Il Bagatto

[Pan]

I will do the best I can to write some remarks about a meal I had on April 11 and ended up rather tipsy at, and which was also a date, and therefore not only about the food.

There were 5 of us - Jeunefilleparis and her boyfriend, I, a friend, and my date (there were supposed to be four people - long, boring story, but they graciously seated us at a 4-top, and the amount of space was adequate).

We started off at the bar, where I drank a caipirinha and traded sips with my date's mojito.

I ordered the last-mentioned specials for both the primi and secondi piatti. The primo was Orecchieti con Ragu' d'Agnello, and it was delicious. By the time the secondo came, I was already a bit tipsy because we were also sharing a bottle of wine (and my petite girlfriend, tipsy already, wasn't having much of it). The wine was a red that was better than an average table wine and cost $40, but I forget what it was. Anyway, my secondo was some kind of fish filet (pike?), excellently cooked, with the bottom flavorful from contact with the liquid in the pan (a white wine-based sauce?), and there were some delicious vegetables under it (artichokes, onions, maybe something else green). I also tried Jeunefilleparis' appetizer, an octopus salad with perfectly-cooked, perfectly fresh octopus. I'm having trouble remembering what my friend and my date got, except that I think both were fish dishes (perhaps my friend got the "Grilled Salmon Filet with salad" that I see in my takeout menu). I know that I tried some of my friend's dish, but I must have preferred my own dish. Three of us got Torta della Nonna for dessert, and it was just as good as I remembered from my last time there. But it struck me and at least some of the rest of us that the food tasted much better this time, without all the smoke. And this was, after all, our Non-Smoking Celebration Dinner. It was a very pleasant occasion, indeed.

The tab ended up as some $43 apiece, including tax and tip.

FYI, Il Bagatto is at 192 E. 2 St., open 11 A.M.-11 P.M., closed on Monday. Call (212) 228-0977 for reservations. The restaurant is small, and I don't recommend for you to show up without reservations unless you don't mind waiting at the bar for an indeterminate period of time - though worse fates are easy to imagine! Cash only.

OK, Lauren, your turn to post.

[juuceman]

The restaurant is small, and I don't recommend for you to show up without reservations unless you don't mind waiting at the bar for an indeterminate period of time - though worse fates are easy to imagine!

How was the wait?? i haven't gone in a while, nor will i recommend the place to anyone, because of their inability to honor a reservation in anywhere near a timely manner.. twice i've been offered a seat in the lounge instead of a table in the restaurant after waiting an hour at the bar area.. i am impressed that you were able to fit five at a four top, as in my experiences, the tables have been packed together so as to require someone to move the table for anyone to get out during or at the end of the meal.. price creep has hit their menu in recent years, but its still cheap..

that said, their delivery service, for which they regularly blanket the neighborhood with menus for, is unusually quick and a great option..

[DavidJS]

Never had any problems with the wait at Ill Bagatto nor bad service. On occasion I get take out and boy is it still as good as eating at the restaurant!

[Pan]

How was the wait?? i haven't gone in a while, nor will i recommend the place to anyone, because of their inability to honor a reservation in anywhere near a timely manner..

We waited for a while (not an inordinate amount of time, I thought), but that was because they had to find a space that could seat 5 people, rather than 4.

The other time I went there, they indeed did not honor the reservation in a timely fashion, however. I think our reservations were for 9:30, and it was something like 10:40 or 10:45 by the time we were seated.

[eatpie]

Couple weeks back I went to Il Bagatto's wine bar for a late Sunday brunch, which is right next to the main restaurant. Overall, an excellent experience.

Menu is set at $10.25 which gets you coffee, juice, a big basket of mixed breads and a main. There were a few pastas on the menu and a few egg dishes. I had an excellent order of scrambled eggs with tomatos and cheese served on crispy peasant bread with a side of meaty roasted potatos. Also ordered a side of pancetta which was a bit dry but a generous portion and delicious. Girlfriend had poached eggs in a red vinegar reduction sauce, asparagus and the aforementioned potatos. Simple and well prepared.

I recomend sitting at the bar if the large, tattoo'd Italian woman is there. She was working the bar, running the place, and basically kicking ass. Great sense of humor, an awesome knowledge of food and wine and she makes a mean Bloody Mary (with Sherry).

[juuceman]

had an awful meal here last night..

arrived around tennish and, as it was about 3/4 full, sat without any reservation or wait.. they have these two great tables hanging over the sidewalk, that let you and your dining companion sit next to each other and look onto the street.. its nice, except for the smokers that congregate right there in front of you..

i found the service and general attitude of the place so overly patronizing, without being helpful or accomodating, whatsoever, that it alone would result in my never returning.. the menu informs you that, as they don't serve cheese with seafood pasta in Italy, they don't do it at bagatto.. should you taste it and feel it's absolutely necessary for you to have cheese with your seafood pasta, they'll accomodate you for a three dollar charge..

the waitress comes over and she's nice enough.. we threw her off her game a touch by asking if they still had a basic arugula salad but she deflected it enough and went into her schpiel about the specials..

we ordered two of the specials, a frisee salad with fruits and cheese and a fresh pasta with seafood, as well as the mussels and the tortellini with meat ragu of the main menu.. half a carafe of the house red and tap water rounded out the order..

