La Gensola - Rome

[robert]

Well-known seafood place in Trastevere recommended by the owner or manager of the apartment we rented. Food’s as good as Pierluigi with none of the pretension and lower prices. They get a mix of locals and tourists and are nice to everyone. Seemed like people who didn’t speak Italian were doing fine, they’re pretty well-informed about the English names for the fish they serve.

We went twice and would have gone more if we’d discovered it earlier in the trip. Everything was great. The following is a random selection of dishes based on what I got good photos of:

Pasta with razor clams, one of the best things I ate on the trip.

This is half of a whole fish (John Dory? pezzogna?) after the waiter filleted it and portioned it out. €50 for two.

http://www.osterialagensola.it

Reservations essential on weekends. Note: the address on the web site is wrong, ithe entrance is actually at Via della Gensola, 17.

[robert]

La Gensola is still excellent. They had a printed menu rather than a chalkboard. Wine list is I think much expanded with lots of great choices and substantial information for wine geeks.

perfect squid

Seppia in what I thought from the menu would be a pizzaiolo-ish prep but it was actually quite delicate. Big fat seppia, perfectly cooked.

New grape to me. Cross between Riesling Italico (which is not a Riesling) and Furmint.

Spaghetti alla vongole except the clams were actually some smaller variety, perfect classic prep, perfectly al dente,.

Fusillotti from Senatore Cappelli flour in a sauce of Normandy butter and local anchovies, I didn’t expect the anchovies to be just a sauce but it was really good. Again perfectly al dente.

I can get this at home but it’s so good and goes with everything.

Swordfish with chicory: how the hell did they slice it so thin? Another perfect dish.

John Dory, again more delicate than I imagined from the menu description. Perfectly cooked.

Cannoli, excellent, piped to order so nice and crisp.

Cassata, ratio was off for my taste, I would have liked more ricotta filling, otherwise excellent.

I had an unusual dessert wine, Pojer e Sandri Merlino: Schiava with the fermentation stopped at around 4-5% and brandy added to bring it up to 19%. Delicious.

Total cost was $240, so much less than a similar meal would cost at home. How the hell do they do it?