Porsena, a review

Photo Source: http://newyork.timeout.com/restaurants-bars/the-feed-blog/1268915/the-critics-porsena-brooklyn-fare-and-more


After having dessert first at ChikaLicious, we took what was intended to be a fifteen minute stroll around the neighborhood.  Unfortunately, when I Googled the address for the restaurant, I was given 21st Street instead of 7th Street, so the walk ended up taking 45 minutes instead after we turned around.  Since we had no reservations, we were seated at the bar (another benefit of getting to dinner early is being able to get seated at all on a Saturday night).  Since I was already a fan of Sara Jenkin's Porchetta, I had pretty high expectations going in to dinner.


We started off with a couple of appetizers: the crostini with salami, anchovies and butter and the green beans with fennel, celery, toasted almonds, and pickled red onions which we chose since we wanted something on the healthier side.  The crostini was good, but nothing too shocking.  The green beans on the other hand were a pleasant surprise.  Perfectly crisp and vibrant with a nice, light citrus dressing.  It looks very simple, but tastes like some thought went into the composition of the dish.



Photo Source: http://newyork.timeout.com/restaurants-bars/2019861/vegetarian-friendly

For entrees, we chose the anneloni con salsiccia e rape which translates to ring-shaped pasta with spicy lamb sausage and mustard greens (see below), the casarecce with jonah crab in a spicy cream sauce, and the pasta al ragu which had rigatoni.  My friend loved the anneloni and my other friend was very happy with the casarecce.  I loved my ragu since it didn't feature tomatoes like most ragu's do.  The pasta was perfectly cooked and the dish was well seasoned.  The portion sizes were also understated so you didn't feel completely stuffed and even could split an entree with the rest of your party.  The prices were reasonable.  





Photo Source: http://hungrychineseman.com/2011/04/22/porsena-sara-jenkins-of-porchetta-
does-pasta-84-pts/

Since I couldn't justify dessert #2, we passed on the selections at Porcena.  But they had some interesting looking choices, so I'll have to try them next time I visit.