Enzo's La Piccola Cucina, Lawrenceville

Everyone knows of a cute little Italian joint where the food is too good to be believed, the space is romantic and the service is killer. From what we had heard around town (and on Yelp, of course) Enzo's La Piccola Cucina promised to be just that.... quaint and charming and just plain good. We must have gone on an off night. I have to say, the place in teeeeny. Almost awkwardly so... I totally bumped elbows with the person sitting at the table next to me when we both went to take a bite of food at the same time. It was decorated in a homey, grandma-ish way (kind of cute), but so teeny I would seriously suggest reservations if you're planning on going on a busy night. The servers were a bit harried and distracted and the food was eh, despite the promises of outstading cuisine.

Every review we read and every person we knew who had been to Enzo's mentioned the 'button bread'. Where the wacky name comes from, I do not know, but it gets a lot of buzz. Described on the menu as a little round loaf of bread topped with butter, garlic, leeks, tarragon, and parmesan cheese, it sounds too good to be true, right? It kind of is... while it was delicious at first, steamy hot and jam packed with flavor, as soon as it cooled down a bit I began to notice just how saturated the bread was. It was downright oily...seriously sitting in a pool of grease. When I took a bite and heard the 'squish' of the oil flooding in to my mouth, I knew it would be my last bite. If we were splitting the whole loaf with a table of 4-6 people it may make sense, but for two it got too cold and too slimy too fast. Ugh. Thinking back on it now it makes me feel heavy.

Matt ordered the home made papparadelle in Bolognese. It was not so good. The sauce was actually pretty well done, but there was not nearly enough of it to compensate for the watery noodles. While I love to see home made pastas on a menu, it really only works if they're done right... these were not. Completely overcooked, the pasta was mushy and clumped together. It also held wayyy too much cooking liquid, which diluted the otherwise tasty sauce. It was a bummer, but the bites he got at the very begining (before the whole plate got watery) were yummy, at least.

I ordered the veal Nicolo, which was listed as veal in a vermouth cream sauce, topped with spinach and sun dried tomatoes. The first few bites tasted pretty good, despite the fact that it was so heavily sauced... but there was something a bit off that I couldn't put my finger on. When I offered a bite to Matt he immediately declared 'that tastes like fish!' He was totally right... there was a clamminess in the sauce that was very odd. The sauce also got a bit 'congealy' as cream sauces can (if they're not done correctly) which made the whole thing even less appetizing.

Look, the thing is this place gets rave reviews. On Yelp they have 4.5 stars, which is absurd! We must have been there on a really off night, or when they were trying out a new chef, or... I dont know what. Long story short, the experience was off putting enough that it will be a while before we give the place a second chance, as deserving as they may be. Let me know if you've been there.... tell me if I'm crazy, people!

Enzo's La Piccola Cucina

http://www.enzoscucina.com/

1906 Princeton Avenue

Lawrenceville- 08648

609 396 9868

Ciro's Restaurant Italiano, MonroeTownship

My folks recently took Matt and I to a new place called Ciro's, located right on the cusp of Monroe and Jamesburg. I had been to the location before, back when it was Basile's, but it was under brand new ownership and had just reopened recently so we figured we'd try it out. They made some decent changes with the renovations... well lit, with a nice bar area and relatively open floor plan. We waited at the bar until our table was available... the service was pretty eh. Waited forever to be acknowledged by the bartender, and she took her sweet time making the drinks. Whatever. It was busy. Fine. Benefit of the doubt.

When our waitress FINALLY came over, we started off with two appetizers; artichokes Francaise and fried calamri. Both were ok. The artichokes Francaise were good, but there was way too much sauce for me. It was tasty... nice and citrusy, but a bit overwhelming due to the sheer amount. The fried calarmi was eh... noithing special. It wasn't chewey, I'll give it that at least, but there was barely any seasoning. When fried food isn't well seasoned, or too thickly battered, it just isn't that great... it just tatses bland and crunchy. The dipping sauce was decent, though.

For dinner Matt and Mom both got full entrees while Dad and I went for pastas. Matt ordered the veal Marsala and he says it was exactly how he wanted it. According to him the flavor of the sauce was dead on and the mushrooms were cooked well. He did say, however, that his veal was thin but not tender. He was happy with the dish over all, though, and that is what matters.

Mom ordered veal Francaise and she wasn't completely thrilled. The sauce, as we know from before, was good, but the batter on the veal was a bit too thick and eggy, and it got really soft. I will say that the portions were very large, though, so that is nice to see, especially at Italian places. There were three large pieces of veal on top of a big pile of pasta. Plenty of food!
Dad ordered the Bolognese, and to be honest it wasn't that memorable. I didn't even jot down any notes about it. I know it tasted pretty good, but it wasn't anything worth writing home about (or writing down at all, it seems!) All that I remember is that there was a very nice portion, and that they kindly subsituted in whole wheat pasta at his request. I ordered the penne Arrabiata and while it was actually very good (in my opinion the best thing on the table) it wasn't an Arrabiata by any means. Arrabiata means 'angry style' in Italian, referring to the fact that the sauce is supposed to carry some serious heat. This, however, was not the case. While it was a really good sauce with a ton of mushrooms and olives and flavor, it wasn't hot AT ALL. I don't mean it wasn't hot to my tounge because I have a high tolerance... I mean you could have given it to a child and they would not have found it spicy. Good sauce, incorrectly named.
Look. Ciro's is still very new, and with a ton of great Italian food in our area the bar has been set pretty high. The place is lovely and the prices are very very reasonable, but it seems that there are still some kinks to work out. I don't think I will be going back there anytime soon, but if anyone out there heads that way and wishes to set me straight, please do. I am all for second chances, if I think they are well deserved.

