Fresh zucchini blossoms are delicately filled with creamy mozzarella and salted anchovies, then dipped in a light batter and fried until golden. The result is crispy on the outside, with soft cheese and savory anchovy inside.
Tips from diners
Available mainly in summer and early autumn when zucchini are in season — ask if they have it before ordering.
Preserved salt cod is desalted, dredged in a thin flour batter, and fried until the coating is golden and crispy. Inside, the cod flakes apart gently. It's one of the oldest Jewish Roman dishes and appears in nearly every traditional ghetto restaurant.
Tips from diners
Eat it immediately while it's still hot — the coating hardens as it cools.
Al Pompiere's signature dish is a whole Roman artichoke pressed flat and fried until the outer leaves are paper-thin and crispy, while the inside remains tender. The artichoke is then lightly salted. Multiple food writers and reviewers consistently name this as the best version in the entire Jewish Ghetto.
Tips from diners
Order it at the beginning of your meal so the artichoke is at maximum crispness before you eat other dishes.
This is the dish to get — reviewers say Al Pompiere does it better than its neighbors.
Tonnarelli, a thicker cousin of spaghetti, is tossed in a sauce made from aged pecorino romano and fresh-cracked black pepper. The starch from the pasta water creates an emulsion that coats each strand. It's a core Roman classic that defines the cuisine.
Tips from diners
Only four ingredients: pasta, pecorino, pepper, and pasta water. The quality depends on technique — at Al Pompiere they nail the emulsion.
This Roman staple combines al dente spaghetti with crispy guanciale (cured pork jowl), a sauce made from egg yolks and pecorino romano, and black pepper. The heat from the pasta cooks the raw egg into a silky coating. No cream is used — only eggs create the richness.
Tips from diners
If you see cream in the sauce, it's not authentic. Real carbonara relies on egg and fat from the guanciale.
Managed by the Monteferri family since 1928, Al Pompiere occupies a sixteenth-century palazzo overlooking Piazza delle Cinque Scole. The restaurant is famous throughout Rome and beyond for its carciofi alla giudia and mixed fried dishes, serving traditional Roman-Jewish cuisine in a setting with frescoed ceilings and period furnishings.
Book ahead, especially on weekends. The restaurant is small with high ceilings but fills quickly.
Average check runs €40–50 per person with wine. Share fried dishes as starters and order one pasta per person.
The restaurant sits directly on Piazza delle Cinque Scole with large windows — great for people-watching.
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