3.5 and rounded up.
On a Sunday in April I headed to this restaurant after seeing positive reviews on Gmaps, and had a generally pleasant though not flawless dinner here.
Arriving at 6:30pm without reservations, I tried my luck by walking up and hoping for a quick seat as a party of one. Thankfully this was no issue as this time is still considered on the earlier side for Italian dinner and there were several tables available between indoor (~20) and outdoor (~24) seating. By the time I left around 7:30pm, all the seats were taken and there was a short line outside.
The decor didn't stand out much, a soft clean cafe look, with soft lighting, white and light neutral wood tones and a light smoke grey tiled stone accent wall. Outside seating is composed of white rattan folding chairs, and festive lighting donning a retractable overhang above the tables.
Staff was quick to provide menus and check in on questions and take my order:
- N'artigiana local Neopolitan beer: asked for the original lager €5.00, was told they were out, so I asked for the Rossa lager €6, they brought me a Bianca blanche €6, so I drank that and didn't say anything since it was crisp and refreshing, a hint of citrusy flavor.
- Spaghetti alle vongole €14 aglio, olio, vongole veraci, prezzemolo, pomodorini (garlic, oil, clams, parsley, cherry tomatoes) in doing research this dish was one that originated from the Naples area so I figured why not. The pasta was delicious, perfectly cooked, the clams were fresh and had good flavor though I kept biting into sand towards the latter part of the dish and that was pretty annoying. Some of the clams looked like they were barely washed and that wasn't ok.
- Scarole €3.50 olio, aglio, olive nere, capperi (oil, garlic, black olives, capers). Compared to Chinese cooking, where perfectly cooked vegetables will often retain a little bite, Italian sautéed greens seemed to be overly cooked down texturally, (at least at the few different restaurants where I tried), though this seemed to be the norm, it's just interesting to observe the contrast. I thought the olive oil, capers and black olives provided good flavor.
After the meal I flagged the staff for a check and they directed me to head up to the register to pay. My overall impression of the service is neutral to fair, they were efficient and cordial.
With all the positive reviews and beautiful pics of their other pasta dishes online, I hope my unfortunate experience with the clams was an exceptional case. The quality seemed otherwise good and prices were the most affordable (€10 for ziti genoavese, €9 for carbonara! €2 coperto (cover) charge was reasonable) out of all cities I visited this trip to Italy, so if I were in the neighborhood I'd give them another shot. read more