Ciro's Restaurant Italiano
301 Buckelew Ave

Monroe Township- 08831

732 521 1800

Bayou Cafe, Freehold

Matt and I recently went to New Orleans on vacation, and haven't stopped raving about Cajun food since. The spices, the flavors, the heart and soul... we really fell in love with the cuisine. When my uncle S told us that he had recently visited a joint called the Bayou Cafe in Freehold we couldn't get there fast enough. We rallied up my Mom and Dad and made our way to what we hoped would be an authentic Cajun supper.

Uh.... No.

Located on Main Street in downtown Freehold (such a hip area!) it fit in with the other amazing local eateries as far as looks go. The furniture and décor were modern and fun. The hostess was friendly and happily allowed us to switch tables (we were originally seated right in front of the band... I will expand on that later). It was clean and had a lot of character. That's about where our good time ceased.

The place is loud. Like 'Huh!?? What was that?! I can't hear you!!!' loud. Like we had to read each others lips and use hand gestures loud. We actually ordered our meals by pointing at the menu since our waitress couldn't hear us. Live music is nice but not at the expense of your customers. Since there is no bar (Yay for BYOB.... knew there had to be a bright side, yes?) the band starts playing at 6:00 PM instead of the standard 10. It's distracting and takes up a good eighth of the restaurant but whatever. The noise was the least of my problems (insert ominous 'dun-dun-dunnnnnn' here).

The food was bad. It was either overly salty or severely under seasoned. It was not well presented and it was actually quite boring... completely UNLIKE the food in New Orleans. But I digress. Allow me to walk you through it (Hey! if I had to sit through this meal you do, too!)

We started with an appetizer of 'cajun chicken fingers'. It came with a side of what I thought was a horseradish sauce (may have been a mustard sauce... either way it was underwhelming). They were fine. Not bad, a little salty, but not bad. There was no heat... zero. Alas, we ate them and hoped that our entrees would be a little jazzier, as when we think 'cajun' we think big flavor and a nice kick of spice.

While waiting for our entrees to come out we had our salad course. I had opted for a nice, safe Caesar salad. Matt got a gumbo (which was the best thing to come out of the kitchen all night) while Mom and Dad went for the house salad. As I mentioned Matt's gumbo was delicious. A little spicy with lots of veggies and rice and beans it was a hit at the table. The house salad, though, was odd. The chef fancied himself creative when he composed these bad boys, as they had standard salad fare (lettuce, tomato, carrot) and balls of cantaloupe. Now I like fruit in salad, I really do, but only when it serves a purpose. Dad put it best when he said 'if the house dressing was at all acidic the cantaloupe would be a welcome addition, as it would even out the flavors. This is not the case. The dressing is sweet, and therefore does not need the additional help of the fruit... all it does is confuse the mouth." Well said, guy.

Out came the entrees. I had ordered one of the specials, which was described as blackened catfish topped with shrimp, Tasso ham, and Andouille sausage. What came out was a messy plate covered in glop. I will say that the catfish itself was cooked well, but everything that was piled atop it was mediocre at best. It was crazy salty and I could not for the life of me figure out which lumps of food were Tasso and which lumps were sausage. The lumps that were shrimp were actually quite tasty and properly cooked, but the sauce they were drenched in lessened the experience for me. The sides of rice and veg were unimpressive. I was very 'meh' about the whole dish.

Mom got the blackened catfish straight off the menu. It was exactly like mine, except she escaped the glop. She was dissapointed by how salty the seasoning was, and, once again, the lack of heat. The fish was cooked well, but it lacked that pizazz that we were all so desperately craving. Same rice, same veg, same meh attitudes towards it.

(See? Looks like a 'before' picture of mine!)

Matt got the Creole chicken, which was an almost stew like dish in a tomato based sauce atop a pile of rice. It had potential, but again it fell flat. It had NO flavor... seriously, none. He added salt, pepper, hot sauce, and was even dying to ask the waitress to bring out some garlic... he didn't (that Matt.... so tactful) but wanted to. The chicken was a touch over cooked, too, but after a sauce that almost bored us to tears who cares. I don't know how it COULD have been so bland... it had peppers... it had onions... it had tomato... how do you mess that up?! It wasn't BAD, it just wasn't good.

Finally, Dad's dish. This was the least offensive of the entrees. He ordered the Jambalaya and it wasn't bad. The dish contained chicken, Adouille sausage, and shrimp in a tomato based sauce mixed over rice. Again, a bit lacking in the flavor department (even though it says 'spicy' right in the description!), but everything was cooked well. Andouille sausage carries so much flavor on its own that it was able to save the dish from Blandsville (well that and the tablespoon of hot sauce Dad threw on). By far the King of all the dinners (which isn't saying TOO much).

Here is what I took away from the experience. One, Cajun food should be a little spicy. Not angry 'OMG my mouths-a-burnin' ' spicy, but there needs to be a zip. Two, it is possible for one place to serve food that was WAY too heavily seasoned and insufficiently seasoned at the very same time. Three, don't trust Uncle S when he suggests a restaurant. To be fair I heard from other family members (Cousin J and her husband R for instance) that the food was decent (we didn't have any overlap in our ordering, so maybe they found the winners). Maybe we caught the place on an off night. It's possible. I just know that we were all so underwhelmed that we have no intention of going back (except maybe for the gumbo.... that was damned good). The biggest lesson learned? If Matt and I want to cure our hankering for some serious Creole we're going to have to get ourselves back to New Orleans. Who's down for a road trip?!?!

Bayou Cafe

http://www.bayoucafe.net/

32 W Main St.

Freehold, NJ 07728

(732) 845-1800