The best fusion restaurants in Rome. The capital’s love for Japanese cuisine is definitely on the up, and now sushi and sashimi are often creatively paired with cuisine from other countries – from Peru to Hawaii, and from Brazil to France.
The best fusion restaurants in Rome
PIETRALATA
Coropuna
Corupuna, via di Pietralata. Having opened just last year in the place of an old fish market, Coropuna combines Peruvian and Japanese cuisine. Here you’ll find sweet potatoes (3), crab or pork buns and aromatic uramaki with mint oil or coconut milk, accompanied by segments of Chinese mandarin and Aji Amarillo sauce (Peruvian chilli with notes of ginger). But the real star of the show is the ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime with spices and coriander leaves (12, 13) and tiradito, Peruvian sashimi with sea bass and leche de tigre, the revitalising liquid used in marinating the ceviche. There’s even latin-themed music (see here for their events listing). Evenings at Coropuna amongst the huge lamps and straw decor are always huge fun thanks to the ‘tiki-cocktails’ with their alcoholic bases of Pisco, sake and mescal.
Coropuna, via di Pietralata 149-b; Tel.: 3277385881. Open every day from 8pm until 2am. Closed on Mondays. Website and Facebook.
FONTANELLA DI BORGHESE
Le Asiatique
Le Asiatique, largo della Fontanella di Borghese. This restaurant, which opened last year, can serve around 100 people and is in fact a bit of a maze – the sala bar at the entrance conceals five Japanese-rooms, each one dedicated to a Japanese town, with artworks by Chiara Montagner. The menu here takes inspiration from both Asia and the Mediterranean, with a focus on local produce. That means there’s smoked duck (that pops up again in the ramen), there’s truffle (15), foie gras gyoza and pecorino from Pienza (16), and sea bream ceviche marinated in red onions from Tropea (16). It’s the same deal for the sushi, in the uramaki you’ll find sun-dried tomatoes from San Marzano (16) or there’s even French inspiration – gorgonzola and glazed pear (15). As for drinks you can enjoy European wines and champagne, classic spirits from all over the world, and at the bar there’s bourbon, calvados and sake, which can be served mixed with pomegranate extract and Normandy butter (10, 14). There’s also a tea menu available (6 served hot, 7 cold) and various lunch menus, and bento boxes are also available (18).
Le Asiatique, Largo della Fontanella di Borghese 86-a; Tel.: 06.69330441; Open every day from 6pm to midnight. Website and Facebook.
PONTE MILVIO
Mahalo
Mahalo, via Flaminia. South Pacific Fine Food: Mahalo serves Hawaiian and Japanese fusion, with a menu based around delicious fish and rice-based dishes. This eatery is small, decorated with vivid ocean colours, and has an open kitchen. The space can seat about thirty, but it’s also possible to eat at the bar. The highlights of the menu are the poke, the fishermen’s salad (traditionally for the poor) made with a base of raw fish marinated in sesame oil, that is then garnished with exotic fruits, avocado or fresh vegetables (12, 15). There’s a Pacific theme even for the sushi rolls, such as the prawns breaded in coconut, stuffed with banana, mango and macadamia nut sauce (12). And while you can enjoy taro chips – a tropical potato grown in water – with the sushi burger (11-14), for the most authentic flavours try the prawn soup all tahitiana, with coconut milk and rum, and home-made falernum, used as a cocktail base, a syrup prepared with lime, carnation flowers, ginger and almond flour (6, 7).
Mahalo, via Flaminia 496-b1; Tel.:06.83543571. Open every day from 12.30pm to 3.30pm and from 7pm to 11pm. Website and Facebook.
AVENTINO
Manioka
Manioka, via Ofanto, viale Aventino. This Brazilian sushi eatery has now opened up another restaurant (the first was in via Ofanto) which can seat around a hundred customers, has an outdoor seating area and a totally Brazilian-style service. The concept came from the two owners – two Roman brothers – visiting the Libertade district in Sao Paolo. Just like in true temakerie you’ll find fried salmon, tuna and prawn in temaki, rolls or raw, served with exotic fruit like star fruits and pineapple (from 6.50 to 12 euro). We highly recommend the edamame do Brazil, which instead of being boiled, are sautéed in a pan with oil and grated ginger (4). You can conclude the night with a little Bossa Nova (click here for the events listing), a beijinho (a kiss in Portuguese) coconut and milk espresso with a double shot of cachaca Velho Barreiro – because cachaca n.51 in Brazil is used to start fires!
