La Buzzicona Saturday lunchtime and the four of us had ordered a table ahead which, we found, placed us at the front of the small dining room over-looking the handful of boats moored in the narrow creek and small harbour across the car park and the Via del Pescatori out-front; not picturesque then, but different. The friendly waiter handed the menus round and rattled of his recommendations of what was available and what we may like to consider. Choices were limited, and focussed upon some of the more traditional Roman foods from the very earliest times – carne frattaglie (trippa, scrota, le guance di maiale, ecc.) that reflected the foods of poor Romans; vegetables dominated, and people of those times ate more fish than meat. We aimed to do much the same, choosing an antipasta of zuppa di polpettine (x1) with the rest of us sharing a couple of portions of gamberi fritti and piccolo pesce fritti with bread to move them around the plate. Mains were rigatoni alla carbonara (x1) and fettucini/insalata di mare (soppratutto cozze) for the others. Portions were large - with three of us leaving a lot of pasta behind. Half portions next time? We shared a bottle of wine and the sparkling house water. For those of you interested, you can check out the menu for La Buzzicona on their website. You can also explore the originality of the ideas that have shaped the choice of foods and presentation, and the images that they convey to you - the diner at the table. The restaurant has taken a sense of the 1950/60s and the impression of those times as shown in popular Italian films of that time. The main dining room is dominated by a wall-sized picture of two of the main players. Costs came to a reasonable E87 (of which the wine had cost E16) for an entertaining couple of hours. Service had been quick and attentive. We’ll be back to explore the menu further. Peter Steele Rome Redrafted at request from TripAdvisor - ID#: 381887057 13/06/16