Supplì Roma, Trastevere, Rome
A supplì is a Roman rice croquette — a fist-sized cylinder of risotto packed around a molten core of mozzarella, crumbed and fried to a shattering golden crust. Supplì Roma on Via di San Francesco a Ripa has been perfecting the classic version since 1979, and the queue of locals at lunchtime tells you everything you need to know.
What to order
The classic supplì al telefono (named for the string of melted cheese that stretches like a telephone wire when you pull it apart) is the essential order — €2.50 each at time of writing. They also do a cacio e pepe version, a carbonara version, and a seasonal special that changes weekly, but regulars insist the original is untouchable.
Order at the window, eat standing on the pavement, and eat immediately — a supplì is at its best in the first 90 seconds after it leaves the fryer, when the crust is still crackling and the cheese is still liquid. Pair it with a cold Nastro Azzurro from the fridge inside.
The Trastevere context
Trastevere — literally 'across the Tiber' — is the neighbourhood that most closely resembles the Rome of popular imagination: narrow cobbled lanes, ochre plaster walls strung with washing, ivy-covered trattorias. It is tourist-heavy in the evenings but genuinely local at lunchtime and on weekend mornings.
After your supplì, walk five minutes north to the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome, whose 12th-century gold mosaics glow even on overcast days. The piazza in front is one of the best people-watching spots in the city.
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