Some friends and I went to my friend Benny’s favorite Italian restaurant, Via Della Pace for his birthday. Nestled on an East Village side street, this seemed like a hidden treasure to me right off the bat. It even looks all rustic from the outside, doesn’t it? Sadly, much to my dismay, this restaurant was a disappointment.
There’s a small bar off to the right when you walk in. There were quite a few people hanging around there throughout our dinner; I’m sure it’s probably just a neighborhood crowd. There are so many bars in the East Village- why come to a cramped restaurant for drinks? The atmosphere is very cozy, dim, and definitely gives off a romantic vibe. The space is small so couples are often almost hovering over each other – which some like. This probably wasn’t the best place to try to accomodate over 10 people, but they did it.
i kept trying to wait til these people left to take a pic
They provided each table with a bottle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping their warm bread into. It took our group forever and a day to get settled and for our whole party arrived, so I ate a LOT of bread and I’m mighty glad it was warm and soft too.
balsamic & olive oil = yummy combo
Browsing the menu [and from looking at Menupages earlier], I noticed that the prices for this restaurant are reallyyy wallet friendly. A friend did warn me that the portions weren’t too big though- which is why they could afford to charge so little. I wasn’t very hungry so I decided an appetizer and a salad would fill me up just fine. I ordered a bruschetta; the friulana, seared tuna avocado and mustard. At first glance, this looked waayy appetizing. Upon tasting the bruschetta, I noticed that the mustard used is just regular cheapo mustard [French's?] and the tuna was not of the highest quality therefore the flavor suffered. If the avocado was browning, I think I would’ve cried.
I ordered a salad that included shaved parmesan, yellow tomatoes, italian ham, capers, and arugula in a balsamic dressing. The greens were very shredded and I asked for no capers, but they put them in anyways. There was nothing special about this salad; what you see is basically what you get. There were other choices for dressings, one which was a almond and walnut dressing. I forgot to ask for that specifically and I wasn’t asked which dressing I wanted, so I got [stuck] with the balsamic. However, I’m not complaining about that- I do like balsamic. I would liked to have been asked though.
I did hear better reviews about the pasta dishes so if I ever come across eating at this restaurant again, maybe I’ll try one of them. One particular pasta dish I heard was good is the lobster ravioli. I was sad that this place did not live up to my standards- it could have been a potential date place! Intimate, cheap, and candles aren’t enough. The quality of the ingredients in the dishes I ordered [I picked at my friends' plates too, including their baked ziti] is low/mediocre.
