Jake V.
Yelp
| Overview
+ Authentic Italian pasta dishes
+ Brilliant customer service from Angelo
+ Pleasant ambiance ideal for Valentine's date & other date nights
+ Vanilla Panna Cotta is a delicious dessert
- Complimentary bread served with butter instead of dipping oil
| Full Review
For our (belated) Valentine's dinner, my girl & I went to Enrigo Italian Bistro, located at Waverly Place in Cary, on a Saturday night, and we arrived around 30 minutes before its 9:30 PM closing time. It was our first time coming to this restaurant, and the entire Waverly Place open-air shopping area. We just found out about Enrigo after watching an Instagram reel from lindaeatsworld earlier that week.
It was a rainy evening, and entering the cozy ambiance of Enrigo with its dim lights and relaxing and vibrant environment just felt right. We were welcomed by a friendly Italian staff who greeted us in Italian. The first thing I noticed inside was the bar but the entire night I was focused on my Valentine, and of course, the Italian food.
Angelo was our server; his positive energy is a wonderful representation of the Italian spirit as he served food and wine with grace and warm hospitality.
The complimentary bread was good but we were a bit surprised to see that it was served with butter in the same kind of packaging that you get with airplane food, rather than the dipping oil other Italian restaurants serve with their bread.
Angelo was kind to give us a couple of Bruschetta - toasted Ciabatta bread with tomato marinated in Extra Virgin oil & garlic. Every bite was a healthy crunch, and we ate the Bruschettas and the bread while we waited for our main pasta dishes.
When we were trying to decide which wine to order, Angelo recommended based on the pasta each of us ordered. He recommended the $11 glass of white wine for my girl's Linguini Allo Scoglio; and he recommended a glass of red wine for my Rigatoni Al Ragu Di Maile. He let us taste-test each of the wine before we decided to go for them.
It didn't take long for our pasta dishes to arrive to our table. Angelo sprinkled grated parmesan cheese on my Rigatoni Al Ragu Di Maile & my Valentine's Linguini Allo Scoglio.
I enjoyed the meaty pork ragu sauce of my Rigatoni, and the combination of carrots, celery, onions, rosemary, sage, red wine, and marinara was satisfying. And the cheese was just right. The glass of red wine went well with my perfectly-cooked pasta. The extra teaspoonful of grated parmesan cheese I requested didn't affect the flavor of the Rigatoni much.
My girl wanted to eat pasta with seafood, and the Linguini Allo Scoglio was the best seafood pasta dish she's ever tried. There's a generous amount of shrimp, flounder, clams, and mussels on her plate, and it was well-sauted with olive oil, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and a touch of tomato sauce. She was wondering why there was no meat inside the clam shells, but it seemed that the mixture of briny, clammy juices formed the base of the sauce, which she enjoyed with the linguini's texture. Her glass of white wine went well with her pasta.
After devouring our delicious pasta dishes, we were already full, so we didn't consider ordering dessert. Thankfully, however, the gentleman Angelo served each of us Vanilla Panna Cotta, small vanilla custard topped with strawberry puree. The custard wasn't too sweet, and the creamy texture and the strawberry flavor on top just made our Valentine's dinner more memorable.
As we headed out of the restaurant, we told each other how much we enjoyed our pleasant Italian dining experience here, and expressed our intention to explore the rest of Waverly, and of course, our desire to return to Enrigo Italian Bistro.
I'm planning to share a reel of our pleasant dinner experience in Enrigo on my Instagram - jakevyper.
| Overall Score: 4.7/5