Followup on 3 nights in NYC, Aldea, Scarpetta, Chez Napoleon & others..

[Mouton Noir]

First, want to thank Rrems, kathryn and simon for their help in planning NYC trip. We had great fun. Food was amazing. Want to detail it here briefly:
1) Monday... Stayed at Ink 48 on 11th & W48th. Had expensive breakfast although it was tasty (esp my scrambled egg sandwich). After walking back to Manhattan on Brooklyn Bridge, stopped in for tasty snacks @ Stone St Tavern in financial district. Wife had minicrab cakes, which were OK but not like you'd get in Washington or Baltimore; i had stuffed peppers, which were cheesy and tasty, not bad for pub grub.
For dinner -- before seeing Avenue Q -- stopped in at Chez Napoleon on W50th. Great little resto, reminiscent of Parisian style small restos. Bottle of decent pinot noir for $32. I had french onion soup which was perfect, followed by handsome serving of rabbit stew in mustard sauce. Wife had asparagus with vinaigrette, then famous delicious cassoulet. Fabulous meal for price, $130 for 2 incl desert. Avenue Q was hilarious.
2) Tuesday ... Had much cheaper, classic greasy spoon breakkie at City Light diner on 10th @ W52. Can't beat the price, and good eggs and hash. It filled our tummies enough for sightseeing & walking, stoped in at Barbuto on Washington for quick wine and snack -- the calamari in a romesco-like sauce. Enough for 2 and i found it excellent. (Wife was less impressed but she liked).
After catching Colbert Report, went for dinner at Aldea on W17th. Was excited given my Portuguese background, and was NOT disappointed. Fabulous place. Service and staff excellent. Waited at bar and wife spilled drink on my pants. Bartender made another drink for my wife at no cost. (Luckily was wearing black jeans). I took reccs from Chow and ordered 3 apps to start -- sea urchin, cuttlefish and pork belly. All were to die for. Loved the sea urchin. Wife loved the cuttlefish. I liked how pork belly came with small slices of apple on top. For mains, wife had an amazing monkfish. Nice texture and taste. I went with duck risotto (or arroz de pato), and that too was splendid. Did love the crispy skin parts. For dessert, i got "sonhos," which are deep fried-like donuts with 3 diff sauces for dipping, all good. Wife had a brioche which also excelled. The resto was packed on Tues night and if they keep up the quality and service, it is likely going to be a hotspot for a while. I told staff it ranked right up there, for Portuguese cuisine, with Montreal's Ferreira and Toronto's Chiado restaurants. (Both of which I recommend).
3) Wednesday... the day of the so-called "storm" (As Cdns, it was more like a day of snow, not storm). Before musuem hopping, went for dim sum at Jing Fong @ Elizabeth St. Wife knows how to negotiate/pick dim sum items, so let her do most of the choosing. No disappointments. For less than $20, worth every cent.
For dinner, went to Scarpetta. Again, another stellar meal (although i would rank Aldea, by a small notch, ahead of Scarpetta). The spreads with the bread were amazing, esp the eggplant. For starters I had the short rib risotto. Melt in your mouth good. Then, wife and I split a rabbit pasta dish. Can say it was one of the best pasta dishes i have yet had. (Have been to Italy twice). The rabbit had a nice dose of mint, which really brought of flavour. For mains, wife had the goat, which was excellent. I had black cod and tomato, and surprisingly it was the tomato that made the dish. Nice piece of carmazlied fennel (me thinks) accompanied the dish. Cod cooked perfectly. (although i would say i enjoyed my appetizer and pasta just a bit more).

Can't wait to get to Manhattan again.

[rrems]

Thanks so much for reporting. i'm glad everything worked out so well.

[gloriousfood]

Thanks for the timely post, MN. A friend is taking me to Scarpetta tomorrow for my bday, and it'll be our first time there. I was thinking about getting the black cod and tomato--would you recommend it? Your review of it makes me think you were not overly impressed with this dish.

Also, could you talk about the portion size? If we have an app, pasta, and main each, would that be too much? We have pretty hearty appetites.

[kathryn]

That is FAR too much food at Scarpetta, especially if you have any of the bread basket. If I have 2 pieces of bread and an appetizer, I find I can barely finish the pasta, and then I'm too full to eat any of the main.

I recommend splitting 4 dishes total plus the bread basket between 2 people with hearty appetites. I'd do 1 appetizer, 2 pastas, and 1 main, OR I'd order 2 appetizers, split a pasta, and split a main. Do you plan to save any room for dessert? (I was not that impressed with the goat as I found the goat at Aldea to be much better, and the ash-encrusted venison loin mainly tasted like ashes to me.)

Right now I LOVE the chestnut soup on the appetizers menu but the polenta is no slouch either. My favorite pasta is the spaghetti pomodoro although the farfalle are excellent, as are the duck and foie ravioli. But you do want to be careful of ordering too many heavy dishes in a row.

[gloriousfood]

Thanks! This is very helpful. Is it that the portion is large or that the food is rich that you think our original plan would be way too much food?

I have heard good things about the chestnut soup and the polenta and am undecided about which one to have. I think it's one of those things that I'll decide on the spot.

So far, I'm leaning toward your second suggestion--2 apps, 1 pasta and 1 main between us.

Yes, we do plan on having dessert (or at least I do!).

[kathryn]

The portions are quite large at Scarpetta in comparison to other Manhattan restaurants.

[gloriousfood]

Thanks, kathryn. So good to know in advance.

[Mouton Noir]

Well, maybe we had bigger appetites, but we didn't eat much leading up to our late meal. I found the plate sizes to be goldilocks-style -- not too big not too small.
I did like the black cod & tomato but i liked my wife's goat dish more. (The goat was tender.) Plus, I did like the app and pasta better than the black cod/tomato -- there was nothing wrong with it, but I will remmeber the app/pasta more.
If I were to go back, I would probably lean toward an app and a pasta dish. (that's how much I liked it our rabbit).

[kathryn]

Did you split your short rib appetizer?

I noticed you said you split the pasta... imagine trying to eat the entire portion yourself, though.

[uwsister]

Seems that the website's menu doesn't list prices for some reason -- how much approximately would you say for two people sharing 2 apps and 2 pastas and a dessert? Without beverage, tip, or tax. Also how is the mark-up on the wine list? Normal for a restaurant on that level? Have been wanting to try this place for a while but my husband is not a fan of Italian food and refuses to have it out unless it's gonna blow us away. I'm hoping it will, but in case it doesn't I don't want to hear him complain about spending $300 on a meal he didn't like... (can you tell it's happened a few times?)

[rrems]

Should be about $80 to $90. The wine list is reasonable. I have found many good selections in the $40 to $60 range.

[kathryn]

I spent $50 before tip and tax for a meal of soup, spaghetti, and a glass of prosecco ($12), no dessert. Surprisingly gentle for the amount of deliciousness!

We usually get cocktails so I can't really speak to the wine list markup.

Try menupages.com for a recent menu with prices.

[Mouton Noir]

For the record, wife and i had 2 appertizers: short rib risotto & burratta (or buffalo mozzarella); one pasta dish split between 2; and 2 mains; a $48 bottle of veneto red; and split a dessert. Total was $190 before the tip.
(And yes, wine list is reasonable in the less than $50 range.... as an aside, better wine bargains at Aldea, but that's off topic).

[uwsister]

Sounds totally reasonable, happy to hear that! Thanks for everyone who commented.