Mangiare

Kennedy Town has a lot of cool restaurants and Mangiare has been getting a bunch of buzz about its Italian "street food". The restaurant will definitely grab your attention with it's impressive array of steaks and sausages hanging out front. The space is super small and cozy and there is a blackboard of the selections of the day. The owners told us that the menu changes everyday which I really liked! We got a selection of appetizers, pastas, and a butcher's block. I particularly loved the octopus salad and pastas. The meats were tasty also but a little too fatty for me.

UPDATE: unfortunately I just found out that Mangiare is closed!!! It was renamed "Blackboard Kitchen" but that also closed according to Openrice :( That is so unfortunate because I really loved the down to earth and rustic aspect of this place. The service was also super warm and welcoming. Let's hope they re-open soon!!!

NEW UPDATE: Thanks to my smarty friends on FB I've found out that it is actually not closed! Yay!

They gave us a free bottle of prosecco! 

Mangiare 

Hang Yu Building 

45-55 Cadogan Street 

Kennedy Town

Hong Kong 

Serafina

Serafina has multiple locations in the city and is a safe choice if you are looking for solid traditional Italian food. I would not say its a must visit by any means but if you are looking for some well made dishes at reasonable prices this would be it.

Truffle Pizza 
This was delicious! The crust was well made and the truffles were fragrant on top of the ooey gooey cheese topping. 

Lobster Ravioli
I tried one of my friend's ravioli and was not a huge fan as the filling was a bit too minced for my liking and the pasta sheet was a tad too thick. 

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio 
A simple dish that was made very well. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the simple flavors really shone through. 

Tomato Gnocchi
The tomato sauce was hearty and tangy and the gnocchi was fluffy. My friend enjoyed this.

The atmosphere is welcoming and cozy and I enjoyed my dinner here.

Serafina

1022 Madison Ave

New York

NY 10075

Osteria Morini

Osteria Morini has an amazing Monday Special where pastas are only $10! Their pastas are utterly divine and it was so hard to decide which one to get. We each got 2 each and left with very happy tummies.

GARGANELLI - Pasta Quills, Cream, Peas, Truffle Butter, Prosciutto 
I usually do not like peas but these were fresh and sweet. The cream sauce was not too heavy but still decadent. I loved this dish. 

CAPPELLETTI - Truffled Ricotta Ravioli, Prosciutto, Butter
This is one of their most popular dishes but it was not my favorite. It is definitely still good but I got a bit tired of the pasta after a bit. Ricotta in pasta isn't my favorite (I prefer gooey cheeses) so maybe that's why! 

TAGLIATELLE - Bolognese Ragu, Parmigiano 
This is what the perfect bolognese would taste like - incredibly hearty and rice. The pasta was also fresh and chewy. Delicious! 

Since this is such a great deal, it is usually a bit difficult to score a reservation here on Mondays but the dishes are also well priced on regular days! I highly recommend Osteria Morini for quality Italian food!

Osteria Morini

218 Lafayette Street

New York 

NY 10012

Vic's

We were looking for a spot for brunch and dranks after SoulCycle and decided to go to Vic's since it was right by the Noho location. I've been meaning to come here after hearing highly positive things from many friends but was disappointed to learn that they only served the Cacio e Pepe at dinner time. The meal overall was enjoyable and I would want to come back to try that pasta another time.

They had a lot of interesting selections for drinks and I felt like they were quite well priced also. 

Soppressata Pizza - Calabrian Chilies, Mozzarella, Thyme 
I felt like this pizza was a bit too salty and needed a bit more cheese. It felt a bit dry but the crust was nice. 

Heirloom Carrots - Dill, Capers, Shallots 
This dish was on the house which was really nice of them. These carrots were delicious! I loved the flavor combination and the carrots were also very sweet and fresh. 

Orecchiette - Dandelion, Garlic, Anchovy, Lemon, Pecorino
The pasta was perfectly al dente and I loved the freshness of the lemon. The flavors were simple but packed a punch. The sprinkling of bread crumbs also took it to another level. 

Porchetta & Eggs - Salsa Verde, Bitter Greens
The meat of the porchetta was very flavorful but in general it was just wayyyyy too greasy. I understand that porchetta is on the fatty side but this was slightly nauseating. I think it also lacked a carb element as it needed something to soak up the oils and the runniness of the egg. 

