Comparone
Comparone is a large, welcoming restaurant in one of the lesser-known piazzas in Trastevere.
Even though it may look like a touristy place from the outside, with its broad terrace overlooking the piazza, Comparone is actually one of the nicest and most overlooked restaurants at the higher end of traditional Roman cuisine.
In approach as well as price, Comparone exists somewhere between a neighbourhood restaurant and Checchino dal 1887. The coda alla vaccinara, for example, is excellent, as are the fettucine alla Romana—homemade pasta with a meat-based tomato sauce. The antipasto buffet is a good choice, including grilled seasonal vegetables and fish—the restaurant does actually specialise in seafood, but with so much quality Roman cooking on offer, we’ve yet to try any of this.
The greater part of the restaurant is a covered terrace overlooking Piazza in Piscinula—even in foul weather it’s a nice alternative to sitting indoors in stuffy, overcrowded restaurants… which brings up a curious question: with such good food, and prices that are high but not excessive (a dinner for ten averaged €40 a head), where are all the customers? We’ve yet to find Comparone busy.
The staff are friendly, with that curious mixture of professional and informal that you often find in Rome, and there’s one waiter who’s the spitting image of Henry Miller (according to Rob, anyway…).
We haven’t been back since writing the above review in spring ‘09, but in October Katie at Parlafood.com wrote an interesting piece reporting that several people have had disappointing meals at Il Comparone, and highlighting Ryanair-style stealth charging on the bills (service charge, coperta). Read her comments here.