Al Bacio

Why we love it

Forget the roads and the aqueducts, there's one thing that we're truly grateful to the Romans for giving us: food. A longtime favourite of ex-pat Italians and Bristolians alike, Al Bacio is a heavenly, old-school Italian restaurant that serves up the very best traditional Roman dishes, welcoming visitors in with warm, fruity Italian service while it's at it.

Pino, the owner, runs a friendly ship and is always on hand for advice about what to order and to help you find the best seats within the two main dining rooms. The building itself is uniquely quirky, with plenty of hidden corners and alcoves that are equally perfect for intimate date nights or large family get-togethers alike. On sunny days (they're coming soon, we promise) there's nothing better than sitting outside on the pretty garden terrace, enjoying a glass of white wine with your lunch. All you need to do is close your eyes and you could almost be relaxing on the backstreets of Rome...

From a culinary perspective, Al Bacio offers everything you could possibly want from an Italian restaurant. From classics such as homemade carbonara, arancini and lasagne della Casa to a decadent steak salad, as well as tantalising selection of desserts (proper profiteroles, anyone?) this is food for feasting on, food for savouring, and food for indulging in. If you're feeling extra-luxurious, why not round off your meal with a glass or two of homemade grappa – a traditional Italian spirit, whose recipe Al Bacio have spent years perfecting. They've now got an astonishing range – we can't get enough of the traditional lemon and rosemary variant, but if you're feeling fruity the raspberry is pretty special too.

To top it all off, you can even brush up on your GCSE Italian when you pop to the bathroom, where language lessons are pumped out through the speakers; grazie mille!