Front door of Sora Margherita in the Jewish Ghetto of Rome
Inside of Sora Margherita
Front of hand-written menu
Inside of hand-written menu
Fried artichoke
Inside of fried artichoke
Egg noodles with a chunky pink sauce
Egg noodles with mushrooms
Eggplant slices in vinegar with spices
Zucchini slices with oil and herbs
Mozzarella ball with arugula, cherry tomatoes, and a basil leaf
Restaurant bill with J's price prediction written in oil
Dad and waitress
Jamie says: We didn’t order our lunch, but it sure was delicious. We ate lunch at Sora Margherita (Jewish Ghetto, Piazza delle Cinque Scole 30, 00186 Roma, Italy, tel. 06.6874216). It was the only restaurant recommendation in Rick Steves’ Italy guidebook for the Jewish Ghetto we just finished touring on the Rick Steves’ audio guide. The restaurant is so hidden; there’s no sign- just some frilly strands hanging over a door. The man at the door asked if we had reservations (we didn’t). He told us to go stand under this overhang down the alley, a five minute wait. We were lucky to get in. The place was small, and interesting (no frills for sure). The waitress was a little tough, but made the dining experience so entertaining. She didn’t even bring a menu at first and asked if we wanted artichokes- out came four orders of fried artichokes (we later found out this cost us 24 Euros for the four). They were greasy and crunchy on the leaves, but soft (and still greasy) in the heart and stem. I really enjoyed the heart and stem, tried a few leaves, but didn’t really care for them. Neither did my Dad. When she saw that we weren’t really eating them, she picked one up off my Dad’s plate and pretty much shoved it in his mouth. Kathryn and I got a little scared. We hid some of our uneaten leaves under the napkin on the plate, crushed some up, and started stacking plates. But our waitress caught on. She lifted up the plate off the stack and noticed our trick. In all honesty, Kathryn and I were scared. The waitress brought out a menu at our request (it was handwritten in marker and had a drawing on the front), but we really didn’t have much of an idea of what we were reading except for a few basic menu items. My Dad explained to her that we didn’t want meat (we became vegetarians for the day since we had no clue what she would bring us). No worries, though, she just picked random menu items and brought them out. We had no control. It was kind of nerve-wrecking and exciting. Out came egg noodles with a chunky pink sauce- tasty! Whew! Then came egg noodles with mushrooms and lots of oil- awesome! Eggplant slices in vinegar with spices and thin zucchini slices with oil and herbs- amazing, too! A huge mozzarella ball encircled by arugula and quartered cherry tomatoes and topped with a basil leaf arrived, especially for my Dad (but we shared it since it was huge). It had a chewy, spongy texture and lots of liquid in it. It was interesting and almost tasted like a goat cheese. At the end, we all guessed what the bill would be (since the waitress did all the ordering and we didn’t order off the menu) by dipping our finger in the excess oil on the plate and then writing our guesses on the paper table cloth. According to the guidebook, this place was supposed to have awesome food at a low price. My guess of 84 Euros was the highest, and the bill ended up being more (92 Euros with sitting fee and 15% included service fee to be exact). Although it was a bit pricey, the food was outstanding and the entertainment unforgettable.
Two Sisters Dine Out 