The restaurant was surprisingly not full for brunch and I really enjoyed the drinks here. I really enjoyed my pasta here and was not as crazy about the other dishes so I would be happy to come back to try other pasta dishes in the future.

Vic's 

31 Great Jones Street

New York

NY 10012

Vezzo

I was at M's house chilling and he suggested we ordered pizza. I haven't really been blown away by pizza in a while but Vezzo's was AMAZING. The crust was so thin and crunchy and the sauce was super hearty and delicious. My favorite was the sausage, onions, and basil pizza. The saltiness of the sausage was perfect with the sweetness of the onions.

Vezzo

178 Lexington Avenue 

New York

NY 10016

Bravo Pizza

N lives really close to Bravo Pizza so this is our go to whenever we hang out at her house. The crust is always great and the pizza humongous. My two favorite flavors is the ricotta and spinach and ricotta with pepperoni.

Bravo Pizza

146 5th Avenue 

New York

NY 10011

Rosemary's

Rosemary's has always been known to be a super cute spot with delicious Italian fare. Unfortunately, only the former statement was true when I had lunch here with G and W. The space was absolutely adorable but the food was extremely mediocre. There was no wait here for a weekday late lunch but I hear that there is usually quite a long wait to dine here for dinner and brunch. I wonder if the food is better during dinner but a high quality restaurant should not have this issue.

Octopus Salame - Basil, Sicilian Giardiniere
I've had similar dishes like this before where the texture was on point and the flavors are clean and sweet. This was quite the opposite. It was chewy and bland and not enjoyable at all. 

Cavatelli - Butternut Squash, Walnuts, Sage
This was actually not bad. The pasta was cooked nicely and the butternut squash was sweet and creamy. I also enjoyed the crunch of the walnuts. However, this was not good enough to make up for the mediocrity of the other dishes. 

Warm Chicken Salad - Roasted Chicken, Kale, Endives, Radicchio, Spiced Walnuts, Gorgonzola, Chicken Jus
Meh... another so so dish. Nothing horrible about it but just a bit roughly done and very forgettable. 

Fig and Prosciutto Focacce - Prosciutto, Black Mission Fig, Arugula, Balsami 
Another forgettable dish, the ingredients actually all sound so delicious but it was just so whatever when the final product came. I think fresh figs would have been better as the dried figs were quite hard and did not go well with the bread. 

The food was incredibly mediocre and our server was also really annoying and awkward. This was disappointing as I've read so many good reviews and the atmosphere is so cute! I will not be returning.

Rosemary's 

18 Greenwich Ave. 

New York

NY 10011

Barbuto

I've been following Barbuto for ages on Instagram and has been salivating over the pictures of their chicken and gnocchi for far too long. It was always really hard to get a reservation for dinner but the restaurant was quite empty on a weekday for lunch. I met with G on a sunny day and had such an amazing lunch there. Their roast chicken is their signature dish and it blew me away. I usually never order roast chicken but this is an exception! The server was extremely friendly and even gave me a splash of wine on the house :) I loved my experience here and will definitely return!

Gnocchi - Spicy Sausage, Tuscan Kale & Tomato 
The sausage was absolutely divine. It was so flavorful and had a nice kick to it. You can tell its made from high quality ingredients. The tomato sauce was also very hearty and while I've had fluffier gnocchi elsewhere, I liked how this was a little firmer which held up well against the sauce. The only complaint is that I wish there was more kale and it was a tad on the salty side but I still gobbled up this plate very quickly. 

Cavolini - Brussels Sprouts, Colatura & Lemon
The amount of char is just perfection. The addition of lemon was also genius.

Pollo al Forno - JW Chicken and Salsa Verde  
This may easily be the best  roast chicken I've ever had. The skin was not fatty at all and incredibly crispy. The meat was so juicy and is everything you imagine the best roast chicken to taste like .The salsa verde is also incredible and is the perfect complement to the chicken. MUST ORDER. 

Patate - Potatoes, Pecorino & Rosemary 
Seriously just look at these potatoes?!?! SO beautiful. Each piece was amazingly crunchy and fluffy inside and the pecorino and rosemary just took it to another level. 

EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD! Barbuto definitely lived up to all my expectations and earned themselves a new patron! I also hear that their carbonara is very good and thats one of my favorite dishes ever!

Barbuto 

775 Washington Street

New York

NY 10014

Del Posto

Del Posto is supposed to be the crown jewel of Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich's group of restaurants (Babo, Lupa, etc). Unfortunately, I was completely unimpressed and left the restaurant with a bad taste in my mouth. The food was not bad, but there were so many little mistakes that kept building up through out the night that made this dining experience an utter disappointment.

First off, we had a reservation for 8:15. After checking in the hostess told us they would get our table ready right away. 5 minutes or so passed and nothing happened. Y and I decided to grab a drink at the bar and wait. 15 more minutes passed and still not a single check in on what is going on with our table. 10 more minutes... Y decided to wave someone down and finally someone appears and tells us that they are setting it up and it will be ready in minutes. No apologies whatsoever.

We are FINALLY seated. We have waited over 30 minutes for our table with zero explanation or apology. I was unusually chirpy and was not annoyed but Y was already pretty peeved and was trying to flag someone down. I usually go into hangry hulk mode so I probably was so hungry that I just skipped that phase all together and went straight to savasana. Someone comes to fill our glasses with water then disappears again.

Where the eff is our menu?

Freaking 10 minutes or more passed by again and no one comes with our menus or a welcome. We were basically put in a corner and neglected. Y was finally able to get the attention of SOMEONE and we got our menus. Once again no apology even though it was very obvious that Y was upset. I almost feel like the restaurant should play me Justin Bieber's song "Sorry" at this point. It is really almost too late.

It has been an hour since our original reservation time to us just obtaining a menu.

Anyways back to the food, we opted for the 5 course Prix-Fixe menu

Oh thank god we finally got the bread basket. Along with these cute little turds of butter and lard. The butter was nice and creamy, could use a little salt. 

Amuse bouche
The little croquettes were nice with a crispy exterior and creamy center. The lentil soup was ok, but I thought the crunchy cubes of veggies were strange and much too hard. The weirdest one was this little lump of daikon. It was so sour and pungent... I almost felt like they had an excess of daikon and had to find some way to get rid of it or something. 

Truffled Beef Carne Cruda - Crunchy Fried Chips of Salsify
A solid dish. The crudo was very well flavored and I loved the chunkiness of the meat. The crunchy salsify on the top was also a nice textural contrast. 

Zucchini and Calamari - Flat Herbs and Spicy Caper Butter 
The flavors were nice for this dish but the batter was much too stiff. I don't think I've ever had calamari with such a hard coating. 

Ok so first course done. When we ordered our food, Y ordered a glass of wine and told them she would have it when she was done with the first course. I was drinking a martini and when they took away my glass, they only asked if I also ordered wine and when I said no, took away my glass. Two issues: first of all, they should know if I did or did not order wine. Secondly, they should ask whether I wanted another one of the martini. This is not to sound bratty, I just expect the service of a restaurant of this caliber to be stellar and these are small details that matter.

Y decided to remind them of her wine when they came over again just in case. A server came over and asked whether she remembered which wine she ordered. Another small detail.

Y went to the restroom and our pastas came. Right after they set it down. A server came over with two lids and laid them upon our dishes. Then another one came and gave the first server a look then looked at me and asked if I wanted them covered. Once again, I feel like service at such an established location should be seamless. Everyone is polite there and has the menu items memorized to a T, but it's the little details and nuances that really make service pop.

Pork and Veal Agnolotti - Sugo Finto and Cauliflower Cacio e Pepe
The pasta was a little pass al dente.... meh pretty unacceptable for such an established Italian restaurant. The filling was pretty tasty but nothing mind blowing. The agnolotti at Scarpetta is much better. And while I get that this was a pasta shared between me and Y... this serving size is just TINY. 

Orecchiette - Lamb Neck Sausage, Broccoli Rabe, Ricotta Salata, and Crispy Porcini
I really enjoyed the texture of the pasta, it was very chewy and cooked perfectly. The sausage was also very flavorful. However, the broccoli rabe sauce had these little chunks of raw onion that were completely out of place. Everything would taste really great then sudden you get these crunches of raw onion that were so harsh to the palate. WHY. 

