Restaurant Review: Barbusa

Details: Located at 1917 India St, San Diego, CA 92101. The official site is http://barbusa.com/

I came here for dinner. I can’t remember if it was a weekday or the weekend. Whatever day it was, it was packed. Luckily, the host squeezed us in even though we had no reservations. He did ask us to try to eat within an hour… which wasn’t great. We did it anyway.

Most of my group had pasta which was great. I ordered the Carbonara Con Piselli (fettuccini, sweet peas, caramelized onions, pancetta, farm fresh egg yolk) for around sixteen dollars. It was really good and the pasta was really fresh. My only complaint was that the portion was a little small in comparison to similarly priced pasta I’ve ordered in New York City. Additionally, a friend ordered the squid ink pasta and loved it.

One thing worth mentioning is that their pizza is crap. A friend ordered it and when it came, it looked like shit. The friend also described the taste to be similar to shit. Overall, pretty shit pizza. Don’t order it. Get the fresh, somewhat small portioned pasta.

The environment was comfortable and lively. All of our waiters and hosts were nice.

Overall, a good place to get some pasta. A terrible place to order pizza.

Score: 6.4/10

Restaurant Review: Giano

Details: Located at 126 E 7th St., New York, NY 10009. The official site is http://www.gianonyc.com/

According to foursquare.com, this place has the best tiramisu in the east village. I don’t know if I’d agree with that. Their pasta is pretty good.

I ordered the Bigoli al ragu d’agnello e noci tostate (homemade thick spaghetti with slow cooked braised lamb ragout and toasted walnut powder) for $17.95 and the tiramisu for $7.95. The pasta came in an unusually large plate for such a small amount of pasta. Serving sizes are somewhat small here. I will say that the quality of the pasta was comparable to Eataly, which I think is the best pasta I’ve eaten in New York City in this price range. The tiramisu was good, although I don’t think that it was so good as to be the best I’ve ever had.

Service was nice. Interior was nice as it was your standard, trendy dim lighting with exposed brick.

Overall, while a good place to eat, I probably wouldn’t recommend it because of the small portions. I would recommend it to anyone who’s vegan or all about that gluten free life. The main reason we came here was to appease our very vegan friend.

Score: 6.7/10

Restaurant Review: Zero Otto Nove Trattoria

Details: Located at 15 W 21 Street, New York, NY 10010. The official site is http://www.089nyc.roberto089.com/

Came here with a group. We ordered a number of things. Worth mentioning is that one of us was a level 9000 vegan who can’t eat a lot of things, found the Napoletana (pizza with tomato sauce, garlic, basil & oregano, no cheese) acceptable. One of us was a pescetarian (only eats seafood) and found the La Cirilo (butternut squash puree, cream of truffle, mushrooms and mozzarella) pretty good.

I had the Linguini al Nero di Seppia (linguine with cuttlefish sautéed with garlic, oil, & black squid ink) which cost about $25. It was pretty good, although I’ve had better squid ink pasta elsewhere for around the same price or less. I had something for dessert which was layers of pastry with cream in between, topped with strawberries. It was square-shaped. It cost eight dollars. I don’t remember the name, but it was really good. It was so good in fact, that I only got to eat a few bites because the rest of my group ate the rest. I think it was the second one from the top of the dessert menu.

The service was great. It was one of those places where you could tell the boss told the servers to make sure everyone has water because they refilled our glasses like clockwork.

The place is pretty large and dimly lit. I don’t really have a problem with this restaurant’s dim lighting, but with dim lighting in general. Sometimes, it pacifies me and puts me to sleep. This was one of those times.

This was a pretty good place, although a little pricier than most Italian places. Is the pasta I had here better than Eataly? Nope. It was still pretty good. That dessert was also pretty awesome and I recommend it if you can find it.

Score: 6.9/10

Restaurant Review: Sauce and Barrel

Details: Located at 97 Washington St., New York, NY 10006. Official site is http://www.sauceandbarrel.com/

The waiter mentioned that this place opened up a few weeks ago, so it’s pretty new.

My group and I ordered the margarita pizza, the ravioli (sweet potato and brown butter), and the squid ink pasta (squid, chili, and shrimp).

The pizza was pretty terrible. The crust tasted bad and was so hard I was worried I’d chip a tooth. The pasta was amazing in comparison.

The waiter we had was nice.

The space is large and they have seating upstairs if you want something more quiet. It’s a good place to get drinks and some food after work I think.

