1889 Enoteca has been long on my list of places to go. The only reason why I have not yet been was because there were no special events for me to justify going. With a friend achieving a significant milestone, we decided to go there for dinner last Saturday. It was really lucky we made a reservation that evening, as the place was completely packed.
The whole place was very elegant and the ambiance felt quite sophisticated.
There was an extensive drinks menu, and a food menu that consisted of two pages containing entree, a selection of pastas, mains and desserts.
We started off with the bread, which was nicely warmed. I could taste from the soft texture that it was freshly made. The crust could have been toasted a little more crispier for my liking though. Of interest was the accompanying olive oil. Being usually used to butter, I found it to be a lot lighter and less salty than butter, which meant that we weren't as full, and were able to better appreciate the dinner.
Our mains to share came soon after that, to much fanfare and appreciation.
This was the Pappardelle el Ragu. Apparently the pappardelle was house made. I found it distinctively different to the pappardelle I tried at Jamie's Italian, in the sense that the sheets were very wide. It reminded me more of lasagne sheets than flat ribbons. Despite this, I found the pasta sheets very well done. They were quite thin and delicate, but retained a bit of firmness. When eating tomato based sauce pastas, I find it a rather big risk that the sauce overpowers the whole dish. The ragu sauce at Enoteca didn't do this. It was light enough for me to taste the grated cheese on top and appreciate the tasty meat juices.
The other main we shared was the Spaghetti alla carbonara. Again, a usual setback I experience with carbonara is that it is very rich. That was not the case in this instance, where the sauce was creamy, but sufficiently light so that we could appreciate the eggy taste as well as the guaniciale, which was delightfully crispy. The spaghetti though, being thicker than the pappardelle was still a bit firmer than I would have usually liked.
We finished off the meal with a tiramisu. The tiramisu we had in this instance was a lot different to the traditional ones that I'm used to. The regular cocoa on top was switched with shaved chocolate and the lady finger was swapped with more of a strong coffee sponge. It proved to be quite an interesting take on the usual, but I still found it to be very enjoyable.
Price Range: $40 - $60 per person
Taste: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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