Brian W.
Yelp
Decided to come here for our one year wedding anniversary after seeing all of the great reviews, but we came away from the experience unimpressed. It wasn't terrible by any means, but I didn't have too many really positive points, and the price for some of the dishes seemed a bit high. The actual interior design was quite nice, though the restaurant was a bit loud. We had a 6:15pm reservation and we were seated immediately in a nice cozy corner booth, which was much appreciated. The woman at the front desk was very pleasant and nice as well.
However, after the initial welcome, the service at our table seemed a bit rushed and cold - there wasn't much small talk and there were several times where people came to our table to drop off food, take plates away, or refill water without saying a single word. It was a bit strange, and it felt a little like we were being quickly pushed out the door despite only being there for under an hour total.
As for the food, we ordered:
Wood roasted oysters ($18 for 4) - I was really looking forward to these, but they unfortunately fell a bit flat. The menu said that these had miso kombu butter and crispy garlic, but they ended up tasting solely of garlic butter, and each oyster was practically drowned in it. I would have liked a bit less butter on these, as the crispy garlic ended up soggy in the pool of butter. The oyster itself had very little flavor, and I couldn't taste any smokiness from the wood roasting. There was disappointingly no miso or kombu flavor, and for $4.50 per oyster, I would definitely not get these again.
Margherita pizza ($18) - Probably the most reasonably priced item that we ordered, but it tasted a bit bland. The basil was fresh, the mozzarella was good, and the crust had a nice soft and chewy texture, but in my opinion it could have done with a bit of salt sprinkled on the cheese before melting or some salt in the olive oil drizzled near the crust. The dough itself was quite nice, but everything on top could have used a bit more seasoning. Margherita is my favorite style of pizza, but this was not one of the better ones I've had.
Malloreddus ($32) - This was a pasta dish with smoked Maine mussels, baby fennel, sea beans, and roasted garlic butter, and it was probably the best tasting of the three dishes we ordered. However, the portion size for $32 was quite small - I would have loved a bit more of the pasta even without any additional mussels. And even then, mussels are considered a fairly inexpensive seafood, so the $32 price tag was a bit puzzling for the dish as a whole, but it did taste nice. The seasoning was on point, and the pasta itself was nice and chewy. It was a dense pasta which my partner didn't like as much, but I thought it was nice. There was a citrusy taste to it as well, and the smoked mussels were the best bite of the evening - they were large and plump with great briny and smoky flavor. The extra green bits added some nice bite to the dish as well - a nicely put together dish albeit a bit small portion-wise.
All in all, it wasn't a bad meal, but there was little that was memorable from the evening and the service was strangely cold and distant. I give it a 3/5, and I will not be returning with the current menu. I am curious to try some of the other dishes that were not on tonight's menu but in the Yelp photo album (it seems they have a seasonal menu, which is very cool), however, so we may return for an updated review in the fall or winter.