Third Time is a Curse

Friday, The Boyfriend called and suggested we go out to eat. Unlike last time, it wasn't a choice between out and leftovers. Oh no. It was a choice between real food and ramen. We really needed to go shopping.

So okay. Fine. Let's go out.

Meanwhile the Holy Lime imed me and asked if we wanted to go out with him and his lovely, blonde girlfriend (tm)*. He said he knew a nice Italian place.

I like Italian. The Boyfriend likes Italian. (And it was another chance to dodge yet another trip to Outback.) Okay. Sure.

So we went.

The Angry One joined us, bringing the total number of diners to five.

The Setauket Pastaria is a lovely looking place. The furniture has an ornate, wrought iron look, and the whole ambiance is perfect for a romantic night out.

The waitress... oh she was lovely. Friendly and helpful. Of course that may have been helped by the fact that the whole restaurant was absolutely desolate. At nine on a Friday, we were the only people there.

It was... a mixed experience. The bread basket was a mix of focaccia and garlic knots. I had one piece of focaccia and it was obviously reheated, hard and dry. Disappointing. I don't know if the soda was Pepsi or Coke but while it was graciously provided for us in a jug left on the table, it was also tragically flat and somewhat lukewarm.

The Boyfriend and the Angry One both ordered mozzarella en carozza. This is an Italian take on the classic grilled cheese sandwich. Mozzarella between good bread slices, battered and fried, and served with tomato sauce. True to form, I tried some from The Boyfriend's plate. The sandwich itself was yummy, redolent with the mild sweetness of the cheese. The sauce I was torn on. It was obviously fresh, with chunks of tomato swimming invitingly in the thick sauce. But for me, there were too many sour notes, though not to the point of unedible. The Boyfriend and the Angry One both liked the dish so maybe I'm being a sour-puss.

The Holy Lime and his lovely, blonde girlfriend got Clams Oreganata. They both cooed over the dish in a satisfied manner and The Holy Lime proclaimed it the best clams he's ever had. (Feel free to correct me if I misquoted you.)

Then came the main course. I ordered stuffed shrimp (when will I learn???) and was once again let down. There were three shrimp, butterflied and filled with a crab stuffing mixture. I could be wrong but it seemed to me that they used imitation crab. For the twenty bucks we shelled out for my dish, they could have used real crab. And if the drab stuffing wasn't enough, I was handed a real blow by the sauce. I asked for the same sauce on my pasta as on my shrimp and when I tasted the pasta I almost cried. It was creamy and sour and tasted almost like seafood flavored lemon curd. After heavily ladling parmesan over it, it became somewhat edible. Somewhat.

Just so you know, The Boyfriend mocked me for my newest failed foray into stuffed shrimp.

The Holy Lime had shrimp scampi ravioli. His lovely, blonde girlfriend (tm) had black lobster ravioli. My initial guess that the ravioli was stuffed with seafood was erroneous. The large plates were filled with ricotta ravioli and free floating chunks of seafood. They were both happy with their main course. (Again, correct me if I'm wrong.)

The Angry One had chicken. He also had veggies and potatoes with it and exclaimed several times that they were very good.

The Boyfriend had manicotti and meatballs. Basic pasta, tomato sauce. You know the deal. He was happy.

We got tiramisu to go but never got around to eating it.

Overall, I think it's a nice date place. Just don't get the stuffed shrimp. It's somewhat on the expensive side, most entries ranging from 18 to 25 dollars and the appetizers in the high end between 7 and 11. I think maybe it's more the experience than the food that would bring me back there.

It does by the way have a lunch menu and a take-out counter.

-Vixen

(*Someone pointed out that this sounds snarky. I don't mean it to. In fact I am very fond of the lovely, blonde one for she is awesome.)

Setauket Pastaria
4082 Nesconset Highway
East Setauket, NY 11733
Line 1 631•476•8600
Line 2 631.681.6678
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