After taking over an hour to get to my apartment on 34th street from 125th, my family was hungry, cranky and tired. Â We headed to Vezzo, in hopes to get some delicious pizza, but with a half hour wait, we decided to head next door to Da’ Giulio. Â If you are tight on time and don’t want to read this entry, I can sum it up with this – we should have waited at Vezzo.
I really thought Da’ Giulio was going to be a hidden gem. Â Several tables were filled, and crisp white table linens awaited us. Â To our surprise, some free appetizers of polenta fries, focaccia and what I think were rice balls were placed on our table. Â They were okay, nothing outstanding, but something to take the edge off our hunger.
We ordered fried calamari and insalata caprese to start. Â The fried calamari tasted like it came just out of the freezer, but the sauce was delicious. Â I started second guessing that I should have ordered something with marinara sauce for my entree. Â As far as the insalata caprese went, my dad was very disappointed that the mozzarella had a weird creamy substance too it. Â I have an affinity for cheese so I didn’t think it was too bad, but I would have liked it better if it was more of a solid.
As I waited for dinner, I saw a grown man at another table get the ravioli, a dish I was going to order earlier. Â There were only four raviolis on the entire plate. Â Call me chubs, but that would not fill me up. Â I was thankful I went for the scallops and asparagus dish, until it came out on the table. Â There were only five scallops and three pieces of asparagus. Â Unfortunately, the scallops were a little overcooked, and they had no flavor at all. Â I sadly think I’ve made better scallops when I made a package of frozen Trader Joe’s scallops and squirted them with lemon. Â As far as the marinara sauce went, I tried my brother’s spaghetti and sauce – much thinner than what was presented with the calamari.
I left Da’ Giulio feeling disappointed, and a belly full of a mediocre meal. Â While the food wasn’t inedible, it’s not worth going back for.
The Basics Name: Da’ Giulio Location: 176 Lexington Ave, between 31st and 30th Who to bring: No one Price: $$. Â Scallops were $17, pasta around $12. Overall: Â Eh. Â 2 stars.
Chubs – clearly you don’t read your own blog. I reviewed Da’ Giulio several months ago, but I thought it was okay. I went for the pasta + glass of wine for $11 meal, and was pretty pleased. I mean, for that price almost anything will make me happy. Sorry about the bad experience!