First off, I was celebrating my girlfriends' father's 60th birthday and since he loves this kind of food and knows the reputation that Mario Batali has, we wanted to make it a memorable experience. Our waiter was very good and he was well versed in the menu and preparations as well as recommending some of his favorite dishes. Overall, the service was very good and not intrusive. As far as the food was concerned, being a seasoned chef myself, I was expecting MORE!! Not so much in the portions, but in the flavors and execution of the dishes themselves. I started off with the raw Pink Snapper, it was too lemony, but very fresh!! My main course was the Marlin, it was so bland and boring with the bland lentils. My girlfriend had the Porcini salad, it was skimpy and the flavors were muddled with the cheese. She had the Lobster pasta which states it is one pound of meat!! That is a joke! The pasta was too al dente. Her father tried the grilled Polipo(Octopus). It was very tender and I liked it very much. He had the pasta with Sea Urchin and Crab Meat but he did not even eat half. He disliked it and said that the pasta was way too al dente and you couldn't taste the sea urchin. It was taken off the check and he was comped a dessert as well!! I thought that was a nice touch!! His girlfriend had the Seafood soup which was flavorful and had a hint of heat. Her main course was the monkfish with the root vegetables. It looked quite plain and boring and the taste was under seasoned as well. The desserts were ok nothing special. Overall, I was disappointed with the meal, I was expecting better, especially from a Batali restaurant!! \r
I would like to try Babbo, but I am a little reticent about dropping a ton of money on mediocre food. I feel that Batali needs to review his recipes and techniques with his kitchen staff. From what I have experienced, it shows that things are falling through the cracks!
Pros: Nicely decorated dining room, Very good service!
Cons: tight quarters, long time to be seated, food was bland and below average
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