Ostaria Da Rioba is in one square room with polished wood tables with beige cloth runners and matching napkins. One wall is exposed brick and 2 others are windows to the streets surrounding it. Wooden beams line the ceiling and a beautiful terrazzo floor in below. Tables are small and there is light mixed style music in the background. There was a set lunch menu or a small menu to chose from. Service was attentive and they have an extensive after dinner drink menu. While nothing was bad here nothing came off as outstanding or unique, it felt like it lacked soul.
We started with Home made potato gnocchi with crabs, chicory hearts and salted mullet roe “bottarga”. The gnocchi were light and not gummy and mixed well with the chicory. It was a very nice combination of flavors and textures.
Home made cappellacci pasta filled with fossa’s pecorino cheese and potatoes was served on cream of spinach, raisins and pine nuts. Each pasta piece was nicely cooked and topped with a small dollop of creamy cheese that was good strong tasting cheese. The mild spinach worked well with all the other ingredients. The nuts and raisins added a nice textural contrast. It was good.
Baked monkfish with a crust of mixed nuts on raw spinach, sundried tomatoes and red onion were cheek-size nuggets on small greens with pickled onions. The fish was nicely firm and not at all dry. It was very nice.
Grilled turbot fillet served with field cooked salad, carrots and ginger cream. The field cooked salad was mixed chard and chicory which could have used a little salt, but worked well with the fish and ginger sauce. The ginger helped temper some of the strong taste of the fish, which was nicely cooked. It was a fine dish but not inspired.
They had some nice sounding desserts but decided to pass on ordering any and just ordered coffee.
