Dinner with the sisters

Fraterna Domus restaurant in Rome, Italy

You ring the front door bell promptly at 7:30pm (1pm for lunch) and a member of the lay sisterhood that runs this religious hospice appears to accompany you down to the basement refectory, three small rooms neatly laid out with sturdy pine furnishings. The set-price meal is cheap (€13), filling, and served course-by-course, family-style. It's nothing fancy; This is comfort food all'Italiana—rich vegetable noodle soup or fusilli in ragu, pork chops sided with boiled potatoes and roast eggplant, a salad, and fresh fruit. With the smiling sisters trooping out course after course, it starts feeling like a holiday meal with the extended family. Reservations are required.

Via Monte Brianzo 62/Via dell Cancello 9 (off Lungotevere Marzio, several blocks north of Piazza Navona)
tel. 06-6880-2727
Closed Thursday