Osteria La Baia
What’s an Italian restaurant in Midtown that didn’t require reservations at 6 PM on a Friday evening after work? This one. It’s very close to the Rockafeller area, right across the street from a food hall. There’s a small car with a ton of flowers coming out of it. You can’t really miss it. We were able to walk in pretty easily, and we were seated towards the front. Because this restaurant is not exactly super popular, the attention and seating was quite comfortable.
Ambiance & Service
The interior is very open with very high ceilings. It wasn’t noisy at all, and it was very similar to other Italian restaurants around the Midtown area.
The service was attentive and speedy.
Food
The Osteria Bellini ($18 - left) came with peach puree and prosecco. This had nothing super special about it, but my partner enjoyed the peach puree.
The Il Poggiolo ($18 - right) came from Chianti Riserva, Toscana, 2019. This was a dry, medium body red wine with oaky notes and more acidic notes. It paired well with the meat, but it was not the best wine I’ve had drinking standalone.
The complimentary bread came with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
The Polpo ($32) came with roasted octopus, arugula salad, spicy tomato puree, potato, and sun-dried tomatoes. The octopus legs were soft and good. It seemed like it was cooked/fried in some oil that was used for fish, but I’m not sure. Either way, the spicy tomato puree was pretty good.
The Bistecca di Manzo ($57) came with a beef ribeye 18 oz, arugula, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, and beef sauce. The ribeye was ordered medium rare, and it came out slightly on the rarer side. It was quite tender except it had a piece of tendon that was just very tough to chew through. For the value, I don’t think it’s the best, but it was decent to share.
The Pappardelle ala Bolognese ($35) came with fresh pappardelle with bolognese sauce and topped with parmesan cheese. This was probably our favorite for the night. The pasta was perfectly cooked al dente and matched the bolognese sauce well.
Final Verdict
This really is a very typical Italian restaurant in the Midtown area that has decent dishes. For the value, it’s a little on the expensive side, but for the taste, it’s adequate.
Yelp Jabs
The reason for the 3 star review is more about how they made me feel. It’s a beautiful restaurant and the pricing is a bit high on some items which is all good, but I just felt like we were looked down on a bit by the waiter.
This Elitist isn’t from NYC, so I can see how they think this. The thing with New Yorkers is much of this type of thought is in your head. As long as they provide the service you’re looking for, then that should be ok. The wait staff will not go head over heels generally at these restaurants.
$36 on water?? no wonder why they kept filling our glasses up! next time we will be sure to specify for tap water
I thought this was pretty amusing. You would have to wonder how many restaurants this Elitist has eaten where drinking specialty water was complimentary.
Revisions
- Jun 9, 2023 - Initial revision.