Manioka, viale Aventino 40 – via Ofanto 35. Tel.: 06.57250060 (Aventino); 06.8844569 (Ofanto). Open every day from 12.30pm to 3pm and from 7pm to 11.30pm. Closed on Saturdays and for Sunday lunchtime. Website and Facebook.
PONTE MILVIO
Nojo
Nojo, viale di Tor di Quinto. Another Japanese-Hawaian suggestion, but with more of an international edge. The eatery run by chef Valerie Esse, who has worked in Australia and in South East Asia, reinterprets Asian dishes. The evening menu includes quinoa and Venere rice rolls (13, 14), nigiri with prawns from Mazzara del Vallo and sea bass from Gaeta (4), for main dishes there’s duck with parsnips and cherry sauce (24) and lobster, served with spicy ginger butter and a mango salad (44). Try the dark chocolate and fave bean dessert or the sweet version of sushi rolls filled with custard (8.50). The cocktail menu plays on classic mixes such as the Oriental Blood, with tomato juice, soy sauce and sake instead of Worcester sauce and vodka. You can hit up the bar every day either pre-dinner (6pm – 8.30pm_ and after dinner until late into the night in the Zen garden.
Nojo, viale di Tor di Quinto 35-c. Tel.: 06.3330946. Open every day. Closed for lunch. Opening hours: 6pm-8.30pm pre dinner, 7.45pm to midnight Monday – Thursday, 7.45pm to 1am Friday to Sunday. Website and Facebook.
PARIOLI – PRATI – EUR
Sambamaki
Sambamaki, viale Regina Margherita, via Vittoria Colonna, piazzale Luigi Sturzo. This restaurant run by Eduardo Inoue (the man behind the temakerie in Brazil) and Riccardo Takamitsu opened its doors in via Regina Margherita, contiuing the trend for Japanese-Brazilian cuisine. There are now three new restaurants, one in Prati, one in Eur and one in Nomentano. We recommend the temaki: in medium, maxi or casquinha (waffle) style, which you can enjoy stuffed with fish, fruit or vegetables (7, 8) and ingredients such as quails eggs and mertensia maritima – or ‘oyster leaf’, which recalls the flavour of seafood (9). Then there’s guacamole and picanha Kobe beef, a cut of beef which is covered by a side of fat, cooked on a spit, and then stuffed in rolls with ginger and asparagus (16). To finish try the chocolate and coconut praline (bom bom 4.50) and a sakerinha, a capirinha with a dry sake base, maracaja, acai or caju (6.50). There’s also a lunch menu available with prices starting from 9.50.
Sambamaki, viale Regina Margherita, via Vittoria Colonna, piazzale Luigi Sturzo. Opening hours: via Vittoria Colonna, from 12pm to 3pm and from 7pm to midnight, viale Regina Margherita, from 7pm to midnight, piazzale Sturzo, from 12pm to 3.30pm and from 7pm to midnight. Website and Facebook.
AVENTINO
São Brazilian Sushi Bar
São Brazilian Sushi Bar, viale Aventino. This place opened last year, making the Aventino district a hot spot for temakerie lovers. This Japanese-Brazilian bistro run by Aldo Nascimbeni is divided into two rooms: a first room that seats 20 and a second internal room which can seat 40 and includes a bar. For starters there’s the bacasao, cod croquettes coated in Japanese breadcrumbs with sweet potato and coriander leaves (8), vegetarian harumaki with passion fruit salsa (7.50) and raw tuna or salmon with tofu gazpacho (10.50, 12.50). There’s a huge selection of Brazilian-inspired sushi rolls to choose from, such as tuna, coriander and gazpacho (16.50) or vegetarian rolls with avocado, mango and passion fruit (9). In the evenings you can tuck into Brazilian cocktails and enjoy the bossa-nova as well as hierbas ibicencas shots (a spirit made with aromatic and medicinal plants). Sao, as well as doing take away, also runs a catering service for private or business events (click here for more information).
