What a neat little place! Seemed very local! tried a bunch of their small cakes. They were SO good! Will point out the cannoli looking cake with coconut on the outside and a chocolate cream inside.
"Make sure you visit Pasticceria Cinque Lune", recommended my mother as I planned my summer trip to Rome. I've lost count of how many times she said it, texted it, wrote it in emails...enough to convince me she had very good (and very sweet) reasons to send me that way. In particular, she kept raving about Antichi Romani ("the Ancient Romans"); small but perfectly formed pastries she'd never seen anywhere else before, probably the bakery's signature recipe. When I went to see for myself, my mind was set on trying them; even when I laid eyes on the much wider range of sweet treats on display behind the counters, and found myself craving absolutely everything in there, I sticked to my plan and ordered three Antichi Romani to take away.
My mother was right: they're unlike anything I've ever had before. Made of crispy fillo pastry shells, they come in three different versions, with fillings based on combinations of ricotta, nuts, honey, fruit and chocolate. My favourite had a simple combination of ricotta, honey, pine nuts and pistachio; the quirkiest one has a bay leaf on top, so far unseen (as far as I'm concerned) in Italian baking. I also tried one that had chocolate and cherries, and found it thoroughly enjoyable, although a tad too sweet for my taste.
My only niggle? Having to choose! When I say Pasticceria Cinque Lune offers a wide range of sweet treats, I mean REALLY wide. The first thing that caught my eye were the gigantic apple strudel rolls just beside the entrance; too big for one, alas, but one of those would definitely have been my choice if I'd had someone to share it with. Most classic Italian pastries also feature, giving new meaning to the expression "my eyes are bigger than my stomach". I've always thought my stomach is large enough to prove it false, but I might well have found a place where I can push my boundaries even further.
My mother was right: they're unlike anything I've ever had before. Made of crispy fillo pastry shells, they come in three different versions, with fillings based on combinations of ricotta, nuts, honey, fruit and chocolate. My favourite had a simple combination of ricotta, honey, pine nuts and pistachio; the quirkiest one has a bay leaf on top, so far unseen (as far as I'm concerned) in Italian baking. I also tried one that had chocolate and cherries, and found it thoroughly enjoyable, although a tad too sweet for my taste.
My only niggle? Having to choose! When I say Pasticceria Cinque Lune offers a wide range of sweet treats, I mean REALLY wide. The first thing that caught my eye were the gigantic apple strudel rolls just beside the entrance; too big for one, alas, but one of those would definitely have been my choice if I'd had someone to share it with. Most classic Italian pastries also feature, giving new meaning to the expression "my eyes are bigger than my stomach". I've always thought my stomach is large enough to prove it false, but I might well have found a place where I can push my boundaries even further.