Warm Lobster - Squashes, Hazelnuts, Brussels Sprouts, Balsami and Brown Butter
Pretty nice presentation. The lobster was sliiightly over cooked but overall a pretty enjoyable dish. However, the lobster at Marea is much better (so buttery and sweet). This dish is fine, but not amazing enough to warrant such a higher price tag,

Burnt Beef Rib Eye - Charred Onion Salad and Eggplant alla Pizzaiola 
The steak was juicy and had a nice char. However, I believe this as an ala carte item would be around $70 and I would much rather get a regular ribeye at any of New York's famous steakhouses. The onion "salad" at the top also looked very confused. Why is there this strange little onion hat holding butchered cubes of beef? I did not appreciate this presentation at all. The eggplant side dish was also extremely salty.

Butterscotch Semifreddo - Melon Agrumata and Crumbled Sbrisolona 
Decent ice cream. Nothing to rave about. 

Grappa Panna Cotta - Market Grapes, Walnuts, and Fennel 
This might be the saddest panna cotta I've ever seen. The taste itself was ok, but I think it should definitely be thicker and it would be nice if it was a little less soggy and mushy. It kind of looked like some jelly fish flopped on the dish and died. 

Then we had some chocolates and it was served on a grater box... while I'm sure the grater was not sharp, I admit I have an irrational fear of graters but honestly why did anyone think this would be a good idea? Serving chocolates for guests on an tool that is usually used to make small and horrible little cuts on veggies, cheeses, and sometimes fingers... nope.

I got an espresso and then a server took it away when I wasn't even finished with it. Final nail in the coffin.

So clearly I did not have the greatest experience at Del Posto. I usually don't write scathing reviews, but I felt like there were so many things that cumulated as the night progressed that while I did not turn into the hulk, I certainly felt like I was morphing into that mean critic from Ratatouille before he became all nice and stuff. Once again, everyone was really polite, but the small details mentioned, the mediocrity of the food, along with a $250+ price tag, just did not cut it for me. There are so many amazing Italian places in the city with equally, if not better food for a fraction of the price!

For $250+ I could have gotten 5 SPORTS BRAS, or 12 bowls of udon, or 7 SoulCycle classes... ok I'll get over it.

Del Posto is such a well known restaurant and I was severely disappointed. Give this one a miss for sure.

Del Posto

85 Tenth Avenue 

New York

NY 10011

Eataly - Birreria

J was visiting from Hong Kong and we wanted to eat on a rooftop-y area so we could enjoy the nice weather (yes this is a old post). I have always heard subpar things about Eataly's Birreria but I thought it would be a nice spot to visit as we could enjoy the weather then also walk around the grocery store below and around the Flatiron area. The food was seriously so meh and I would definitely not come here again to eat. I think it's a nice spot for a drink but I also hear it gets super crowded during Happy Hours etc.

The olive oil was nice and nutty and I liked the cute presentation of the bread 

Panzanella - Housemade Rustico and Heirloom Tomato Salad with Red Onion, Alfonso Olives, Cucumbers, and Basil
The bread was overly soggy and the flavors were just very subpar (haha I will be using this word LOTS). The heirloom tomatoes were also a bit smushed and overly ripe. 

Pancia Di Maiale - Braised Pork Belly with Copollini Agrodolce served on Homemade Brioche
This dish was actually gross. The pork belly was ridiculously fat and was just inedible. While I get that pork belly is a fatty cut of meat this was just next level with around 95% fat with a few slithers of meat. 

Maiale Alla Birra - Arcadian Pastures Beer-braised Pork Shoulder, Apricot Glaze with Celery Root, Hudson Valley Apples, and Mustard Vinaigrette 
This dish looked pretty appealing but it was such a lie. The pork shoulder was so dry and the mustard vinaigrette was also much too strong and overwhelming. 

Portobello Alla Griglia - Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Whipped Goat Cheese, Beats, and Saba 
This dish was the best dish of the day but still not particularly amazing. The whipped goat cheese was nice and flavorful and I liked it with the mushrooms and the balsamic glaze. 

The meal was so mediocre and definitely not worth the price. I love walking around the store and I still haven't had the cheese and charcuterie downstairs but I think the rooftop is definitely not somewhere you need to go for food.

Birreria 

Eataly Rooftop

200 5th Avenue 

Flatiron

New York

NY 10010