Mancini's Restaurant

Critic's Review

I went into Mancini's craving orecchiette with broccoli rapini and sausage. I checked the menu that they have displayed to verify the price, and then I got a seat near the street. If you sit up front you're practically right on the sidewalk and you'll be right under the speaker. Unfortunately I had a loudmouth right behind me so it wasn't as tranquil as I had hoped. The view is very Las Olas.

Its all seemed to be going along smoothly as my server gave me a menu. "I already know what I want", I told him. I'll have the orecchiette with the rapini and sausage. He seemed confused. "Show me on the menu", he said with an Italian accent. But it wasn't there. "Oh", he said, I guess that's not on our new menu. But wait, they have a menu on display in front of the restaurant. I told him that they shouldn't have the wrong menu out front. He didn't seem concerned and didn't change it while I was there. I'd need some time to review the "new" menu. I asked for some sparkling water with lime.

I decided on the veal medallions, which are the menu claims are pounded thin with prosciutto and fresh sage and served over spinach. Sort of a saltimbocca I figured. The sparkling water was delivered without lime. Of course they only had the liter bottles. They probably charge $6 here, I thought.

After about 5 minutes he came back to drop some bread on the table and the limes. No butter, no spices for an olive oil dip. I poured some oil on the bread plate and grabbed one of the 3 pieces of regular italian bread. Too bad it was stale. All 3 pieces. Inedible. Ok, I didn't really need the bread anyway.

Another 10 minutes or so, and the food comes out. I can't say I was happy with the portion. For $18 for lunch ala carte, I expected more than this.

I had been thinking that I could overlook the bread and the wrong menu issue with a fabulous entree, but this wasn't it. There was only a very small amount of fresh sage, which is what gives the dish pop. The "dry marsala" sauce was too sweet, almost like syrup. The veal was so thin that I couldn't really taste it. It was dry. It wasn't enough. The spinach, however was good.

When I got the bill, the number seemed a bit high. Ah, $6.95 for sparking water. Nice touch.

I'd only seen Mancini's at trade shows; sitting on plastic chairs under a tent isn't really my thing, but I had always thought it was a pretty good restaurant. Maybe it is, but I'm not a big eater, and usually I have leftovers at Italian restaurants. I left here hungry. And I can't say that I enjoyed it.