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| - Well, round two the other night, and although it was better overall than the last time, I will still not be returning because it is still overpriced and very uneven.
I had the Frutti di Mare this time, which came out looking good, but most of the shellfish were just over cooked enough to make them somewhat shriveled and tough. One fairly large and definitely stunning scallop topping it all was just about perfect, though.
The pasta was nice, but beyond al dente. The marinera sauce, however, while edible, was very bland and literally tasted like it came from a jar with zero effort made by the kitchen.
Utterly and completely unforgivable at $29 - and especially in a restaurant with an Italian name.
It wasn't quite Chef Boy-ar-dee, but that name did cross my mind at the time.
My friend had the same reaction to the sauce on his pasta and eggplant Parmesan; the whole dish was very forgettable.
Frankly, the spaghetti and meat sauce at Eat 'n' Park is much better, although it lacks the seafood. You also don't expect as much at $12, but it's still more flavorful.
I did have a pretty nice glass of wine, though, which wasn't listed by the glass. I didn't ask why they just happened to already have an open bottle, although the question certainly crossed my mind.
The tiramisu was quite good as well. The fried calamari was absolute perfection, with a lovely sauce, and the arugula salad was as well. Those I'd go back for.
The real killer was when someone used what smelled like full strength bleach to clean a serving station as we were having our dessert, the stench of which permeated the whole room. The hostess claimed it was Windex, but it could not possibly have been.
And then the toilets in the ladies' room needed to be cleaned - and we were seated at 5:30! There was also not a drop of hot water. Freezing cold water is not only uncomfortable, but just the thought of the employees not having hot water to wash with their own hands - OMG!!!
When I drop over $100 on dinner for two, which only included one glass of wine, one soda, one desert, one salad, one appetizer and two entrees, I expect a whole heck of a lot more out of the entrees, and of the environs.
I would have dropped another star, but left the third one because the good parts balanced out the bad ones just enough to deserve the extra one.
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