My last trip saw me staying in a different area, between the Colosseum and San Giovanni. Quiet, a little sparse on the cafe and restaurant front, rather too near some of the tourist tat of the Colosseum… but as always not without promise.

One much overlooked area in Rome is Monti, which lies behind the Via dei Fori Imperiali, bounded on one side by the Via Cavour and on the other the Via Nazionale. This is a charming neighbourhood of local cafes and shops, well worth exploring. Al vino Al vino (Via dei Serpenti 19) is a typical wine bar, with a good selection of bottles, plus inexpensive plates of decent cheese and salami. Friendly service too. Close by, at Via della Madonna dei Monti 28, is Fafiuche, a new wine and food shop open every day from ten in the morning to one a.m. Again, very good wine, and in the early evening there’s an excellent all you can eat buffet for seven euros. In the Via Panisperna at number 251, near the Serpenti, you will find Ai Tre Scalini, a local pub and bar with cheese, salami and hot plates, and inexpensive wine. The place dates back to 1895 and has lots of character - including the clientele.

At 313 Via Cavour you will find one of the classiest wine bars in Rome, called simply 313 and almost hidden behind a tiny entrance. The wine list ranges from the cheap to the extraordinarily expensive, and you can get plates of cheese, salami, wild boar specialities and fish. But get there before 8.30 in the evening or you may have to wait.

One restaurant in Monti I didn’t get to try is Al Boschetto (Via del Boschetto, 30, tel 06 4744770). This has a good reputation, particularly for fish and wild mushrooms, and is a sister to an establishment which is a rarity of good value and excellent cooking near the Colosseum: Hostaria Isidoro, 59 Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, closed Saturday lunchtime. Isidoro is announced by nothing more than a notice board up the street from the Basilica San Clemente. But it is fantastically popular with Romans for excellent pasta, meat and fish dishes - and very reasonably priced. A plate of pasta with fresh porcini cost me a mere eight euros.

Another find near the colosseum is Il Bocconcino, a newish place at 23 Via Ostilia, closed Wednesdays, tel 06 77079175. This is a small and elegant restaurant serving very real local dishes - puntarelle chicory when I couldn’t find it anywhere else, for example. We just ate pasts, which was superb, but the many locals there were tucking into lovely looking meat and fish. Take along a food translation guide for all of these places if you don’t know Italian cuisine by the way - many of the dishes are local and few staff speak English well.

Finally, one oddity we never got round to. La Tana dei Golosi (The Lair of the Greedies) is associated with the Slow Food movement and has a menu that changes regularly, featuring different areas of Italy. It looked very impressive, and gets mainly good reviews from locals. You can find it at Via San Giovanni in Laterano 200, a little way up from Isidoro. Evenings only, closed Sundays. Tel 06 7720302.