Ignore The Best Carbonara Pasta In Rome!

This search is largely driven by social media and Google’s algorithm and of course the fear of missing out on something special during your first trip to Rome. However, I propose that the weary traveler will be happier if they stop searching for “The Best Of” and not let perfect be the enemy of good enough! 

Do They Really Search For The Best Carbonara In The World?

When Mrs. Curmudgeon and I make plans to travel to a new city, we will build a list of places and foods that we want to visit. In the old days it would be built off of a Rick Steves Guide Book, but today we rely on a list of travel vloggers that seem to have similar tastes as we do. When they recommend a restaurant or site, then the odds are very good that we will enjoy it as well.

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However, when you search for content from other creators, you are bombarded with a slew of “The Best” or the “Top 10” roundup videos that just become repetitive noise after a while. This is certainly driven by the Google algorithms that dictate what blogs and videos people are served when they search, so if these vloggers want views, they think they need to follow the crowds.

Travelers Looking For The Best

The big problem I have with this is the time wasted trying to identify “the best” of anything/everything you might encounter and the limitations you are putting on yourself. By limiting your options based on someone else’s calculated opinions, you could be missing an amazing experience that might otherwise be considered “good enough“.

Eating good food for many, including Mrs. Curmudgeon and myself, is the main reason for travel. However, if you aren’t able to enjoy the singular trending restaurant that everyone raves about on social media, would you consider the trip a failure? If there is only a single sandwich shop in Florence about which social media is abuzz, but the line is 2 hours long, does it really spoil your trip to miss it?

I’m Not Suggesting Finding The Worst Carbonara.

While I’m not suggesting you should be looking for the worst Carbonara, we are constantly reminded of why searching for “The Best” is a waste of time. Recently, our son (Lil’Curmudgeon) was in town and we made plans to return to a favorite Roman restaurant. It is a full Roman experience with multiple courses that are decided by the restaurant. You just sit back and enjoy the family arguing and storming out during service. It’s like an opera.

Now, their Carbonara is consistently not the best in Rome. In short, they scramble their eggs, which is a big No-No for us when making this dish. It is still edible, but by no means is it the worst nor the best Carbonara. The experience of dining there, however, is one of the best for my family (i.e. The Curmudgeons). The staff is amazingly friendly to everyone who enters, they receive us when we walk in like we are a part of their family, or at the very least we are close friends, and they feel confident enough to make all the meal decisions themselves.

If I wasted time and calories looking for the best Carbonara in Rome, I would never have wanted to try nor recommend this amazing restaurant. I would’ve missed the greatest dining experience I’ve ever had, the warm feelings that linger after we leave the restaurant and the excited anticipation of planning our next opportunity to return (probably during Christmas).

When The Worst Carbonara Is The Result

There is a risk, however rare in Rome, of an epic failure when you are searching for the best. A couple years ago we heard about a chef, popular on social media and known to some friends in LA, who was the self-appointed King of Carbonara. In various interviews that I watched, he seemed to dismiss the traditional dish by saying: “It’s your grandmother’s Carbonara“, and his way is a modern interpretation, and by his logic, it was better. As you can imagine, when we eventually visited The King, our expectations were high.

The entire experience was a disappointment. The menu was uninspiring, the wine selection was meh, but for us the worst crime of all, the Carbonara was not that good. Both my son and I described it as flavorless and watery. We left disappointed and grumpy, but strangely in agreement. We also left undeterred in our goal to try as many versions of Carbonara as possible. Not to find “The Best“, but rather to be as educated and experienced with finding a quality product.

What To Do About The Best Carbonara In The World?

So, imagine you were in Rome for only a limited time, had only X number of dinners available to you and one was an epic failure that you had expected would be “The Best”. Was the trip a failure? If you had enjoyed something that was “Good Enough”, would you leave happier?