Steve M.
Yelp
We went to SAVI Cucina + Wine bar to enjoy their Feast of the Seven Fishes, which I always wanted to experience but never had an opportunity before now. There were a few amazing dishes, some good dishes, 1 miss, and 1 that was just awful.
The service was super friendly, but the timing was off a tad. We waited a good bit of time between the 1st and 2nd course, but then the 3rd course came out before we had 2 bites of the 2nd. After that the timing was much better.
The restaurant itself is large and nice, but does not give off a cozy vibe, and we felt too close to our neighbors.
I wasn't sure if I should do the meal review from good to bad dish, or by course, but decided it makes sense to the latter
Starting with the Aperitivo course, we both got the Scallop crudo. The wife and I disagreed on this dish, as I enjoyed the aroma of and taste of the fried capers, and thought lemon added a nice touch of acid. However, I thought the dish needed either more capers or salt as the sauce was bland and there were not enough capers to make up for it.
For the Antipasti I had the Seafood Arancini which was a crispy, golden Italian rice balls consisting of a mix of lump crab meat, Miss Paula shrimp (which upon looking up is from the seafood market at Tarvin Seafood), along with scallops, mascarpone, and creme fraiche aioli. This was an OK dish
The wife ordered the Sicilian Octopus, with summer squash, zucchini, smoked pecan romesco. Here is another dish we disagreed on, but only because my wife has decided she does not like Octopus. I on the other hand loved it and thought the dish was great. The meat was tender and had a great char flavor. There were two sauces, one was a romesco and the was green (I think pesto) that the wife and I both really enjoyed.
For the Zuppa y insalata course I had the Lobster bisque with sherry cream, crispy focaccia crouton. I took the 1st bite and immediately knew it was good; however, I had to send it back because it was served room temperature at best. Upon having it reheated, I thought this was easily one of the best Lobster bisques ever. The flavors were bold and spicy, but not so bold that I could not taste the lobster.
The wife ordered the Seafood salad. Another dish with Miss Paula shrimp, bay scallops and pieces of calamari, supposedly topped with lemon herb vinaigrette. We both agreed this dish was bland, bland, followed by more blandness. There was no salt, no acid from the Lemon Vinaigrette and not a whiff of spice or taste from the herbs. It was just Scallops, a few pieces of calamari and some thinly sliced shrimp with zero flavor.
For the Secondo course I had the Scallop risotto, with fire roasted peppers, sweet corn, crispy pancetta, and parmigiano. Here we go another amazing dish. The Scallops were cooked perfectly, and the risotto was loaded with flavor. The fire roasted peppers with sweet corn just added extra pop. The dish was made more pleasing to the eye with a ring of green sauce halfway around the risotto and the other half with a red sauce. There was so much flavor in the risotto, I could not tell if it added flavor or not, but it was clearly added to the visual aspect.
Here is where the meal really took a hit as the wife ordered the Grilled branzino mediterranean sea bass, with charred broccolini, potatoes, artichokes, fresh herb oil, yellow tomato vinaigrette. When I took a small bite my first reaction was OH NO, I don't think she is going to like this. When I took a second bite, I realized it was uneatable. The skin on the fish was a bit tough and Slimy making it hard to cut. The fish was covered in a sauce that was just gross and not eatable. The only good thing about this dish was the charred broccolini which we both agreed was good.
After that Sea Bass we were both done and decided to get the Dolce course to go. I ordered the Tiramisu cheesecake which we both enjoyed when we got home.
The wife's Limoncello cake which was an olive oil cake soaked in limoncello, sweet cranberries with orange marmalade, was OK but neither of us would order again.
So here we are with a tale of two dinners experience. Except for the 1st dish, we both thought everything I ordered was really good, but on the other hand, the wife didn't like anything she ordered, while I really loved the octopus, thought her Antipasti And Dolce dishes were just OK, the Seafood salad was tasteless, and the Sea Bass was just awful.