La Masseria
We had tickets to watch Phantom of the Opera before it closes in April, and my partner was scouring for some type of restaurant week menu to eat. They landed on this restaurant which is pretty close by as it had last minute vacancy. I already had very low expectations on some of these Italian restaurants that are close to theaters especially ones that are restaurant week driven. The restaurant week menu had some overlap with the normal dishes, but the ingredients to me did not really stand out.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance was quite loud when I entered the restaurant. Most of the tables were full up to about 7 PM. Once it hit that time, many tables departed, and it felt more spacious and peaceful. The lighting that was at the table was not great for pictures. It had a strong LED light that probably makes it easy for you to read menus and texts, but it was not soothing to the eyes. Understandably, it gave it a very sharp, modern decorative feel to it.
The service itself was very fast, and they seemingly tried to pressure you to turn the tables. But of course later in the evening on a weekday, they cared less when they realized that dining traffic was slowing down.
We ended up ordering the restaurant week’s menus at $45 per person which was a 3 course prix fix of an appetizer, entree, and dessert. It comes with your choice of coffee or tea as well.
Food
The complimentary bread came with breadsticks and focaccia and served with olive oil soaked with capers.
The Peach Bliss ($17) was very sweet, smooth, and overpowering with peach flavors, as if you were drinking a Snapple. It was not my type of drink, but my partner liked it as usual.
The GL Montepulciano ($14) was a red wine that isn’t too light nor too heavy. I thought it was average at best.
The Mozzarella Farcita Dello Chef was a homemade fresh mozzarella cheese stuffed with roasted peppers and marinated egg plant. It was served with fresh tomatoes and basil. The cheese was actually pretty good, but I didn’t care for the stuffed nature of it. The ingredients tasted fresh, but they did not leave a lasting memory.
The Zuppa Del Giorno (Soup of the Day) was a minestrone soup. I’ve definitely had better minestrone before, but it did taste decent.
The Battuta di Pollo ala Griglia was grilled thinly pounded chicken breast with string beans, potatoes, and tomato salad. The chicken seemed like it wasn’t seasoned much, and the char from the grill stood out a lot. The salad that was on top of the chicken didn’t really add any value or flavors. It just seemed unseasoned. The lemon wedge helped a little. It felt like this was a healthy option.
The Trancio di Salmone alla Griglia was grilled fillet of salmon with grilled zucchini and mustard sauce. My partner thought the salmon was very oily and fatty, and the rest of the ingredients were acceptable.
The American Coffee tasted actually pretty great. It wasn’t watered down at all.
The Frutti di Bosco con Sorbetto al Limone was mixed berries with lemon sorbet. This really wasn’t anything special, but at least the fruits were good.
The Tiramisu was espresso flavored tiramisu. I wasn’t fan of the cream that was used in the tiramisu as it was a bit too sweet for me.
Final Verdict
It’s really difficult to judge a restaurant based on the restaurant week menu. Everything here tonight seemed like it was overly simplified and didn’t really excel in flavors at all. I think this restaurant would be ok, if not a bit better off the regular menu, for a theater night. There are better Italian options around if you’re really interested in the restaurant week menus.
Yelp Jabs
It was clearly printed that they would not allow any substitutions, so I asked our server to note that I would prefer not to have olives, mushrooms, or endives in the Insalata Masseria … When my dish arrived, he clearly failed to communicate my request to the kitchen.
This Elitist prefaced that they acknowledged that they read they would not allow substitutions. They then decided to mention to the server that they prefer to not have certain ingredients. Then they were disappointed when they received the salad as-is. I wonder if anyone mentioned to this Elitist if they had read what they wrote.
I consider myself pretty picky when ordering and evaluating italian food because I can tell when it’s not authentic. This is very authentic!
This restaurant is as authentic to Italian food as hamburgers are to German food. Just because it’s authentic doesn’t make it good either.
Revisions
- Feb 8, 2023 - Initial revision.