Stepping into the courtyard of this restaurant sandwiched between the Galle Road and the beach is like entering a stylish Mediterranean villa. This is due to the European architecture of the villa and its contemporary,fashionabledécor, which set an Italian ambience.
Classical music plays softly in the background. There are tables in the cloisters around an ornamental pond, in the dining room hung with photographs of Italian film stars, in the garden and on the beach.
The setting, at night, with illumination from candles and lanterns, inspires romance, while the food prepared by the skilled chef is contemporarily (and deceptively) simple with an authentic Italian flair.
Osteria Romana has been praised for its delightful 12-inch pizzas (the Marinara costs Rs1,850) but we wanted something different for dinner. We began with a rich tomato-based fish soup (Rs950) chock-a-block with prawns and fish. The antipasto platter (Rs1,750) was a generous portion of cold meats including spicy salami, parma ham,breasola, fish carpaccio and bruschetta with focaccia. It also comes with Bocconcini - small semi-soft balls of mozzarella cheese.
I’ve never had Spaghetti Carbonara (that’s with bacon and egg; Rs1,450) before but it made a change from the seafood pasta dishes also on the menu, and was true comfort food. The menu is limited, reflecting the chef’s skills in preparing homemade pasta and pizza, but there was one meat dish (Australian lamb with rosemary; Rs3,000) as well. For dessert, we shared a thick wedge of scrumptious Baked Cheese Cake with Blueberries (Rs750), complemented with a couple of glasses of grappa.
Osteria Romana is an elegant restaurant with intelligent service presenting satisfying dishes to match its splendid setting.