We have gone to Va bene for work lunch and it has always been ok. Decided this time to go for dinner so I took my Girlfriend.
Right away, the service was great. We were seated fast and brought menus. We were told about the specials of the day and we ordered appetizers quickly.
I order the Linguine Fruitti Del mar, and my girlfriend had the pesto linguine. We ordered the clams as an appetizer.
The clams came out and were great. The garlic broth smothering the clams were super tasty and the bread was crispy and great for dunking. The portion is really small, I counted 6 clams and 2 of them were empty. I swished my fork in the broth to see if they fell out, but they were never there.
The main course was pretty bad. The pesto had virtually no Basil taste and if you closed your eyes, you would not have guesses any basil was used. We tried it with our eyes closed and it tasted almost fettuccine -like. My Del Mar was super bland as well. It tasted like canned tomato paste. The Mussels were tough and chewy and not enjoyable. The calamari looked like noodles and had no taste. They were mushy and seemed to be over soaked or over-boiled. The crushed Red Pepper helped to spice up the dish, but didn't really help mask the overall blandness.
I gave this 3 stars cause the service was prompt and the owner (I think) came out a few times to check up on us. The bill was appropriate for a two person dinner (roughly $50). The food was the only disappointment. I will give this place another try and hope that our next visit is more tasty.