Rome: Molino bakery pizza cucina, San Giovanni

When we stayed in Rome, our AirBnB host recommended Molino which was about a block from our apartment.  We went there our first day and were so delighted with their focaccia that we returned again and again.  In fact, I lost count of the times we went there over our week by the San Giovanni Porta.  I should also note that we got up at 3am to catch our plane from Edinburgh to Rome so we were a bit discombobulated and so a good meal later in the afternoon was very welcome.

The pizza and bakery section was our favourite.  It was always exciting to go see what pizza was on offer.  It varied depending on when we went there.  One morning we were sad to be there too early for the focaccia.  Speaking of the focaccia, I can also confirm that it really good the next morning.

Here is the pizza display on a random day when I was ordering focaccia.  You can see the server in the background cutting it the size I requested.  It would then be weighed for price, heated and wrapped in paper while I went to the cashier to pay.

We loved Molino so much that we went for breakfast one morning.  We ate in these two comfortable chairs overlooking the counter.  What a perfect spot!  We ordered the drinks and baked goods from our waiter but had to go and order the pizza at the counter so it was cut to my preferred size.

Sylvia had an ice caffelatte with a croissant and I had a Red Passion Tea and a nutella bombolini.  Actually I can't remember what it was called at Molino.  It was similar to a bombolini but the top was a bit more fancy with a nutty crumble around the nutella filling.  They also had pistachio fillings.  Although my tea was made with a teabag it was very nice and I liked the way the teabag sat in the pot.

Unfortunately I had a bad experience with the pizza.  I asked if the pizza with potato chunks was vegetarian and was told yes.  Some of the pizzas had more than one topping on the whole rectangle.  So when I took a bit of the pizza and found a bit of meat in it, I assumed it was from the adjacent topping.  Unfortunately not.  I had thought the little coloured bits were onion but they were bits of some sort of gristly meat.  Usually, as a vegetarian, I would not eat any more but as I had already had a mouthful and it tasted delicious (and I did not want to discuss it with someone who did not speak English as a first language), I ate the rest, pulling bits of meat off.  Sylvia really loved her tomato topped pizza.

On our last morning we decided to treat ourselves with another Molino breakfast.  We really loved pizza for breakfast in Rome.  Eating outside with views of beautiful buildings was very pleasant.  Sylvia had her favourite tomato topped pizza and a hot chocolate.  I was interested to taste it to see if it was as good as the amazing one at Babington's Tea Rooms.  It was almost as good.  

I had the margherita pizza which had a tomato sauce and slabs of mozzarella.  It was a reminder that, unlike our Melbourne pizzas, Rome pizzas did not have lots of melted cheese on top unless it was a feature.  The mozzarella was too much for me and I peeled some off the pizza to leave on the size.

When we left that last breakfast it we planned to return that evening for one last meal.  As happens with travel, we never did.  Probably just as well because I had thought about trying these chocolate covered crostoli (crisp fried pastry).  Sylvia had wanted to had a maritozzo (giant sweet buns filled with an obscene amount of cream) and was very happy that she took one with her in the morning.

Later I found there were more Molino establishments - it was based in 7 locations around Rome.  The one by San Giovanni Porta did not feel like a franchise.  It served excellent food with friendly and prompt service (including English speaking staff) at a reasonable price.  It was always busy, often with customers stopping for a quick coffee and chat at the counter.  It felt like the locals loved it just as much as we did.

Molino
Via Appia Nuova 82
San Giovanni
Rome, Italy
www.molinoroma.it