Al Bajniero - Roma

We had very nice authentic Italian dinner in our last day in Rome. The owner Roberto was very nice with us.

Excellent fresh food, we had seafood for all courses, and wine; most of all delightful, helpful but very efficient staff, our waitress spoke very good English too and her advice was perfect.

Stayed at the nearby hotel and up until the penultimate day of our stay we had been eating in the tourist trap restaurants near the sightseeing stuff in central Rome. Who knew that this absolute gem was right on our doorstep! The food was delicious....This is my second stay in Rome and the food I’ve had at this restaurant was in a different league to everywhere else. I got the impression that it was run by a local Italian family and they clearly took a lot of pride in their cooking. My partner had a carbonara and i had a pizza. The Carbonara was the best pasta dish I’ve ever tasted. Next door to the restaurant was a function space and there was an event on where they were playing live music so it made the atmosphere really buzzy and I felt like I was taking in some of the local culture. The staff were very friendly and the service was excellent- they didn’t speak a lot of English but that’s my problem. The biggest shock though was when the bill came over. I was sat there in a food coma after me and my partner had ordered courses each, a coffee each and a bottle of wine to share. euros for the lot. I had paid over double that for less food less quality the day before! If you stay at the Ostia Antica hotel, this hotel is an absolute must

Came here for dinner and it did not disappoint! The food was second to none. The staff were attentive and accommodating. Excellent service and even better food! They had a dinner dance happening in the room next to us which was so lovely to watch...while we enjoyed our dinner. The price was beyond reasonable. We’ve paid a lot more for poorer quality. Would recommend. We are very lucky to be staying next door, but for people staying in central Rome; it is well worth the trip.

Al Bajniero, Ostia Antica, Rome Follow the reviews on TripAdvisor and this will be the third time in three years that we’ve explored the venue, foods and service with friends at Al Bajniero. It’s just the way things go – the pleasure of sharing a...table and, equally, the pleasure of capturing the people, place and memories of doing so. Summer evenings in Rome represent living out-of-doors and none more so than when eating at a popular local restaurant. We have memories of many pleasant evenings dancing at the Al Bajniero – at other times of the year and indoors in the large ballroom that runs alongside the inside dining room. Summer-time dancing, however, had usually taken us to Fiumicino – open to the night sky, adjacent to the beach/ocean. It was our second time at the Al Bajniero in less than a week; Tuesday evening and we had been there the previous Friday (we would rather have been dancing, but it had rained and the venue had been cancelled). We arranged the second venue from the first with the same couple and, crucially, we were joined by a mutual friend of long standing who had just returned from Dubai. We’d not seen her in a couple of years notwithstanding the many times shared earlier -dancing, skiing holidays and, one time, a Mediterranean cruise. We later found out during the meal that we had been in the same place at the same time but had not known it at the time – mid-June in Dubai and you don’t bump into people wandering the streets there at that time of year. Al Bajniero is on the Via Gastone Maspero and next door to the dominating presence of the Ostia Antica Park Hotel – the haunt of the package tourists and their ubiquitous coaches – there are always half-dozen parked outside this time of year. Immediately passed the hotel, however, the road is quiet with parked cars and suburban houses before it curves through degrees and runs alongside a narrow drainage canal. Behind the wall to one side is the courtyard/dining area of the Al Bajniero. Suburban Ostia Antica is quiet-quiet. We sat outside in the courtyard (both times) with water and small carafe of house red on the table whilst we mulled over our choices – mains: two salads, two marinara pizze (picante, of course) and one pasta. We shared a couple of antipaste – olive oscalana and a couple of suppli (fried rice/risotto ball mixed with all kinds of stuff – tomato sauce, cheese, mozzarella, etc For dolce we enjoyed chunk of watermelon each. We’d been optimistic with the antipaste and more than half a pizza was left over for that doggy-bag – half one salad too. The salad never got eaten later, but the pizza was fine after a few minutes in a hot oven the next day – lunch on the tail end of our evening meal. Service was good – it always is with the cameriere greeting/exchanging/bantering/etc. with the people at the table when delivering meals and removing plates providing a constant dialogue that comes from knowing his/her clients over many years. Food was delicious and full of flavour; just that right kind of appreciation that reminds you why simple Italian cuisine of this kind has travelled the world. We even got to share a few words with Mine Host. We paid for the five of us – so good value when eating quality foods and sharing a couple of hours with friends at a comfortable restaurant. Peter Steele Rome August