Locanda Verde
I wanted to enjoy Locanda Verde more than I did. I had heard a lot of buzz about the place and when it came up as an option for a casual weekend lunch with friends while in Tribeca, we jumped on it. It is a cool setting in a cool neighborhood. The food, however, didn’t match the expectation for me.
My Broccoli Rabe Sausage Grinder with spicy peperonata and ricotta ($15) sounded better on the menu than it actually tasted. I can’t point out much that was wrong other than the greasiness of the sandwich. The bread and sausage were fresh and everything tasted fine but it just wasn’t one of those sandwiches that had me saying “I need to come back and order this sandwich!” Is that too much to ask for $15 for two pieces of sausage?
The Rustic Potatoes with garlic and parmigiano-reggiano ($6) were also quite greasy.
Drinks were good, especially this spiked lemonade with pear vodka. Perfectly refreshing for a summer day. Most recommended item on the menu.
I bet a pasta dinner would be a lot more memorable so maybe I’ll give it a try again for dinner.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Wanna go?
Address/phone –377 Greenwich St (corner of N.Moore and Greenwich) , 212-925-3797
website- locandaverdenyc.com
menu - menupages.com/restaurants/locanda-verde
99 Cent Fresh Pizza
For those who are curious, the 5th location of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza opened up in Murray Hill at 201 E 34th Between 2nd and 3rd. I recently had a chance to try their pizza, which rivals Celeste and Ellio’s. The place is totally not worth a review, but I did notice one thing that is worth mentioning. For $2.75, they offer a special that includes “battle” water and 2 slices of their crappy pizza…. It might be worth buying the pizza and throwing it out if the “battle water” will give you an edge in you next fight.
Macelleria
Having experienced many Italian restaurants in NYC, I typically say most in NYC are either really good or really bad. Macelleria is somewhere in the middle.
We enjoyed a well executed Italian meal with efficient service in a festive environment. Macelleria is the perfect place for a celebration – the crowd is young and the energy is high. The restaurant is next to several trendy clubs/nightspots.
A few nitpick items stand out as separates Macelleria from some of the higher rated establishments.
We started with pasta. I had the wild boar pappardelle. The pasta was piping hot and cooked perfectly but I thought the wild boar sauce tasted and looked like standard chuck meat. The waiter said it was cooked for over three hours but I didn’t get the special “wild boar” taste I’m used to from ordering the dish at other places. We shared the Prime Dry Aged New York Strip Steak as well as the Branzino – both were well done. They were both very flavorful.
The sides were nothing to write home about… the spinach was a little bitter from my friend’s perspective. The roasted potatoes were crunchy and crispy but I could have used a few more on the plate.
Dessert was good, but they tried to play off standard “food service” ice cream as gelato.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 7/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate (Meatpacking price inflation)
Wanna go?
Address/phone –
48 Gansevoort St | Btwn Greenwich & Washington St, 212-741-2555
website- macelleriarestaurant.com
menus – menupages.com/restaurants/macelleria
Open Table- opentable.com/macelleria
The Lemon Ice King of Corona
There is only one King and he’s from Queens. I have been enjoying the Lemon Ice King of Corona my entire life but the establishment has been around for twice as long as me (over 60 years).
This time I had the fresh tart and tangy and lemon ice featuring lemon rinds and other fresh ingredients. Perfect for a hot summer day or a a cooler than usual spring day (they have candy apples for the fall and winter). I am not loyal to lemon. In the past I have enjoyed many of their close to 40 flavors including pina colada, pineapple, tangerine, and strawberry. Sometimes, but not very often, I opt for their non-fruit flavors like black licorice, vanilla and coffee.
Tough they have lots of flavors, the rules are clear, there’s no mixing!
I may switch flavors but I always get the medium size ($2). Though I often want more ice, there is something about that size that works for me (I like to squeeze the ice from the bottom rather than scooping ice from a soda cup).
Ices are not a complete experience without going to the park across the street and watching local older Italian men play bocce while slurping away your ice.
Rating:
Food – 9/10
Ambiance – 9/10 (tradition)
Service – 8/10 (straight forward, they scoop ices)
Category:
Food Type – Italian Ices, Dessert
Style – Casual
Price – Reasonable
Wanna go?
Address/phone –
52-02 108th Street, Corona, NY 718-699-5133
website- thelemonicekingofcorona.com
La Carbonara
La Carbonara has it all. A great location, great ambiance, excellent food at really reasonable prices.
Traditional Oven-Baked Eggplant with tomato, mozzarella and basil was the highlight of our appetizers. Very light and flavorful. We also had fried calamari and Caesar salad.
The meal kicked up a notch when we got our entrees. The Rigatoni with lamb ragout was as good as it gets. The sauce was rich and filled with tender pieces of lamb and vegetables. It is clear that a lot of time and care went into the ragout. The dish was so good that I ordered another plate of it for the table to share after we finished dinner!
I sampled all the pastas around the table including short rib ravioli and Pappardelle Alla Bolognese and was equally impressed.
For dessert we had Zuccotto Al Gianduia semi-frozen cake stuffed with gianduja chocolate ice cream and amarena cherries. It was different and well executed.
They have a nice wine list. Service was friendly and efficient. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Food – 8/10
Ambiance – 7/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Reasonable
Wanna go?
Address/phone – 202 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011, (212) 255-2060
De Santos Restaurant
Cute place. Perfect for date night or a group birthday. The ambiance is dark with exposed brick walls, candles, butterflies painted in some areas of the ceiling, a hanging taxidermy elk…. sounds eclectic, but it’s not. They offer simply prepared Italian at reasonable prices.
I started with grilled calamari with fennel and apples. Liked how the dressing was warm on the calamari side and chilled on the fennel side. Very fresh and flavorful. The pastas were great. We had the Trofiette with mixed mushrooms, spicy italian sausage, shallots and shaved parmigiano and Whole Wheat Papardelle with wild boar ragu. Both came out piping hot. The pasta was fresh, the ingredients were high quality. We enjoyed our meal with some nice reasonable Pinot Noir.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 8/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Reasonable
Wanna go?
Address/phone – 139 W 10th St, New York, NY 10079, (212) 206-9229
website- http://desantosnyc.com
menus - http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/de-santos
reservations – http://www.opentable.com/de-santos-manhattan