TORC was finally on vacation as well. That's the good thing about being an educator, we know will get a summer vacation, although hers is longer than mine. No more grading papers! We had a lot of catching up to do...
It's always a great time when I'm with TORC. Her time was short that day so we stayed local and out of the choices I gave her...
I was glad she decided on Cafe di Roma. Both of us hadn't been there before and we both felt like having homemade Italian that day.
It's in a tiny tiny strip mall in IB off of Palm Avenue and 9th. Hang a right. If you go past the Goodwill, you've gone too far. There are only a few tables in here but luckily, they had just opened and therefore, there was lots of room.
The music playing was Italian all the way. Dean Martin, Louis Prima, Frank Sinatra. Classics like "Volare", "Non di menticar", and "That's amore" to name a few.
It's very cute and homey inside. I've read that the place can get packed for dinner. It's a favorite with the locals as well.
Their menu:
TORC's pomegranate iced tea ($1.95):
Our starters - my house salad with lemon nectar dressing and TORC's minestrone (Both were $2.95):
Her soup was chock full of vegetables and noodles.
We were also served two pieces of their foccaccia, which was the lightest and most fluffiest we've ever had. We loved it and it we had nothing else that day, I would have been happy.
Bready carby goodness. Damn it all to hell, I was going to eat this!
Our awesome entrees:
TORC had the Scampi con Fungi (shrimp with mushroom) penne is a light white wine and garlic sauce ($12.95).
The portions for both of our entrees were quite generous. The sauce for her dish was so delicious too. I would like that for a future meal here. My dish was the Fettucine Bella with asparagus ($9.95). The wife (co-owner and the main chef) explained that she makes "lighter" by using milk instead of heavy cream.
The pasta was also house made. Everything here is made by hand, which we really enjoyed. TORC and I ended up taking home more than half of our plates.
We wanted to save some room for this:
Behold, the Chocolate Ciao Bella ($3.95) - chocolate mousse with hazelnut chocolate topping and whipped cream. The wafers were a nice touch!
The mousse filling was so light but rich tasting. You can't tell by these photos, but digging into this really felt like a bottomless glass. There were even more mousse at the very bottom since the glass had that indentation at the bottom of the goblet.
I'm so glad we went here and can't wait to come back with Bert and TC. TORC also wants to take her husband here for date night. The owners were super nice. The wife is one of the five daughters of the man Marco himself, of Marcos Italian Restaurant in Coronado (see the link to SD Reader at the end). We learned this from commenting on a vintage photo of a man standing in front of Marco's and asking the owner, and learned it was his father in law Marco. I remember that the restaurant had been there for many many years.
Robert and Mary, the husband and wife team here, take pride in what they do and you can taste it in their homemade dishes. I hope they stay in business for a long long time!
Who else went to Cafe di Roma?
Mary's post from earlier this year is what made us want to try this place out! Thanks Mary!
Other reviews/articles:
Our Dad was Marco - SD Reader, June 2012
More than the dish or the deal - SD Reader, October 2012
Trip Advisor and yelp
Cafe di Roma
633 9th St
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619) 429-1100
www.cafediromaib.com
Although we shared our dessert, I had an idea to go to another place that was just a hop skip and a jump away...
2 comments:
If this place were not alllllll the way down in IB, I am certain we would come here more often! I love that everything is handmade - and you can really tell the difference! I want some of that bread right now, OMG.
I wish this place was open on Sundays, then we could go there for lunch after church. the folks here are so nice! that bread....wow!
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