After dining at Bastia for brunch last year around this time (and leaving disappointed) we decided…read moreto be a bit nostalgic and give them a second chance. This time, dinner service.
First off, Hotel Anna & Bel is gorgeous, and when you enter the dining room, you feel like you've been transported back to a Corsican hotel circa the 1940s. The dining area is medium sized, with an expansive open bar, and while the two tops are small, they're not crammed so tightly together that it becomes awkward every time you get up to go to the bathroom.
Once seated, we were greeted by our waiter who asked us if we'd ever dined there before and after telling him "yes" he quickly ran through the menu without much personality or insightfulness, telling us for two people opting for two small plates, a pasta and two entrees was standard.
So, left to our own devices and not being mega hungry, we opted for two small plates (one off their daily specials), a pasta, and one entree.
Bread & Oil $0: Each table is presented with a small bowl of massive green olives swimming in lightly flavored olive oil and house made sourdough. This was appreciated and acted as a good vehicle to sop up some of the sauces, though not very memorable like some other bread services I've had.
Cucumber & Pistachio Soda $10: This arrived beautifully presented with a huge sprig of fresh mint and a bubbly chartreuse color that aligned with the bright, herbaceous flavor of the cucumber and almond-forward pistachio. 4 out of 5. Worth the order.
Skate Cheeks with Heirloom White Polenta & Jimmy Nardello Brown Butter Crisp ($25): Despite being one of the most talked-about dishes on the menu, this one didn't live up to the hype. For nearly the price of an entrée, we got four tiny bites of flaked skate cheek which were nicely seared, buttery, and tasting mostly of... butter. The polenta was, well, polenta and brown butter crisp was good but just layered on more butter flavor. Delicious? Sure. One note? Absolutely. Worth $25? Not even close. I expected much, much more. 2 out of 5. Skip it if you came hungry.
Amberjack Crudo w/ sundried tomato passata, saffron anchoiade, pickled fresno & marcona almonds $24: This was the second favorite dish of the night. Thin slices of fresh amberjack sat atop of flavorful and bright passata sauce. The pickled Fresno added acidity and saltiness while the almonds added a nice crunchy contrast. The anchoiade, however, was MIA. 4 out of 5. Order if on the menu and you're looking for a lighter bite.
Storzapretti ricotta dumplings w/ guanciale, arrabbiata & fiore sardo $27: These were the favorite of the night. Hearty ricotta dumplings were bathing in a chunky, rich and intensely flavored arrabbiata sauce. While the dumplings were a bit heavy and dense, the guanciale sparse and the chef may have been a bit heavy handed on the Calabrian chili (or did they use smoked paprika?), the flavors were well received. The heartiness was also much needed after the lack of heft in the first two rounds. The grated fiore sardo added a nice salty punch and, all in all, this was a solid dish. 4 out of 5. Order this if you want a belly hug.
Lancaster Ivory Chicken with Cannellini Beans, Fennel, Clementine & Calabrian Chili $36: I know this is chicken, but somehow it was the most chickeny tasting chicken I've ever had, and not necessarily in a good way. The bone in breast and thighs were dry, while the skin was flaccid and lacking flavor. Thankfully, the beany broth and caramelized fennel and clementine helped save the dish (and were honestly the best parts) 1 out of 5. Skip this and go for the pork short ribs or swordfish instead. Our dining neighbors ordered both and not only did they look fantastic, they confirmed they were delicious.
We were presented with the dessert menu which felt uninspired and honestly after the meal we had, we didn't want to risk being let down even more so opted to get ice cream at Weckerly's instead.
Bastia looks nice on paper, heck, it even looks nice inside, but unfortunately the food never quite catches up to the setting. I gave it two chances and got two strikes. In a sea of great resties around Fishtown, that's more than enough to knock it out of the running, and I don't see myself dining there again anytime soon.
