Having spent a glorious couple of hours revelling in the wonders of the Borghese Gallery feeding the soul, it was time to feed the stomach. Consulting the guidebook, I went in search of the Cine Caffe, only to find a large gaggle of girls queuing hours in advance of a promotional visit by Leonardo di Caprio and no sign of the listed café. Instead, it appeared that VyTA had taken it’s place — by this time, I was not prepared to walk around any further, so I plonked myself down at a table on the pleasing veranda and awaited service. That came rapidly and pleasantly enough — right away, I felt relaxed and comfortable and well looked after. I made an order for a pesto dish and a carafe of red wine and settled back in my chair to soak up the ambience, which was soundtracked by a George Michael«Greatest Hits» album. Not normally a chosen artist these days, but in this environment, it seemed rather appropriate. When the food came, it was spot on. Not too big a dish, but perfectly proportioned, tasty and extremely«more-ish». It was a perfect choice, all in all. Good food, great service, splendid environment and a tolerable soundtrack. When the bill came, it was just £14 — very reasonable indeed. If you’re flagging on an amble around Villa Borghese, then you’d do well to stop in here for quality refuelling.
Gemma G.
Place rating: 4 Brighton, United Kingdom
I wasn’t expecting to find such a gem of a restaurant in the middle of Villa Borghese. Normally, park-based eating establishments can only manage to rustle you up a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but this place is an exception. Situated in the middle of Rome’s largest park, we chose to eat here mainly because it was easy and we didn’t have to leave the park to search for food. The restaurant itself has a number of different areas, we chose to eat at the terrace at the back which was perfect for us as there was plenty of outside space for our little one to run around and blow off steam without disturbing any of our fellow diners. Bread was served in a little paper bag and we ordered a lovely bottle of white wine from the reasonably extensive and well priced wine list. We started with antipasti — beautiful mozzarella served with smoked salmon on crostini, tempura prawns and vegetables, and crispy fried anchovies. All went down really well. For main course, we all ordered pasta — a must when you are in Rome. I went for my second carbonara of the trip, a completely different dish to any I have eaten in the UK, really tasty but not quite a good as my first experience. I love the way they cook the pasta in Italy too — it’s so on the side on al dente that it’s really chewy, but so much better than the overcooked stuff you so often experience in other countries. The other two dishes were also really tasty and well cooked. For dessert I had to finish with tiramisu which was also totally delightful. Service was great, our waiter being a real character. Plenty of highchairs were available. There were no baby changing facilities, but this seems to be a common theme in Italy. Bill came to around 100 € which wasn’t too bad for three people with wine.
Philippine W.
Place rating: 4 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
VyTa is new! There was a different bar /restaurant and since the end of September, this brand has settled in the building. Fan-tas-tic location; the terrace downstairs, the rooftop terrace, the restaurant — it all makes sense. The coffee is good(hello Italy, how I love your coffee culture), the service is fine(not the brightest in the bunch, but we’re not here to judge), the lunch was good, and… Summer-summer-summertime? It’s right in front of the outdoor cinema! BOOM! You want it. Great spot before or after a visiting the Villa Borghese, a great spot when going through the park, a great spot in the summer for their terrace and watching an outdoor movie. Not your hidden gem, local spot — a ‘chain’ never is — but they execute it well and again, location-location-location. So who cares?!
