them kind of a curlicue chip
and three different flavors and shapes of rice croquettes.
Short and fat with just rice and cheese inside, short and fat with tomato sauce and cheese inside and long and skinny like a breadstick with cheese inside.
There may have been some incidental other vegetables or even a shrimp in there somewhere.
But the potato chips and the croquettes were there in quantity ...
And they were the total stars of the show.
This was heavy snacking in style.
I was glad to have it.
* * *
We have had legendary food to die for elsewhere in Rome ...
So I sort of have to call this a four star review.
But there was zero wrong with what I had.
I would love to go back ...
Notably when I could do a deep dive into their fantastic bar ...
And see what else is on their very large menu.
I shouldn't drink too much however.
It would be too easy to be run over by the 1000 cars that run in front of this place night and day, day and night.
