Let me preface this review by saying that my parents are from Italy, I've grown up eating and cooking Italian food my entire life (though I am only 25), and I've been to Italy over ten times. Overall, the food is good, not great. Definitely not worth the price. For the price that you are going to spend on a good meal there, buy yourself a trip to Sicily and eat the best seafood of your life (at any restaurant!).
I'll start with the service, because that seems to be the area of most complaints. It was impeccable. Some of the chairs at the tables underneath the front window are quite uncomfortable, so I asked our server if I could change my chair. After searching the restaurant (which was packed) for 15 minutes, I saw him hauling my new chair his head towards me. Also, my girlfriend ordered a scallop appetizer which they did not have on the menu. Not only did we receive a full portion of the scallop main course as a replacement, we weren't charged the $41. Also, we received an extra crudo for free. Whoever says the servers are rude are simply wrong.
Now the food.
I started with three items off of the "e per comminciare" section of the menu. I ordered the ricci (sea urchin, lardo, sea salt), the panzerotti (mini calzones with smoked eggplant and a dipping sauce of ricotta and bottarga) and the baccala. The ricci was exactly as it name signifies; its rich. Creamy sea urchin and salty lardo on a crostini. It tasted like the ocean, everything one should expect from sea urchin.
The panzerotti were also good. The mini calzones were like fluffy pillows filled with smoked eggplant. My only issue with the dish was there was not enough bottarga in the ricotta to get that salty, cured taste of the fish roe.
The baccala was alright. I'll preface this comment by saying I've eaten baccala since I was a child, most recently on New Years Day. In fact, on my last trip to Italy's Molise region where my mom is from, I ate some sort of dish containing baccala for 10 days straight. I know what good baccala tastes like and Marea's was subpar. I'll give them credit that they cure the cod themselves, but they only soak the fish in water for 12 hours (I asked). Baccala needs to soak for at least 3 or 4 days in order to relieve the fish of, well, fishiness. Hence, Marea mixes it with a lot of potatoes, making it more of a mashed potato dish then one centered around baccala. In my opinion, they should add some lemon zest; the dish is very one note.
Next I ordered two crudi, the seppia (cuttlefish tagliatelle, soffrito crudo,and bottarga), the tonno (tuna, oyster crema, crispy sunchokes), and then our free crudo, which consisted of red snapper, caviar, and crème fraisce. The seppia was texturally phenominal. The chewiness of the cuttlefish with the snap soffrito crudo had a nice mouth feel, not to mention that raw cuttlefish is delicious, especially when it was as fresh as what I ate. Once again, no bottarga flavor. If you're going to say bottarga is on the menu, you better give me some bottarga. The tonno was fresh, firm, and pretty tasty. It had almost a horseradish like bite to it. The sunchokes gave it a nice crisp. The red snapper was alright, a little bland for my liking. Like all the fish, it was fresh and firm. It was just okay though. Some citrus on the dish would've brighten it up.
After the crudi came the antipasti, which included astiche (lobster, burrata, basil and tomato) and the scallop entrée (seared sea scallops, potato puree, fried chickpeas, Brussels sprouts, golden raisins, pickled mustard). The lobster and burrata was not only the best thing I ate all night, but it was one of the most innovated dishes I have ever come across. Fresh, firm, chilled, and almost buttery lobster smothered in burrata (mozzarella made with cream in the center). The burrata was used as a sauce to cover the lobster on this ingenious play off of a caprese salad. They added a hint of white balsamic vinegar to brighten the flavors and pull the dish together. If you go to Marea, just order that.
The scallop dish was also very good. The scallops were cooked perfectly. The Brussels sprouts gave the dish an earthy flavor and the fried chickpeas gave the dish a nice contrast in textures.
Finally I ordered the main course, which was pasta for me that night. I ordered the acclaimed fusilli with octopus and maro. My girlfriend ordered the gnochetti with shrimp. Meh. As far as homemade pastas go it was pretty good. The texture wasn't too soft and it had some firmness to it. The fusilli is an interesting concept and octopus pairs well with the pasta. One yelper wrote the sauce tasted like ragu, and I have to agree. The shrimp dish was alright.
My recommendation is to order a bunch of small plates and stay away for the overpriced, sub-par main dishes. Also, besides the lobster and burrata, nothing was so good that I would go again and spend $700. I Truli is a better Italian restaurant for a better price. read more