Hi!
Oh my goodness. Thank goodness. I actually thought Funke’s pasta at Bucato was, as you say (or jgold says), a little too al dente. And also suspected that American foodies (for lack of a better word) are more obsessed with fresh pasta than a lot of Italians. There, I said it.
As far as those other restaurants go? Never been, can’t judge.
I seem to be in the minority. I thought the restaurant was lovely and the service was friendly and knowledgeable, though I didn’t need an explanation of what an appetizer is. The pastas were good, not great. (I prefer Don Dickman’s pastas at All’Acqua.) Two glasses of wine, one cocktail, a salad, two pastas and a dessert came to $175, including tax, tip and the 3% health surcharge. I just don’t think it was worth it. What may be coloring my opinion,though, is the fact we were seated at the communal table, which was fine until they sat 6 men who appeared to be part of a food and wine club next to us. One of the men was so loud and obnoxious that we had to hold our conversation for those few moments when his mouth was otherwise occupied.
Why not (politely) ask him to lower his voice? Or, if you’re not comfortable doing that, mention something to the manager?
I definitely can understand how someone like that spoils a meal for a host of tables - sometimes the lack of self-awareness in humans can be utterly breathtaking.
Had my best meal here the other night which included a couple new must-order seafood pastas and tender and juicy lamb skewers.
fiori di zucca - squash blossoms, sheep’s milk ricotta, fior di latte
Light and perfectly fried
sficione - Focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary
arrosticini - grilled lamb skewers, green garlic salsa verde
orecchiette - sausage sugo, broccoli di cicco, peperoncino, canestrato
Excellent as usual
gnocchi di patate - black trumpet, chanterelle, crescenza fonduta, black truffle
Softer than a marshmallow sandwich on a mcdonald’s bun.
busiati alla vongole - manila clams, aglio, olio, peperoncino
Another winner, the twisted pasta was perfect for hanging onto the buttery, garlicky, briny sauce.
spaghettone so ricci di mare - Santa barbara uni, peperoncino, parsley
Loved this, had a kick of acid to cut through the richness and the cold fresh uni was excellent.
budino
tiramisu
Eaten here twice this week, just absolutely wonderful to me.
The lamb skewers are incredible. I’ve never had a more tender, flavorful skewer of lamb. My word…
Pizza has been hewing a bit more Neopolitan than roman these days.
Oh, the casonzei just went on the menu stuffed with butternut squash, one of the classics from the Bucato days. It is even better now; just pure heaven, the best format of the classic sage/butter/squash pasta I’ve ever had.
Came with my pasta pants on. I’m glad funke is featuring more seafood pasta which have been by far my favorites.
polipo - charred octopus, nduja, sedano di montagna & ceci zuppa
Nicely tender octopus, not much char, sauce had a slight bit of heat.
spaghettone - maine lobster, green garlic, pomodoro & basil
New menu item and Funke hit this so far out of the park the lobster ended back up in maine. This and their uni pasta are now my favorite pastas in the city. Thick chewy pasta, huge plentiful chunks of perfectly cooked sweet springy lobster, and the sauce was slightly creamy and buttery but not too heavy. Paging @Chowseeker1999.
anolini in brodo - pangrattato, brodo di carne & parmigiano reggiano
Another new item, the soft pasta was filled with breadcrumbs and parsley, broth was clear and light, and the parmigiano reggiano served on the side was gave a nice punch of umami.
busiati alle vongole - little neck & manilla clams, vino bianco & parsley
Thick chewy pasta, tender clams and a buttery, garlicky, and briny sauce.
Nice @PorkyBelly! 
Those look delicious. I definitely want to try the Spaghettone with Maine Lobster. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the report! Have a reservation next week and am now even more excited 
The new FTC rallying cry: #PutOnYourPastaPants
hope you get to try the lobster or the uni pasta.
Hope I get to try both 
A big THANK YOU to you, @PorkyBelly. That lobster pasta was LEGIT. My husband, who loves both pasta and lobster, declared it his most favoritest pasta everrr and demanded we go once a month for that dish alone. 
Unfortunately, they didn’t have the uni pasta on the menu Wednesday, but the vongole pasta was also stellar - such great chew on the pasta, and that briny, garlicky sauce! The polipo was more charred than it was during your visit (maybe they have spies here), and it was delicious as well. Our chef friend finished the plate, sauce and all.
The one disappointment was the fiori di zucca, which came as 6 or 7 small stuffed flowers, no zucchini attached. 
(And once again, I regretfully had to share my walnut budino with everyone else. Apparently I never learn.)
All in all another great meal that makes it harder for us to try new places because we find ourselves wanting to come back here.
Echoing many of you, the lobster pasta is one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had.
Nice, I’m glad you liked it, thanks for the report.
i’ve already made my next dinner lobster spaghetti reservation
that time you go to Felix for the lobster spaghettone, uni pasta, clam busiati, and black truffle gnocchi but none of them are on the menu
sficione - focaccia siciliana, sea salt & rosemary
tremendous as always
not pasta
arrosticini - grilled lamb shoulder skewers, green garlic salsa verde
mezze maniche alla carbonara - guanciale, black pepper, egg, pecorino romano dop
way too salty and rich, my friend and i couldn’t even finish half the plate.
spaghetti al sugo do polipo - octopus, pomodoro, peperoncino
highlight of the night, tender chunks of smoky octopus in a light but creamy sauce.
lorighittas ai frutti di mare
off menu special. the server explains it takes two cooks some long amount of time to make a plate of these sardinian rings of braided pasta. unfortunately the pasta was too thick and under-cooked/raw in the middle.
Hi @PorkyBelly,
Love that cartoon panel. Your visit kind of mirrors mine recently (I haven’t written up yet). Some really salty and not so good dishes for our visit as well.
were you able to try the lobster or uni spaghetti?
No, unfortunately.
i have two reservations for two that i can’t use, 4/20 @ 7pm and 4/21 @ 7pm. let me know if anybody is interested. i accept payments in the form of uni.
Did you score last minute invite to Coachella?
