Did I just find my go-to Italian joint? Oh boy oh boy, I think that I did!!…read more
I've walked past Piatto Verde at least a half a million times before. If you live in the area, it's easy to bypass the rows of kebab shops and small ambiguous food joints as "meh." One night in particular we walked past PV, peered inside, and said, "Nah. It's so small!"
Lucky for me I didn't let that stop me in the end! With some friends in tow and a reservation booked in advance (you definitely want to do this on evenings, because did I mention how wee it is?), we marched in and were promptly seated. P.V. itself is cozy and shabby in the sort of mismatched, cozy, rather charming way only a place that doesn't take itself too seriously can accomplish. It has about four, maybe five tables, tops, but one of them could seat quite a few, so if you have a group you could perhaps squeeze 8 or so inside (there were also some chillens runnin' round, so there's that!).
After being seated we perused the surprisingly extensive menu--any place that has more than one standard vegetarian main to try totally gets points in my book, and my other half and I were hard pressed to choose just which one we wanted to try. A fairly priced and solid carafe of house red wine was purchased, starters and mains were ordered, and the rest is history. Our server was around just enough to be thorough, just friendly enough to seem genuine, and also hollered in Italian to her buddies in the back several times, something that I think added to the authenticity of the place. ;)
And the FOOD. If you're expecting something incredo-fancy, this is not your joint. But if you want the kind of creamy Italian goodness you can't quite ever manage to cook for yourself, this is your guy. I had a mushroom tortelloni main, and I promptly devoured it. My husband's calzone was enormous! Not only that, but our starters--olives for our friends, and for us mixed platters of mozzarella and tomatoes and the like--were simple and lovely.
But I think what really sealed the deal for me was, as another Yelper has mentioned, the profiteroles. I made the mistake of ordering the perfectly adequate tiramisu, whereas my husband got the profiterole. After one bite I was hulking out with envy (he was nice enough to trade me one for some tiramisu, or I would have thrown myself on the ground and had a profiterole-less tantrum). DAMN were those things delicious. I've never actually had a profiterole before, but I reckon these would be tough boots to fill in the future.
Summary: a lovely joint if you're looking for a casual, delicious evening (or lunch) meal at a surprisingly reasonable price! I'm absolutely going to return in the future. And you'll probably see me stuffing my gob with profiteroles.