I ate at Lupa Monday evening and I was disappointed … we shared all the dishes and 3 carafes of white vino from Italy …
The meat dishes of salami, prosciutto, veal tongue, head cheese, etc. were completely tasteless except for the salt and oil … no perfume flavor and dried tasting … I imagine that the meats were sliced a long time ago … not freshly sliced meat … the diced brussels sprouts with cheese were very salty and oily with no other flavors, such as lemon or herbs …
The sardines with escarole were not fresh and tasted like marinade herring … the salad was very plain with plenty of dried cheese …
The fresh fettucine pasta with cheese was buttery-OK. I bet that the ingredients did not cost more than $1 per dish!
We had a nice table outside on the patio that was nice and comfortable. The white wines were good. We split the bill of $100 plus and we each left a tip of $10. So my bill was over $63.
Not good at all and I felt that I was bamboozled by the Italians. For example, for the price of the $10 tip, I could have a very delicious bowl of fresh egg noodles (al dente) with wonton soup ($3.00) and a plate of BBQ baby pork ribs ($5.00) in Chinatown.
No offense but I think that Italian food in the fancy restaurants are the biggest sham in this Big Apple … the only place to eat Italian is to cook at home, it is so simple … ask my Italian nephew, Francesco Buitoni …
However, the evening did not end too badly, we rode the subway to Lincoln Center and saw the MET opera of Madam Butterfly, outdoors on a huge screen with English sub-titles …
Lupa, web site, 170 Thompson Street, between Houston and Bleeker Streets, 212-982-5089 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | Village Voice | openlist | Gayot | Savory NY | Yelp | Citysearch]
Post by Peter
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