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| - I normally don't write reviews on a public feed, as I have my own blog, but an experience at an restaurant I dined at this evening made me feel like I needed to join this community. I'll have to write a lot of reviews since I literally take a picture of everything I eat (it's an addiction! :0).
I don't normally go to restaurants that require a dressy attire or proper dining etiquette (with the out to in fork and spoon rule and all), but when my friend who rarely bothered to leave her house asked me if I wanted to go out to eat Italian food, I was so down.
After some research, either on blog-to or dine-to, we were choosing between this place and Kitkat Bar & Grill. But we decided on Donatello as it was apparently up a notch from Kitkat's home-styled food, and within the accepted distance and price range of the average student thriving on minimum wage-based jobs. Plus it had good reviews according to Yelp, Tripadvisor, and one anonymous food blogger.
-REVIEW-
We only noticed the dressy casual attire until an hour before our appointed time of arrival at 5:30pm, and having just ended work, none of us were dressed properly.
Dim lighting, fancy setting, tablecloth, candles, and wine glasses. Everything was clean.Women wore dresses and men wore upscale dress shirts, and the host was very polite and kind.
Another friend and I sat down first, waiting for the third one to arrive, and I noticed that it was actually pretty loud; we had to raise our voices to hear each other.
While waiting, the server responsible for our table brought us the menu, water, and left. I decided to read some more reviews on dish recommendations online, and found that there are actually daily specials that aren't included in the regular menu. We were only told that they existed after having asked the host if there were any tonight, and she went and had a talk with our server, probably about why we weren't told. I hope that if it were in that case, that the server did not hold any grudges 0_0.
FOOD: Friend 1 had the Vitello Americana(~26), which was the penne pasta with sautéed veal & shrimps in wine & tomato sauce, but she said it wasn't the best pasta she's had (her words not mine). Friend 2 ordered the Petto Di Pollo Valdostana(~24) deboned chicken breast saluted with slices of prosciutto - melted mozzarella in rose sauce. He claimed he could eat 3 plates more - I guess this dish does live up to its good reviews. /5
I had the grilled calamari (14.50) as appetizer, and one of the specials, the goat cheese & crab stuffed ravioli (19.50) (I'm a big fan of anything with goat cheese). The calamari came on a bed of vegetables (arugula?) and I have to say, the grilled squid was so tender and seasoned to perfection. Definitely recommend that one as a starter for you all. /5
Another server brought us their complimentary basket of hard crusted sliced bread and butter. The bread was a bit tough on the bite, but tasted quite nice with the spreaded butter. Our entrees took ~20 minutes to arrive, which was the average waiting time for a packed place at 6pm.
The goat cheese and crab ravioli was drenched in the creamy tomato sauce, and I could barely see their outlines. In fact I think the taste of the pasta itself was empowered by the sauce, so all I could taste was the distinct sweet taste of the crab meat, which kind of tasted like imitation crab meat, but I didn't confirm that. So it was quite unfortunate to not being able to taste goat cheese at all.
When it came to dessert, Friend 1 ordered the creme brûlée(9.50) which was a hearty portion with a crunchy caramel layer and a smooth custard filling. /5
Friend 2 ordered the brownie cheese cake(9.50). I heard good reviews about the cappuccino(3.75), so I had that. However I forgot how bitter coffee was without sugar, and so that wasn't a good treat for me(it tasted much better after 2 creams and 2 sugars).
SERVICE: maybe I'm just too attentive to my surroundings, but the server wasn't as friendly with us as he was with the neighbouring table. Maybe it was because we were the only student-aged customers and weren't dressed as nice? I don't know, it just didn't feel like he really cared about our experience (or didn't even bother to pretend he did). Also, when the server was coming around to fill our waters, he failed to pour for me twice in a row (he only came twice), and my friends joked about that.
PRICE:
-the three of us each spent ~40$ excluding tips,
-didn't match their online menu pricing (which was cheaper by couple of dollars), but the online version did have a note at the bottom saying that prices are subject to change without notice.
-the prices for the specials weren't specified in the beginning, and they turned out more expensive than the regular pastas. (I thought special = special price)
PS:it'd be a better place for a dinner date, but you might want to sit in a more secluded area to avoid the noise. (There's a patio and a second floor)
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