Walked around yesterday with my friend Nabil to find a new place to eat after work. We stopped at this place since it looked decent enough, just your usual Italian restaurant. First of all, when the waiter told us the Specials for the day, it seemed longer than the menu itself. We had calamari to start which wasn’t phenomenal, and I couldn’t figure out if the little plastic piece I took out from my first bite was part of the calamari or something else.
I ignored it, and Nabil went on to order the ravioli, and I ordered the ‘pollo parmigiani’ — I tried to enunciate it correctly when I ordered, but the waiter quickly followed up and said “Oh the chicken parm?” Yes..that’s it.
Our food came out, and the ravioli I thought looked nice enough, but my chicken parm with a side of veggies didn’t look like anything special. I barely ate half, not because it wasn’t good (it wasn’t amazing either), but it was super filling. They put a ton of cheese on top.
Afterwards, we agreed it was a bit disappointing. Nabil said, “I feel full…but not in a good way.” It was kind of spot on. The prices weren’t bad, but you get what you pay for.
So I’m thinkin: Diner food in a the mask of a nice Italian restaurant.
Restaurant Info:
Ralph’s Ristorante Italiano
862 9th Ave.
at 56th St.
New York, NY 10019
Midtown West
x
Shy
Haha ohhh chicken Parmesan. So this is a little-known fact, but that is completely a dish that was invented in the States and does not exist in Italy. If it does, it’s because too many tourists have come and asked where it is on the menu. People in Italy actually never mix pasta and chicken, although the original dish from which this stemmed is melanzane alla parmigiana (eggplant parm), which was created in Sicily.
It makes sense though, because most of the early Italian immigrants who came to the States were Sicilian, so they must have over time developed this chicken/pasta combination.
Just saw the picture and it made me smile 🙂
I love the Italian tid bits 🙂