Eatery - Mama D's Italian Kitchen (CA) Revisited
3012 Newport Blvd, Newport Beach, CA 92663
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Italian
www.mamadsnewport.com
[You can read my first review here]. Can I avoid going here without a voucher? I don't know - can they just stop tempting me with such awesome deals? We had grabbed a $50 voucher here and needed to spend it, so we called in the cavalry and got a foursome together for a night of indulging in Italian food. I say indulging because just in case you forgot, there are a heck of a lot of carbs in an Italian dish and it sure does make you feel big afterward! Not to mention that this is a family-oriented restaurant so the portions are huge!
So even with that warning, we still ordered two appetizers for the table. How do you resist calamari, especially when it's made so well here? Small pieces of crunchy squid were smashed between our teeth as we heartily devoured the plate and its well-fitting marinara sauce. I opted for a different appetizer than had before so ordered stuffed mushrooms for the table which were delectable, if you liked mushrooms. I love mushrooms so this overly thick mushroom stuffed with more mushroom bits and breadcrumbs was perfect.
My dish for the night was the Charlie's Chicken Limone (boneless sesame chicken filet in a white wine lemon-parsley butter sauce) accompanied by my personal change of pasta to angel hair. I've never seen chicken swim in white wine and lemon before but mine sure was. Both those two flavors hit you in the face immediately when you bit into the thin, juicy chicken. I wish that the crispiness of the breading came through a lot better but alas, the sauce was drowning it down. As for any butter and parsley? I couldn't tell. My pasta, however, was fabulous as was the marinara on it. The vegetables were undercooked but my focus wasn't on that at all. Overall, a huge portion that required me to take some home (and they gave us a lion-decorated box to bring it home in!).
Duc had ordered one of the specialty dishes - the sausage and chicken capri fra diavolo (sauteed chicken and sausage, roma tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and basil in the fra diavolo sauce). It was a delightful hit of spiciness meets tomato. One of my friends got the spinach ravioli which I had one piece of, and the pasta was very, very good. I think I'll opt for ravioli next time! As always, the service here is too perfect as everyone makes you feel welcome from the hostesses to your waiter (ours was Gabe!). We were even walked from our table to the door at the end of the meal. Huzzah for that and freshly baked cookies for a complimentary dessert!
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