It is a really cute and cozy place - sort of rustic, but still nice. Daily specials are on the walls, including oysters they have that day. There is a nice bar and a good number of people were sitting there having dinner. We had a reservation and got a table, and were seated right away even though we were early.
We started off with a bottle of something I can't remember - and since they don't have a website, I can't tell you what it was. It was a red wine and I hadn't had it before - some sort of mix of grapes that I hadn't heard of. The waitress suggested it though and it was really good.
Next we moved on to oysters. This friend and I both adore them (as does Patch), so we had a half dozen - two of each oyster they had that day. They were REALLY good - creamy, very fresh, so briny and delicious, and huge. Pesce serves them with a mignonette, and a little cocktail sauce, which I ignored because I just love the vinegar/shallot/oyster combo too much to screw with it.
Pesce is small plates meant to be shared, and that is exactly what friend and I did. Keep in mind that we are big eaters - the waitress was obviously surprised by how much we ordered. We started off with two dishes. First was a really delicious caesar salad, one of the best I've had in the city. It was heavy on the anchovies, and came with a big garlic crouton covered in an anchovy paste - yum. It was probably over-dressed, but I am a big salad dressing fan, so that was ok with me. Especially considering how good the dressing was. The other starter was not fabulous but it was solid - tuna marinated in olive oil and served with white beans and mint.
For our entrees we had two dishes as well. One was a lingiuni with fresh crabmeat. It was good - not spectacular, but very flavorful, and the pasta was cooked well. It was sort of a light dish - not too creamy. Our other entree was halibut poached in a white wine tomato sauce. That was really good, but it needed to be served with rice or pasta or polenta or something to soak up the yummy sauce. They did serve it with a big bread thing, and we made do with that.
We also ordered a side of the potatoes au gratin - one of my favorite dishes on earth. It didn't disappoint - creamy, cheesy, with a little singed crust on top. I basically polished that off myself.
The dessert was also really good, but sort of simple - basically a big brownie sundae, with vanilla gelato and whipped cream, in a tall sundae glass. It was sort of nice not to be eating fruit tarts, which is the dessert of choice in the summer time.
All in all, Pesce was good. The price was right too - for all that food and the bottle of wine, the bill was 100 dollars, which I think is pretty reasonable for a big meal AND wine AND oysters. It was nice to be somewhere with a pretty good variety of carefully prepared seafood. Its no Aqua - but thats ok. Neighborhood joint should be more casual. If I was in the area, I would go back there for sure.
Food - (3.25)
Experience -(3.25)
Overall - (3.25)
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Nothing fishy about it! Go to Pesce.
Emilia
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