Italian @ Lupa, NYC

We had a delicious experience at Lupa, which is one of Mario Batali's many restaurants. We have been to another of this American Iron Chef's restaurants before, but we were hoping for more than just pizza and pasta from the main course menu at Lupa (although the desserts were fantastic at Otto). This is a fairly casual restaurant, and we were given excellent service right from when we stepped in the door and greeted by the maitre'd. I like that it's a kids-friendly restaurant, and they provided a high chair for the 7 month old. Lupa serves Roman-style Italian food, and like Otto, it has a rather extensive wine list. However, we weren't there for the wine, but for the food! The complimentary focaccia with a small plate of olive oil was delicious and posed a dangerous threat to hubby's low(ish) carb diet.

Bub was perfectly happy munching on the table before him (don't worry - I did sanitise that area of the table):


For starters, we shared three Antipasti e Salumi (US$10 each) chosen from the pesce (fish) options: Tuna & Cannelini, Octopus with Ceci & Sorrel and Clams with Fregola & Basil. All three were great, and our favourite was the octopus. Big, meaty chunks of octopus. The tuna did not look nor taste like fish - it resembled more like red meat, perhaps because of the curing. Frankly, I expected these to be either too salty or too vinegary because they were cured, but they were all done very well and I really enjoyed eating them.

Antipasti: Tuna & Cannelini, Octopus with Ceci & Sorrel, and Clams with Fregola & Basil:


For our main courses, we went with the two specials of the day - Duck Leg and Fish (US$20 each). Unfortunately I don't have the details of each of the dishes (such as the ingredients) but they were really good. The duck was tender and perfectly matched with a slightly sweet sauce made with rhubarb. The fish had a deliciously crispy skin and the flesh was juicy and tender-cooked, but it was a little bit too salty for me. Nevertheless I still enjoyed the taste and texture of the fish. I loved the crunchy greens served in both dishes.

Duck and Fish:


For dessert, we had the Tartufo (US$8), hazelnut gelato covered in chocolate and sprinkled with nuts. Decadent stuff, which, according to some, is the best tartufo in NYC.



It was a great dining experience and we walked out with happy satisfied tums.