La Montecarlo

Last weekend we had dinner at La Montecarlo. A friend of The Italian recommended it, so we decided to check it out. It's one of those typical places where there are too many people ( also waiting outside), very fast service, not enough space but good food. And -also important- it's cheap.
There were a couple of mistakes made, but they were quickly corrected. The pizza was good - according to the Italian and the Tonnarelli cacio e pepe were very tasty! Also the fritto misto was excellent. If you want to have a quick and good bite to eat without spending too much, this is the place for you. If you want a quiet romantic dinner, you might want to check out another restaurant.

Romantic economical crisis option : you could have dinner at La Montecarlo and then take a walk on Piazza Navona, which is nearby.

Birthday

Almost a week ago it was my birthday... it was quite a treat. The Italian cooked lunch for me and did the dishes! I was explicitly told not to lift a finger, which was easy.
In the early evening we went to the 'Giardino degli Aranci' to find some shadow and enjoy the beautiful view of Rome you get from up there.
We took a little walk around Piazza del Popolo and we met someone famous!
It went like this.

Me : oh my god, do you know who that is?
Italian : who, what, where?
Me : That's Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi.
Italian : Who? ah yeah that comedian you like. Go to them and ask for a picture no?
Me : Noo, I'm too shy and I'd look like some crazy person.
Italian: Come on , it will be fun
Me - After thinking long about it : ok

So we went up to them and took a picture and she was really sweet actually.
Afterwards I told the Italian, you know that Portia will be in Nip/Tuck right?
And so he cursed and regretted the fact that he didn't take a picture with the hot girl who will be in the series he likes.

After that we had dinner at 'Il Margutta'. A vegetarian restaurant, the best vegetarian restaurant I ever ate at. I never really bothered looking for vegetarian restaurants in Rome cause :
1. You can find a lot of vegetarian things to eat at pretty much any restaurant in Italy
2. The Italian used to be an avid meat eater

But because The Italian has changed his ways (not under my pressure!) and has become an aspiring vegetarian, we went to 'Il Margutta'. I read about it on the Red Scrapbook blog and it seemed nice. It's a bit expensive though, but because it was a special occasion, we went for it anyway. It was absolutely wonderful. Service, food, drinks, everything was perfect.

So I had a really great birthday... well apart from the fact of getting older ofcourse...