Named and styled after the Manhattan neighborhood, this Italian restaurant competes for hungry stomachs in the popular Born neighborhood, offering live Jazz sessions every Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Entrance:


View from hungry Chicken’s seat that night:

Being a Friday night, we got lucky when we walked in without a reservation. The host happily seated us after checking with the list and finding that there was a no-show. We got the corner table (my favorite) downstairs, both of us getting to sit on the cushiony seats that lined the walls.

Drink of the Day: Caipirinha

As soon as we were seated, the waiter told us the drink special and hungry Chicken decided to give it a try. It tasted like a really sweet and slushy tequila lemonade.

Bread.

Very dry and chewy, but with a crunchy exterior.

Selection of Salads with Courgettes, Bresaola, Fresh Mozzarella and Croutons €8

Funny chewy balls of fresh mozzarella cheese bouncing around super oil soaked fried croutons that sickeningly explode oil in your mouth with a giant crisp. There were also bits of cucumber and skinless tomatoes, all drizzled with olive oil. On top of everything were onions and thick slices of beef prosciutto that I sadly pushed aside.

Wild Asparagus Risotto with Parmesan Cheese and White Truffle Butter €10

Creamy and Parmesan cheesy, just the slightest bit watery, and didn’t feel too heavy or sticky fat like many risottos I’ve had.

Curry Tagliatelle with King Prawns and Tender Garlic Cloves €9

The shrimp were small, but other than that, I really liked the pasta, maybe because I love curry, tagliatelle, and garlic (good combo)! The sauce was creamy and cheesy with a light shrimp taste, and had a very subtle yellow curry flavor which surprisingly matched and went well with the shrimp and cheese.

Tiramisu with “Trifásico” Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce (€5.50) paired with a small glass of dessert wine, Chateau-Violet (€3.50)

Moist spongy cake soaked in coffee between layers of soft yummy sweet cream and tiny nuts. I really liked the tiramisu since this one was very sweet and didn’t seem to contain any rum, which I dislike. In comparison, the minty coffee ice cream next to it was very very bitter. The 2 thin slices of strawberries and sweet strawberry jam sauce complemented the creamy cake nicely. The tiny glass of wine, the size of a shot glass, was strong and sweet and had a faint flowery fruity flavor.

The service was quick, however, it took a bit of an effort to get the attention of a waiter to bring our bill, which accidentally didn’t include the caipirinha! :) The food was also pretty good overall, but this place somehow stuck in my mind as a place I wouldn’t mind going back to.

Receipt:
2 servicio de pan 1.50 3.00
surtido de ensaladas 9.25
risotto esparragos 10.00
tagliatelle al curry 9.00
tirami-su 4.60
VERI agua 1/2 1.70
SAUTERNES 3.50
total+tax= €43.92 (dinner for 2)

This entry was posted by chicken on Sunday, July 9th, 2006 at 5:08 pm and is filed under Barcelona, Born, Italian, Mediterranean. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.