Critique my Babbo plans please

[ml77]

Heading to Babbo for an anniversary meal on Saturday. Trying to figure out how I want to attack the menu. Here's my current plan:

Pig Foot
Pappardelle Bolognese
Goose Liver Ravioli
Pork Chop
Dessert (Seasonal Crostata?)

My toughest decision is the Pork Chop. I've read a number of trusted voices on this board say it's the best they've ever had, which is tempting me. But I've also read that it's a pretty good size, and so choosing that means only getting two pastas instead of my original plan of 3 pastas and no secondi. 3 pastas plus the pork chop just seems like way too much food for two people.

I'm a big pasta lover, and so dropping one is tough to do. But that pork chop sounds like it might be too good to pass up.

Feel free to offer any advice re: Babbo, even if it doesn't directly relate to these questions. I have requested an upstairs table and in typical Babbo fashion they've said that they will do it if they can.

Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks!

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

[sundropforever]

I absolutely love the Babbo pasta tasting menu. The black tagliatelle is amazing.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

[steakrules85]

That's a ton of food. And yes the pork chop is delicious and huge. One of the best I have tasted. The veal chop is amazing also. Enjoy!!!

[ml77]

steak,

Thanks for chiming in. What do you think I should do? Drop the chop and do 3 pastas or the pasta tasting instead? Or stick with what I have here?

[steakrules85]

If you can handle that food I say go for it. This way you get to try both their pastas and a meat dish. I say if ur gunna do it then go big do it right. I tend to over order myself when going out to eat so that's my advice. Enjoy it and go on your diet the following week.

[ml77]

Yeah, I'm definitely not worried about calories, just trying to maximize the experience. At some point, being overfull stops being any fun, so I'm trying to make the right balance. Especially since my wife has less stomach capacity and is more gunshy about ordering too much food than I am.

Is this seriously a crazy amount of food for two people? Basically we're sharing a four course italian meal with one additional pasta.

[sgordon]

Oh, lord, I thought the above was just for ONE person.

Sheesh, that's not even remotely a crazy amount of food. Go for two apps, two pastas, two entrees. Many of the pasta courses are on the smaller side (which is how they should be), especially the really rich ones like the two raviolis. Make one of the entrees a fish, it'll feel less heavy. Then split one dessert, they're nothing to really write home about.

If you've got leftovers on your secondi, take 'em home. No shame in getting a to-go bag.

[steakrules85]

I thought it was for one also before I realized it was for an anniversary dinner. That is definitely not too much food. I agree go for two apps pastas and mains. One thing I disagree on is dessert. I find them fabulous especially the pistachio semifreddo and the maple mascarpone cheesecake.

[ml77]

yeah, I thought from your responses that you were thinking it was for one. So if I did one app, 3 pastas, 1 main, and 1 dessert, that wouldnt be too much? I certainly feel no shame in taking some home but if it's really good then I may just keep eating and I don't want to leave feeling overfull.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[steakrules85]

I don't think that would be too much at all.

[biondanonima]

Definitely not. When DH and I were last there, we did 3 pastas, 2 mains and 2 desserts and we weren't overfull. The mains we ordered were TINY, though - about 2-3oz of meat each (brasato al barolo and guancia ripiena). Some of their mains are much larger, so you might want to ask, but I think you'll be fine.

[edwardspk]

You say you're a big pasta lover. Why not do the pasta tasting menu? It's wonderful!

[ml77]

I've thought about it, but Im not sure I want to leave my food choices up to them. Can we substitute pastas from the regular menu for options on the tasting menu?

[fm1963]

Not sure, but you can certainly do the reverse. Last night I was able to order an a la carte portion of the pappardelle with chanterelles from the tasting menu. It was great.

[steakrules85]

It has been my experience that Babbo is pretty flexible with the diner. If you tell them what you want, I'd tend to think they would accomodate it.

For instance on my last visit over the summer they had a soft shell crab special for the entree, however they let me order it as a smaller appetizer plate. Any yes it was still a HUGE soft shell crab.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

[kathryn]

The only thing I might do is change out the pig's foot for the octopus or lamb's tongue vinaigrette -- both of which have a bit of acid to balance out the protein. You're gonna need if it you're doing those two pastas and the pork chop.

[tpigeon]

I liked the lambs tongue better than the pigs foot -- agreed.

[porker]

We all have our particular tastes...I didn't have the octopus, but I did have the lamb's tongue and the pig foot. For me its the pig foot, hands (hoofs?) down. The lamb tongue was certainly good, but reminded me of pickled pig tongue, which I enjoy all the time, so wasn't special for me. The pig foot was sublime and decadent.
We had a pasta dish as well as the pork chop, all was good, but its that Babbo pig foot which really stuck with me.

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Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

[comiendosiempre]

Sounds good. However, the two pastas are both on the heavy side. Perhaps stick with the ravioli and choose another. All their pastas are excellent. You may want to wing it and see what sounds most appealing. Spend some real time with the wine list. Great options and the sommeliers are very helpful, just give them a price point.

[sgordon]

Looks like a good plan. I suspect you'll be pretty stuffed afterwards, but not so you can't walk. The goose liver ravioli is a smallish portion, but VERY rich. Personally, I lean slightly toward the beef cheek over goose liver as far as the raviolis go, but they're both very good.

You could, just to lighten things a bit, go with seafood for either app or secondi, but sounds like you're prepping for a meat-fest.

Three pastas might be overkill, yeah.