São Brazilian Sushi Bar, Viale Aventino 123. Tel.: 06.574 2149. Open every day from 12pm to 2.30pm and from 7pm to 11.30pm. Website and Facebook.
TRASTEVERE
Somo
Somo, via Mameli. This extremely elegant fusion restaurant is divided into three spaces designed by architect Elena Piulats – there’s a lounge bar, a tatami room and a main restaurant. The menu is in two parts, there’s classic Japanese and then fusion. On the first you can enjoy sushi, sashimi, hosomaki, uramaki and tempura. The second focuses on meat dishes, especially Kobe beef. It’s served with orange or with radish in sautéed rice. The main courses mix Asian and Mediterranean cuisine, the seared tuna is glazed with cherry and miso syrup, and the salmon is served with a vegan beschamel sauce scattered with salted mullet. As for dessert, we loved the hot chocolate and ginger tart. All the wine is sourced locally, with a particular focus on emerging wine makers. Your dinner will be accompanied by a dj set or jazz music. It’s possible to take away.
Somo, Via Mameli 5. Tel.: 06.5882060. Open every day from 8pm to 11.30pm. Closed at lunchtime. Website and Facebook.
MONTI – BORGO ANGELICO – RINASCENTE
Temakinho
Temakinho, via dei Serpenti, Borgo Angelico, via del Tritone (Rinascente). With restaurants in Milan, London, Ibiza and now in Rome – first in Monti, then Borgo Angelico and now via del Tritone 62, in the foodhall on the sixth floor of the new Rinascente. Temakinho’s success is probably down to the simplicity of its menu. It is divided into sections: ceviche, salmon, tuna, shell fish, raw fish, specials, white fish (red drum and sea bass) and vegetarian. First you choose a combination, then you choose between temaki or sushi rolls. That way you can end up with a temaki with red drum and sesame cream or with prawn and tempura (6.50, 8.50) or with 8 rolls with lobster, crab and tofu flavoured with ingredients like nachos, mango and banana (9, 12). It’s the same principal for the choice between caipirinhas and sakerinhas, you choose between sake or cachaça and then between the ingredients – classic lime and cane sugar or rose pepper and tropical fruit (6, 8). For dessert, the chocolate and coconut tart deserves a special mention.
Temakinho, via dei Serpenti 16, Borgo Angelico 30, via del Tritone 62. Tel.:06.4201 6656 (Monti); 06.9291 9949 (Borgo Angelico); 06.8791 6660 (Rinascente). Website and Facebook.
BUFALOTTA
Yume Fusion
Yume Fusion, via Renato Fucini. ‘Not just sushi’ reads Yume’s slogan. Here the technicalities of Japanese cooking are combined with the finest local ingredients. You can actually come here for a cookery course (click here for information and prices) and there are occasionally themed evenings (such as the most recent Butternut Squash evening). The eatery is modern with bright lighting and a fantastic terrace for eating outside during the summer months, or enjoying a delicious aperitivo with gyoza chips and guacamole. We must first mention the edamame beans served with Maldon salt (4) but then there’s the leek cream with mussels (7), noodles with guanciale or sea urchin (9.50), and the tempura courgette flowers. As for the fish, don’t miss the tuna sashimi with onions from Tropea or the uramaki stuffed with salmon and Pringles or with brie and pine nuts (12). Then there’s the tasting menu (see the Facebook page), or the ‘aperisushi’ every day from 6.20pm to 8pm (8 euros for a cocktail, 6 for a soft drink) and a low-cost lunch menu – the 10 euro menu includes a starter, a soup, two nigiri and a portion of sushi rolls of your choice.
Yume Fusion, via Renato Fucini 66. Tel.: 06.87137508. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 6pm to 8pm (aperitivo) and from 8pm to 11.30pm (dinner). Website and Facebook.
Traduzione a cura di Corinna Parker
