The nice part about Manhattan is you can always find something and somewhere to eat, no matter where you are in the city. On this brisk, cold night, my partner was running errands in Soho, so I was tasked with looking up something. Of course, it takes me about 30 minutes to find something, and Osteria Morini is what we ended up on. Even though they had restaurant week menus, we decided to just order off the regular menu.
Ambiance & Service
The ambiance reminds me of the East Village, where the interiors are dark, noisy, and trendy. The environment feels like it’s an area that would lure the same clientele from East Village or LES diners. Because of this stereotype, it was fairly loud and noisy, but not uncomfortably.
The service was quick, but you can tell the waitress was impatient and did not know how to read my cues correctly for checking on orders or giving us the check. While we were still eating dessert, she handed us the check, as a passive way of telling us it’s time to go. Not that we eat that slow, but you can tell her timing and hospitality wasn’t great.
Food
The glass of Dolcetto ($16) came from Prandi Giovanni 2022. This was a dry, medium body red wine that was easy to drink.
The Polipo ($25) came with charred octopus, potatoes, ’nduja, romesco, and castelvetrano olives. The octopus char was decent, but it tasted a bit rubbery and old. It certainly didn’t taste like the freshest octopus.
The Petroniana($42) came with a crispy veal cutlet, prosciutto cotto, spinach, parmigiano, and truffle crema. The veal was decent, and it was large enough to share. The flavor though was pretty one dimensional, in that the cream, prosciutto, and parmigiano pushed it very far to the saltier side of things. The truffle flavors were mild, and my partner was able to eat some of it.
The Carbonara ($29) came with tagliatelle, bacon, and poached egg. The tagliatelle tasted ok, and was slightly overcooked because it was sort and just on the border of being delicately mushy. The other ingredients also made the whole thing a little on the saltier side. This probably wasn’t the best choice to pair this with the veal. The pasta definitely wasn’t bad, but it was not memorable.
The Cioccolato ($14) came with dulce de leche crema, chocolate hazelnut cookie crust, and buttermilk gelato. This dessert looks rich, but it surprisingly was decent. Chocolate that’s sitting on top of the cookie crust has a similar texture to Brazilian brigadeiro, which is basically a chewy, fudge texture. The buttermilk gelato helps offset that fudge, but my partner wasn’t a fan of.
Final Verdict
If you’re around the SOHO shopping area, this Italian restaurant is decent and not exactly a must-go destination. The service here is leaning towards the lackluster side, and the food is fairly unmemorable. However, the food is tolerable if you really want Italian around the area.
Yelp Jabs
I love a deal so when I heard about $15 pasta deals at Osteria Morini I had to find someone to come try it with me… I’ve definitely had better pasta in the city but for $15 on Mondays if I was in the area
I might be a little bougie, but when I read that they offered $15 pasta deals, it speaks to me that their quality most certainly won’t be high enough. There are most definitely many cheap pasta places in the city to eat at.
I can honestly say that I had some of the best calamari I’ve ever had.
It’s just fried calamari. With lemon and marinara sauce. Maybe this Yelper hasn’t had fried calamari before.
Revisions
- Jan 19, 2024 - Initial revision.