<< previous review   next review >>

reviews

“Pulino's”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Italian	Lower East Side	Moderate	Don't Bother

se included two salads and some crispy pork belly. The first salad ($12) was composed of lola rossa greens, roasted beets (mushy), green olives (bland and hard), hazelnuts (fine), and feta (invisible), with a dressing of such high acidity it threatened to burn a hole through my stomach. A second salad, one titled “snap pea and hen of the woods mushrooms” ($13) arrived missing the snap peas. When we alerted a server by flagging him down (there is little in the way of follow up service once plates are ceremoniously dropped by runners), he apologized and said the kitchen must have forgotten to put them on the salad. These were not croutons. This was an essential element of the salad. They forgot? Appleman is manning the pass at the open kitchen where chefs drink espressos and chat. Presumably, he inspects the food as it is served. Presumably. Those snap peas are sort of a big thing to miss. But to the server’s credit, he re-fired the dish and brought us a fresh salad, this one with the snap peas. Honestly, though, they could have kept it. Flavors were muddy and dull, and the vegetables were overcooked. Gong. Crispy pork belly ($8) was equally disappointing, so crispy that it turned to a sort of pig toffee, which stuck to my teeth and had me wondering if my dentist would have to remove it with some sort of sharp metal instrument. It was dreadful.

In addition to salads and starters the menu includes a list of entrees from the oven like a steak with roasted potatoes and rosemary with anchovy butter (M/P) and goat meatballs with honey, black pepper and almonds ($25). We had the Bowery Sausage, a long, thin coiled link served in a cast-iron pan with picked cauliflower, fennel and smoked olives ($19). It’s a fine sausage, if a bit overcooked, but seems to be missing some other element with it, some potatoes perhaps? A wedge of crusty bread?  An egg? Both?

But the place is supposed to be about pizza, so I waited and prayed the pies would fare better than the salads and appetizers. There are a dozen handmade pies to choose from, ranging in price from $13 for the Bianca (a white pie with black pepper and pork) to the Polpettine ($19) with beef meatballs, tomato, pickled chiles, mozzarella and basil. We ordered the Funghi ($19) and the prosciutto and arugula ($18). After eating at Motorino earlier in the week (the best pies in the city in my humble opinion), I must say, these pizzas are disappointments. It might be like h ... [more, click below]

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  

 Make a reservation

<< previous review   next review >>

Posted: July 4, 2010

Other restaurants in Lower East Side :
+ Mojo   + WD-50   + Schiller's Liquor Bar   + Azul Bistro   + Barrio Chino   + 71 Clinton Fresh Food-- Closed   + Little Giant   + Kuma Inn   + Falai   + The Stanton Social   + The Tides   + Thor   + The Orchard   + El Bocadito-- CLOSED   + Bondi Road   + Rayuela   + Suba   + Bun (boone)   + Sorella   + The Fat Hippo   + Pulino's   

Share ! Post a comment