Angela W.
Yelp
I first heard of Prince of Venice from a video online, and I first tasted their pasta at their food truck during First Fridays. I loved it and was thrilled to get a chance to visit their brick and mortar location in Westwood. Unfortunately, their pasta dishes fell short of my expectations, though they had other excellent items on offer.
You order at the front, take your number, and seat yourself. The tables are equipped with buckets of utensils and napkins, as well as little plastic containers of parm (though you have to ask at the counter for red pepper flakes).
My friends and I ordered the vodka pasta, pasta limone, primavera pasta, an arancini, a slice of potato pizza and a slice of mortadella pizza.
Pasta: prince of Venice is known for their handmade pasta and that still rings true. The quality of the pasta noodle itself is still absolutely excellent. Chewy and with that freshly-made energy that Barilla just can't replicate. Reheats incredibly well even after two days of soaking in sauce. HOWEVER, all of their pasta sauces left a lot to be desired. I was hoping that the brightness of the lemon in the pasta limone would make this dish refreshing, but unfortunately that did not happen. The lemon sauce was basically just heavy cream, I tasted no lemon (or salt). When I reheated it I added tomato paste and spices (probably sacrilegious oops) and made it a lot more flavorful. The vodka pasta sauce and primavera sauce were similarly lacking in sodium and flavor, and my friend noted that the primavera sauce was too acidic for her tastes.
Arancini: we LOVED this! It was (in contrast to the pasta sauces) incredibly flavorful and rich. Great rice texture inside, and it was served hot so the cheese was melty. We devoured this and I had a fierce internal argument to talk myself out of buying more for the road.
Pizza: the potato pizza was a bit bland but had a nice herb-y taste (rosemary?). Loved the mortadella pizza, there was so much going on! The savory saltiness of the cured meat, the creaminess of the stracciatella, the tangy brightness of the cherry tomatoes, and the nutty crunch of the pistachios, this was an absolutely fantastic slice. The slices were MASSIVE and literally one would be enough for a meal by itself. As a thick crust stan I really loved how bouncy and airy the crust was, each mouthful was so satisfying!
One thing I thought was a bit funny was the mismatch in plates/tableware. The pastas came in disposable paper containers that were convenient for takeout but got greasy quite quickly. The arancini came in a little food festival-style tray. The pizzas, on the other hand, came out on a hefty serving tray. The silverware, which make the most contact with germ-infested mouths, was reusable rather than disposable. I cant say why it turned out this way but it was amusing nonetheless.
Overall, a bit disappointed about the pasta as I was so looking forward to it, but excited by the interesting flavors I tried in the arancini and pizza. I'd definitely come back for more of those!