We didn’t feel like cooking today, so we decided to try Penny Roma, at which we’ve been meaning to eat ever since they opened. Flour+Water has a pasta shop from which we had purchased a few pasta dinners since the pandemic, so we were familiar with many of the pasta dishes and Penny Roma is the restaurant with pasta from the Flour + Water pasta shop.
Since we didn’t have reservations, we went for walk-in seating about 15 minutes after they opened. The restaurant was fairly full already, so we only had the option for bar seating, which actually worked out great for us since, one, we had a great view of the dining room and kitchen and, two, it kept us a bit more separated from the other diners,
There were a bunch of dishes that we were eyeing on the menu, but since they had a tasting menu (modestly priced at $79/person), we decided to go that way since we knew that would be the best way to try a lot of dishes. We also went with the wine pairing which also very modestly priced at $39/person.
For raw dishes, we received the local hamachi and albacore tuna dishes, both of which were dishes both of which we were interested in trying. The hamachi was our favorite dish of the evening with it’s clean flavors. The tune dish with pistachios and capers was an interesting contrast, much heavier flavors. For starters, we received the caprese salad with fresh heirloom tomoatoes and also the prosciutto with melon, a classic pairing. Both were solid and classic dishes. For the pasta course, we received the spinich raviolini stuffed with ricotta and spinach and hint of spice and a mushroom risotto (tasty). For the main, we received the pork with peach and the wild arugula salad (simple, but very tasty). By this point we were pretty full, but we still had dessert. For dessert, we both received the olive cake with a bit of cream and strawberrys (good).
Service was attentive (the place was packed too), pacing was good, and we were in and out in less than 2 hours. Wines were only ok, but good enough for the price. All in all, it was a solid meal, nothing spectacular or mind blowing, and reasonably priced.
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