Hello all, my mother is in town and the only food I know that she likes is non-intimidating Italian, so Carbone seemed like a logical choice. Reservations proved to be damn near impossible though, all I was able to get was an 11:30 (gasp) lunch reservation.
Will we have to wear anything nicer than jeans? And what are the must orders? The veal parmesan? Anything else?
Jeans are fine.
I was just there last week and while I like alot of things on the menu, the Ceasar salad, vodka rigatoni, and meatballs are just fantastic.
Fantastic. The mother will be quite pleased. Those are all dishes right up her alley.
Caesar and meatballs are must orders.
Skip the ribs and the chicken scar. I would stick with seafood or the veal parm if you do decide to grab a more substantial protein. Lobster ravioli was also pretty tasty for pasta.
Dessert, lemon cheesecake is the winner. The carrot cake is way too sweet. The tiramisu is nothing special.
Ditto.
That cheesecake is amazing.
I liked the ribs though!
Has anyone had their veal Marsala?
I find veal marsala to be a rather befuddling dish.
Why would I want to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat, one that is prized for its tenderness and texture, by dredging it in flour and then smothering it in wine sauce?
Chicken? Yes. Veal? Not so much.
Made it here today for lunch, all in all a good experience. Our waiter was trying to really, really upsell us which was a bummer. The first thing he recommended (after we’d already ordered what proved to be enough food) was the 65 dollar veal parm. Though he was probably just annoyed with the Jersey guy sitting nearby that complained about literally everything, explained that his wife made the best veal parm he’d ever had and also said that his wife was a Zagat reviewer so she knows food… Said Jersey guy also didn’t like the lemon cheesecake and recommended the cook make a ricotta cheesecake instead…
The garlic bread, mozzarella, and salami were sublime. Woulda gladly done an entire meal of those appetizers.
The caesar was fantastic and the croutons were just perfect. What a take on a classic.
I could have used just a little more spice with the vodka rigatoni, though it was still delicious.
We ended up also doing the tortellini al ragu because my mother hates everything seafood-related. That would not have been my pasta of choice and unfortunately it was as heavy as I expected it to be. This would be a great dish to share with like five people so you get one or two bites each, anything more seems like overkill.
And those meatballs, damn they were extraordinary.