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Other than serving a delicious dinner, Via Roma, the Italian restaurant and bakery of Antelias also welcomes you for breakfast. Eggs, avocado toast, yogurt and pizzas, the choices are enough to satisfy your hunger and your morning excitement. Accompanied by my kids, we head down to Via Roma, sat on the terrace, and enjoyed watching Metn waking up.
At Via Roma bread is freshly baked every morning. Croissants, focaccia, pizzas, biscuits and beyond. They also bake their own burger buns.
The first impression:
- The waiter was smoking on the sidewalk
- Almost everything contains garlic: “on a breakfast menu.”
- There is no music.
- You get the food menu to choose your coffee and the breakfast menu from the table tent.
I’ve ordered everything on the menu, and then the waiter comes back informing me that everything contains garlic. What shall we do? So he went back to the kitchen to find a solution.
The original breakfast menu:
- Vova Strapazzate al Tartufo: olive oil, butter; eggs, fresh cream, salt, black pepper, truffle cheese, mix salad, cherry tomatoes, focaccia barese.
- Uova Alla pizzaiola: eggs, tomato sauce, garlic, mint, cherry tomatoes, salt, black pepper, Pecorino Romano, olive oil, whole wheat bread.
- Yogurt and fruits: yogurt, jam, mix fruit salad, granola, fresh mint.
- Formaggi and crudités: soft cheese, avocado, marinated cucumber, mix cherry tomatoes caprese, lemon dressing.
- Cornetto and uova all’occhio: plain croissantX Parma ham, ruccola local, fresh mozzarella, mix salad, eggs, grana padano.
- Pizza salami and formaggi: pizza white, salami Toscano, ham, mortadella, emmental, provolone, feta, mix salad, cherry tomatoes.
- Toast di avocado and uova do quaglia: cereals bread, avocado sauce, avocado, quail eggs, imported rucola, cherry tomatoes confit, rucola oil sauce, salt, pine nuts, beetroot cream.
When the food comes, the experience changes! They really have great food at Via Roma; it seems that the passion inside the kitchen is not reflected outside.
Breakfast you will enjoy:
- Served on a wooden board, the egg casserole hosting the scrambled eggs makes your mouth water. Grilled cherry tomatoes and a side of tomato sauce. Freshly baked, take a slice of moist and fluffy bread, add a piece of the eggs, cover with tomato sauce and enjoy. I loved the taste of simplicity this plate offers.
- A sunny side up egg, a croissant freshly baked minutes earlier and stuffed with Parma ham, white cheese, and a side salad. Aromatic and flaky, the croissant differs from French ones in its sweet aftertaste and intense aromas. I didn’t find the fresh mozzarella though.
- A big bowl of yogurt topped with diced fruits and a crumble of something watery. I didn’t see or feel any crunchy granola and the jam. Even though I liked this mix, it’s not the conventional Granola&Yogurt I was craving.
- Prepared without the focaccia which unfortunately contains garlic, scrambled eggs mixed with cherry tomatoes, truffle cheese, and Parmesan. An attractive, flavorful and aromatic mix, I enjoyed with a basket of fresh bread.
- Cold cuts and cheese, a beautiful plate, altered from the different one -removing the focaccia- is, after all, a pleasant item to share and enjoy.
- Best for last, The avocado on toast with black olives and cucumbers: it’s so good, even great. The textures with the strong taste of black olives, the creaminess of the cheese, the airiness of the bread... olive oil, fresh and ripe avocados, sweet tomatoes... this sandwich is a must try!
- The avocado toast reminded me of New York, of Paris, of San Francisco and every city I visited the last year. This is art, much more than food. The chef rocks! Amazing all the way from bread to avocado and beetroot cream. When I come to think that this plate was not coming because they don’t have quail eggs until I asked for it without! What would I have missed!
The things I liked:
- Excellent bread is served here; the bakery needs to be marketed more.
- I enjoyed the terrace on a Sunday morning; the weather, the vibes, and the views.
My improvement recommendations:
- Add zaatar focaccia on the menu, call it the “Italian Manouche,” it will rock!
- Translated from Italian on (google translate), the menu has a load of mistakes someone has to look into.
- The option of cooking without garlic is a must; I’ve been to Italy five times already and never had the “garlic” issue. I’m not sure why I only have it in my own country.
- One waiter is enough; if trained properly. A waiter’s job is to find solutions and answers to every problem which was not the case.
- Bread is so good: don’t ask if we need a refill, keep the bread coming, it’s a great way to advertise the bakery.
- Have a double-sided leaflet for breakfast including the viennoiseries, croissants, menu, and drinks. We could have ordered much more if only proposed.
A special thank you to chef Mohammad; be proud of yourself chef, your food is as good as the creations I've had around the world. Your plates are loaded with passion and love and I felt it under my palate. Merci!
Great food... made me forget the other imperfections.
