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| - Part of of July's Charlotte Restaurant Week took us to Campania. We first became aware of it after going to Restaurant X for New Years, but kind of just forgot about it. After seeing it on the CRW listing and checking out their menu, we knew we had to check this place out.
Campania is a cozy little restaurant with some slight rustic charm. We were greeted and seated very quickly by friendly staff. Seating is a bit tight, but our table happened to me in a back corner, so we were more secluded than most. Our server was very knowledgeable on both the menu and wine list and brought our wines out quickly. Since we had the CRW menu we got a shared appetizer and bread then we each got our own salad, entree, dessert and glass of wine. At $30 a pop this was definitely one of the "most bang for your buck" restaurants we saw on the list.
For an appetizer we went with the calamari, which was done very well. It was a huge portion that was more than enough for two people (we didn't even finish it) and the tender calamari rings and baby octopus had a bit of spice to them from the pepperoncini that is tossed with it. The calamari was very lightly battered and came with marinara sauce and a spicy cream sauce for dippings. A great way to start off the meal!
Then came the bread. Instead of a loaf of sliced bread, the bread service consisted of these individual loaves. One tiny loaf (for lack of a better word) was enough for one person and it was cooked perfectly, with a crunchy outside and soft, warm inside. Also, no butter here...they are all about the oil and vinegar, which I prefer. A great bread option, and a nice surprise since I didn't think it was included with the CRW menu.
Then came the salads. I had the caesar salad which had the typical lettuce, parm, croutons and dressing but also came with cherry tomatoes and red onion. The dressing was a bit too rich, heavy and mayonnaise-y for me but was still decent. The miss' had the rucola salad which had arugula, beets, goat cheese and pistachios tossed in a vinaigrette. I'm not as big a fan of vinaigrette dressings but the miss' enjoyed it quite a bit. I did think that both salads had a somewhat small portion, compared to the heaping portions of appetizer and entree you get.
After gobbling down our greens, it was time for a carb overload with our pasta entrees! I decided to try their bolognese, since that is an Italian dish that I have loved since childhood. The bolognese consisted of rigatoni in a hearty, chunky meat sauce that contained beef, pork, carrots, onions and cream. My biggest complaint about the dish was that the pasta was overcooked into a mushy mash, which is a big no-no in my book. The meat sauce was good, though I think there was a bit too much cream as the sauce was a bit too rich.
The miss' ordered the linguine al mare which is basically spaghetti with a bunch of shellfish in it. The spaghetti was tossed in a spicy marinara with shrimp, clams, mussels and calamari. Her spaghetti was cooked much better than my rigatoni was, and the sauce was pretty tastetacular. It's always good to see an Italian place serving up a solid marinara sauce! The shellfish were all tasty with tender, firm shrimp and chewy calamari.
By this time we were totally stuffed and had our dinners boxed up. There was no way we had room for dessert so we requested to have them to go. The server was more than happy to box up our tiramisu and cannoli so we could enjoy them a few hours later when we digested a bit. The desserts were both extremely tastetacular. The cannoli retained a hard, crisp shell even after being refrigerated a couple of hours (which means they fill the cannolis to order, not hours before being served.) The cream was spot on and immediately brought us back to memories of the sweet treats we used to eat at the bakery the miss' worked at in New York. The tiramisu was also very well done. It had that overarching espresso flavor present through each bite, and the mascarpone cream was extremely delicious.
Overall, it was a pleasant dining experience at a solid Italian restaurant. After paying the bill the owner walked over and chatted a bit, and it was nice to see that her and her husband are New Jersey transplants, so they definitely know what they are doing. The majority of the food was great, though I can't let a northeast Italian get away with overcooked pasta. After having such a great experience with the CRW menu I'm looking forward to going back to give the full menu a whirl.
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