Matteo's Ristorante

Matteo's Ristorante ~ 299 Long Ridge Road Stamford, CT 06902 ~ (203) 964-9802

Always having eaten at the restaurants in Florida or New York, I was happy to see that Matteo's branched out to Stamford because the food is great there. They serve hearty Italian meals family style, so each member of the family is bound to fill their stomachs to the brim.

My family started with the classic Matteo's Italian Chopped Salad, which comes with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, onions, salami, and mozzarella cheese all finely chopped. I could eat this salad any time of the day. Next, we moved onto a full order of 12 baked clams. Though they were not as good as the ones in NY and FL, they were still tasty. In fact, the best part of this appetizer is dipping the warm bread in the clam sauce on the bottom of the plate. Following the clams, we were served our dinner. Keep in mind that all four of us are very big eaters... Our waiter came in shifts to serve us lobster ravioli, chicken francese, spaghetti bolognese, and a half order of burnt broccoli.

The ravioli was filled with cheese, lobster, and mushroom, and topped with heavy vodka sauce. It was good, but missing something. The chicken francese was also enjoyable, but not lemony enough. In addition, the spaghetti bolognese was missing the exploding flavor I expected, and no one came around offering grated parmesan cheese. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the meal, but I felt like the dishes lacked some flavor. It might be because I was tasting so many different dishes, or simply because the food was blander than normal - I'm not sure. However, the burnt broccoli was very good, but was $2.00 more than steamed broccoli.

Although the food wasn't as good as it normally is, the service was great. Our waiter made the salad in front of us and even served us from the family style plates. Also, he gave my dad a free beer after serving him a warm one first.

In the end, I'd say that Matteo's is just another family Italian restaurant - nothing so special to go out of your way for.

Overall: 3.3

Taste: 3

Atmosphere: 3 (crowded and noisy, but the building is nice and new)

Experience: 3

Menu: 3.5

Service: 4

Would I return? I wouldn't decline the offer to go back, but I wouldn't choose it

Click here to check out Matteo's website

P.S. - I don't know why everything is underlined. Sorry if it's hard to read

Pasta Nostra

Pasta Nostra 203-854-9700

116 Washington St. South Norwalk, CT 06854

If you're looking for an authentic Italian/Sicilian dinner, head over to Pasta Nostra in South Norwalk. Open only wed-sat for dinner, Pasta Nostra changes its menu weekly so that they only use the freshest ingredients available. 

First I'll start with the bad. The decor is slightly lacking- it reminded me of your average deli. Second- it's a bit pricy (total meal comes out to about $50/person without tip)

But besides those two things, Pasta Nostra was overall some of the best Italian food I've had in Fairfield County. To start, the bread and olive oil were outstanding (they get their olive oil directly from small Italian farms). The bread was crisp on the outside but warm on the inside, and the olive oil was definitely top notch. 

As for appetizers, I tried the salumi plate, which was filled with great meats and provolone cheese. A simple dish, but still a good one. 

I also had the arancini- fried balls of rice stuffed with peas and sausage. Also good.

But my favorite appetizer was the mixture of sauteed hot and sweet peppers with fresh mozzarella cheese. The spice and sweetness worked great with the mozzarella.

When you go to Pasta Nostra (translated to Our Pasta), you have to order a dish that has pasta. I tried their fresh asparagus and cheese ravioli, spelt pasta with garlic, and potato gnocchi with beef stew. 

My favorite pasta was the potato gnocchi because it melted in my mouth and was delicious with the beef and vegetable stew. But the other two pastas were also very good and clearly were fresh, homemade pastas. I also had baked white eggplant stuffed with parmesan and anchovies and topped with tomato sauce, which was extremely tasty too. The eggplant was soft and went well with the salt of capers, cheese and anchovies. 

I ended my meal with warm chocolate lava cake- a hot dessert that I would definitely order again.

While all the food was clearly fresh and very delicious, it was the service that impressed me the most at Pasta Nostra. The service was friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about every dish. The homemade food and the fantastic service made my experience at Pasta Nostra feel like eating a traditional home-cooked meal in Italy. This is definitely recommended for all in the mood for that authentic Italian dinner!

gnocchi with beef stew