Restaurant Review: Via Carota

Details: Located at 51 Grove St, New York, NY 10014. The official site is http://www.viacarota.com/

My goodness was this placed packed. I came here with a friend on a Saturday night and the wait took about two hours. They don’t take reservations. They just write down names onto some pipes with chalk as people come in. They have a bar where you can drink as you wait… for hours. Despite the long wait, each patron that I saw add their name to the pipes extolled the same admiration and praise for this restaurant’s food. After eating at this restaurant, I mostly disagree.

Restaurant Review: Via Trenta

Details: Located at 36-19 30th Ave, Astoria, NY 11103. The official site is http://viatrenta.com/

The best pasta I’ve had in New York City in the fifteen to thirty dollar price range was at Eataly. The pasta at Via Trenta is about as good, if not better.

I had the fettuccine ala bolognese for seventeen dollars. It was a great plate of pasta. The noodles were really fresh. I also had a slice of ricotta cheese cake for around seven dollars. If you like New York City style cheesecake, don’t get this. Ricotta cheese cake is not like New York style cheese cake and I didn’t like it.

Overall, this was a great Italian restaurant with great pasta. It’s a good place for a date or just dinner with friends.

Score: 7/10

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: Singas Famous Pizza

Details: Located around New York City, though not in Manhattan. The official site is http://www.singaspizzas.com/

Singas Pizza is a pizzeria that specializes in making ten inch pies that are made when you order. They don’t sell pizza by the slice. They also have sandwiches, pasta, and chicken wings, but it’s the pizza that you should get here.

They have a variety of toppings, pretty much everything you can get at most pizzerias in this price range. Pizza pies generally price from around seven to over ten dollars depending on what toppings you get. As for the chicken wings, pasta, and sandwiches, everything goes into the pizza oven for cooking and prices at around

The pies are good. There’s nothing unique about their recipe, but there’s something delicious about a freshly made pie versus a reheated slice. Additionally, the pizza pans they use to bake the pizza almost always guarantees a crispy pizza, which is nice. The sandwiches, pasta, and chicken wings are okay. I’ve tried them all and they weren’t great. If you feel like gambling, then you should those items. Otherwise, I’d just get the pizza.

Overall, a good place for pizza. It’s a nice to get a freshly made pizza once in a while versus the individual, reheated slices that you normally find in this city. The only downside is that you have to order a whole ten inch pie — which isn’t overly big — if you want try this pizza out.

Score: 6.8/10

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: Il Pesce

Details: Located at 4 World Trade Center, 101 Liberty Street, Floor 3, New York, NY 10007. Official site is https://www.eataly.com/us_en/stores/nyc-downtown/

Came back to Eataly for a third time and, to be honest, I was getting a little tired of it. We went to Il Pesce, a place that specializes in seafood or fish.

Somewhat ironically, we did not order any of the major fish dishes. We just ordered their three pasta dishes, a squid ink pasta with mussels in a white wine sauce, a crab meat pasta, and a tomato sauce pasta with anchovies I think. All were very good as pasta usually is.

As unusual as it sounds, I just could not lean towards a fish dish at a place that specializes in fish for one primary reason: I do not like how the western world prepares fish. I’ve had good western fish (a bronzino comes to mind). However, in my opinion, the best preparations of fish are either from eastern Asian countries or take inspiration from eastern Asian countries. I’ve seen  contemporary Western restaurants make good fish dishes, but they seem to take inspiration from the rawness of eastern Asian or Japanese cuisine. The best fish dishes I’ve ever had have been undoubtedly from eastern Asian restaurants. So when I see fish on the menu in a western restaurant, I can’t help but hesitate from ordering it.

Score: 6/10 Pasta was good. Freshest pasta I’ve ever had in New York City is from Eataly.

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/