Score: 5/10

Restaurant Review: Trattoria Pesce Pasta

Details: Located at 262 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10014. Official site is http://www.pesce-pasta.com/

Came here with some friends. I feel like this is more of a date spot more than anything. The dark lighting and exposed brick are pretty romantic.

A minor complaint I usually with many Italian restaurants is that you get a tiny saucer of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This place however, just gives the whole jug of both. I must confess that I doused all the free bread with tons of olive oil and vinegar.

The we ordered a number of dishes ranging from the squid ink pasta to the ravioli, to the linguini amatriciana. It was mostly standard Italian fare and very good. Check the menu, it’s a tight menu with all the expected Italian favorites.

While many say Eataly is an overpriced placed for yuppies, but the pasta I had from Eataly (when it first opened downtown) has become the standard by which I compare the tastiness and texture of pasta I eat anywhere subsequent. This place came close to the pasta at Eataly, but was slightly harder and less fresh. You really couldn’t tell unless you were consciously examining the thing.

Score: 6.2/10 I should also mention that we came here mostly because of my vegan friend being unable to eat anything else and this place accommodated her. No complaints from her end, so it’s a good place to bring a level nine thousand vegan if you’re looking for one.

Restaurant Review: Rafele (Seventh Ave., NYC)

Official site: http://rafele.com/

Yelp page: http://www.yelp.com/biz/rafele-ristorante-new-york

This place was a shit hole. Waiter (tall guy with an accent) got our order wrong then lied to our faces about it over and over and fought with us about it. Treated us like shit from the moment we walked in and tried to rush us out. Only good thing about this place was the eggplant dip. Otherwise, all the food we had was pretty shit. Had the cannelloni special. That was shit. Service was especially shit.

Avoid this place like the plague.

Score: 0/10

Restaurant Review: Olio e Piu

Official site: http://www.olionyc.com/

Nice place.

My group ordered the Barbabietole (beet salad with goat cheese ricotta), the spaghetti carbonara, trenette al fresco (spaghetti, but with anchivoies), spaghetti (classic preparation, tomato sauce), and the nutella pizza for dessert.

Everything was amazing. Personally, I never get an egg yolk with my carbonara so that made my day. It’s the simple things I guess. Nutella pizza was exactly as you’d imagine it. Sweet, heavy, and covered in nutella.

Space was all right.

Service as just okay.

Score: 6.8/10 Pasta was great. Only wish the servings were bigger.

Restaurant Review: John’s of 12th Street (NYC)

Official site: http://www.johnsof12thstreet.com/

Needed a place to eat with my level 9000 vegan friend. Once again we go Italian because it just so happens to be the one kind of food that’s easy to make vegan and gluten free.

This place is real proud that it was on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive ins, and Dives tv show. It’s written right on the menu.

This is your classic messy, heavy, cheesy Italian place. We had the lasagna, veal parmigiana, and a pizza. I don’t recommend any of the above. If you come here, get a bowl of pasta. Everything else isn’t that great. Just heavy.

Service was fine.

The space is really darkly lit and other customers were loud. The other customers really made it a shitty experience, which isn’t the restaurant’s fault.

Score: 4/10

Restaurant Review: The Spotted Pig (West Village, NYC)

Came here for lunch. Was worried there would be a line since this place has a Michelin star, but luckily, we got a table in ten minutes.

The decor was interesting and kind of eclectic. It’s a pub.

Service was very helpful and nice.

We ordered the favorites: hamburger with shoestring fries, the chicken liver toast, the deviled eggs, and the roll mops (pickled herring). Everything was fine. Only thing that stuck out was the chicken liver toast, which was very good. If you like liver.

Score: 7.0/10 

Official site: http://www.thespottedpig.com/#home

Restaurant Review: Tony’s Di Napoli (Upper East Side, NYC)

Tony’s Di Napoli is a chain of Italian restaurants similar in vein to Carmine’s. We mainly came here because it was one of the few restaurants my level 9000 vegan friend can eat at.

The food is served family style (big plates to share). We ordered the primavera and a seafood pasta in a wine sauce. It was okay.

Service was fine.

The room was very large and noisy. We went to the one on the Upper East Side. Not sure if the other location is as loud.

Score: 4.5/10 Not a great experience. In my book, Italian food of this kind ranks similarly to southeast Asian food; simple, straightforward, not complex or thoughtful, mainly good when I get a craving for it. I will avoid coming back here if I can help it.

Official site: https://tonysnyc.com/