NYC is full of neighbourhood hidden gems, as any big city would be, so trying to narrow down our pick on where to dine was a mission. We were staying in the Theater District, which is a stone throw away from Hell’s Kitchen, notorious for some of the best eateries in the ‘Big Apple’. With no idea on where to go, we asked our hotel concierge where the best place to go for a decent plate of pasta (with a child) would be. Without hesitation, Ristorante Amarone was the answer, a short walk from our hotel.
ATMOSPHERE & SERVICE
Located in the Hell’s Kitchen precinct, this amazing fine dining establishment ticks all the right boxes when it comes to food, service and atmosphere. Walking in, you find yourself in the heart of the main bar area, with the sound of the bartender shaking up cocktails is heard.
The space is dimly lit with white clothed tables, dark wooden chairs and a range of wine shelves throughout the dining room space. Although this may not be the fanciest of restaurants in NYC, the service is on the more fine dining side and very professional. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive, however a bit too attentive at times, which was a bit too much when trying to decide on which wine we wanted to get.
FOOD
The menu is simple with a hand full of entrees, pastas, mains and desserts to choose from, all authentic dishes. Although the presentation was a bit average, the taste definitely made up for the lack of time that went into each dish.
Once we placed our orders, a small basket of bread came to the table with an assortment of bread and focaccia. There’s very few restaurants that offer focaccia, which was a nice little treat.
Since we had our little one with us, our waiter was kind enough to bring out a small plate of ‘Napoli Pasta’. She has never been one to finish a full plate of pasta, however tonight was the first night, which definitely says something about the food!
While our little one was enjoying her pasta, we started with the ‘Fresh Fried Calamari’, which had a beautiful light batter and a Napoli style dipping sauce. I was quite faund of the sauce used to dip, which was different from any other calamari sauce I’ve had before. Definitely went well with the calamari and the style of the restaurant.
MC ordered the ‘Bucatini All’Amatriciana’ served with tomato, Italian Bacon and Onion. Long, thick cut pasta was presented with just the right amount of sauce. MC mentioned the taste was amazing, and very authentic to what we’ve had in Italy.
I am a huge lover of eggplant in my pasta, so was a must to order the ‘Rigatoni Siciliana’ with tomato, eggplant and mozzarella. It was a very simple dish, but tasted absolutely amazing. The flavour was sweet with hits of mozzarella scattered throughout.
I will admit that the pricing was well overpriced based on what you got from simple home cooked pasta dishes. There was no real presentation to any of the dishes other than a large leaf of basil on the pasta. The food tasted amazing and the service was great, however the price for the food didn’t match up with what was actually given.