bread.. they have a nice foccacia that they bring out with the first course.. we were hungry.. it was late.. it was taking a while for the appetizers to come by.. our waitress was nowhere to be found.. we asked another waitress for some bread, but she just shook her head, smiled, and told us that they bring bread with the first course.. not before..

the food comes with the busboy.. he then makes a second trip back into the restaurant to bring us the bread.. we look at the food, we look at each other, smiles come across our faces and all is well with the world.. as we pick up our forks, our waitress reappears for the first time and asks how everything is.. uhhm.. yeah.. it looks good?? the food is pretty tasty.. the salad was good.. the mussels were good.. pan sauteed, a touch dry (which i actually enjoy sometimes) and the sauce was good.. the sauce is extremely salty though.. everything is plated simply but nicely.. the bread was good.. we were happy.. we were thirsty.. we really needed water but no one came with it.. instead every other staff member (except for our waitress) would stick their head out the door as if to check on us, but every time we motioned for them to come over, would pull their head back into the place and disappear..

we had pastas for our main courses.. the fresh linguini in the pasta special was cooked well.. i like my pasta more towards the al dente side and this was perfect to my taste.. the shellfish was abundant and of decent quality, but the saucing was again overly salty.. the tortellini with the ragu was awful.. cooked to the point of sogginess, probably sitting around par-cooked and just dropped in boiling water to reheat through before being served.. the ragu was fine, and the saltiness that plagued the rest of the meal wasn't there.. we might have expressed our feelings on the food to the waitress, since she came by again and asked how it was, except that again she did so prior to us beginning to eat.. it was pretty comical and i'd long since given up on the meal..

we had a tiramisu and a couple of espresso to finish off the night and were out for just under $90, with tax and (the obligatory 15%) tip.. i haven't tipped less than 20% in years.. this was probably one of the most disappointing, unfulfilling meals i've had in nyc..

bagatto used to be dirt cheap.. it used to be one of the only italian places in the neighborhood, and one of the few decent places where one could sit for a nice meal after ten o'clock.. last night we walked past and passed up eating at gnocco, lavagna, frank, little frankie's, and supper.. we could have hopped in a cab and gone to lupa and had wonderful food and stellar service for the same price, but figured we'd hit a neighborhood spot..

ugh..

[Pan]

Bummer, juuceman!

Have you tried Col Legno? You may find its sedate, relaxed atmosphere an antidote to your experience at Il Bagatto. If you like, you can have a look at their MenuPages.com page.

[juuceman]

Bummer, juuceman!

Have you tried Col Legno? You may find its sedate, relaxed atmosphere an antidote to your experience at Il Bagatto. If you like, you can have a look at their MenuPages.com page.

i haven't.. i've head great things about it, and been meaning to check it out for a while.. when it appeared in the times i figured i'd give it a while to calm back down, but had completely forgotten about it.. i'll probably hit it in the fall..

[Pan]

Review or no review, I've almost never had to wait for a table there, without reservations, at any time. On the occasions I've dined at Il Bagatto, the food has always been excellent, but you're right: With all the other good Italian restaurants in this neighborhood, there's no reason you need to tolerate lousy service.

By the way, I've always had very gracious service at Lavagna, but it's small and while not nearly as hard to get a table at as Il Bagatto, certainly much harder than Col Legno.

[Dave H]

Sorry about your lame dinner, Juuceman. For what it's worth, you forgot to mention that the house red (unless they've changed it) sucks. Which is a goddamned shame as I've often felt that offering house wines would be a clever and friendly way for all the East Village trattorie to increase their Italian-ness.

Living on the block, I've always been a bit puzzled why Il Bagatto gets all the attention it does. The on-the-menu pastas I've always found competent but uninspiring; the secondi I think are much better but unless they've expanded the menu since I've eaten in (they may have--the take-out menu is longer), too short a list to support many repeat visits.

It does have its strengths, certainly: the food is a touch better than Supper (although I find the menu much more limited), and also Max (although more expensive). But anything that's going to have me putting up with the standard 40-minute wait after my reservation instead of walking the four blocks to Bianca? Not hardly.

Of course, now that they've started pushing their take-out I'm there all the time: the stracetti or saltimbocca are just too tempting when I'm feeling a little lazy about cooking. But while I haven't had an experience quite as negative as Juuceman's, what does it say that I'd rather eat the same food out of a cardboard container on my couch than in the restaurant?

For what it's worth, I've always had much better luck at the place next door. Yes, I've finally cottoned on to the fact that the wine list is overpriced (although with so many great wines available by the glass, 1/4 and 1/2 carafes I find the pricing forgiveable). But the food is inexpensive and delicious, and the service couldn't possibly be more friendly. Not a destination restaurant, but an awesome place to have across the street.

[Pan]

Dave, please remind me what the name of the restaurant next door to Il Bagatto is.

[juuceman]

you forgot to mention that the house red (unless they've changed it) sucks.

Living on the block, I've always been a bit puzzled why Il Bagatto gets all the attention it does. The on-the-menu pastas I've always found competent but uninspiring; the secondi I think are much better but unless they've expanded the menu since I've eaten in (they may have--the take-out menu is longer), too short a list to support many repeat visits.

the house red was a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.. at $10 for half a carafe, i didn't expect anything great, but it was drinkable and fine.. i'm not really a wine guy, but even i knew that the waitress's statement that there were 5 - 6 glasses of wine in the half carafe was a load of hogshit..

there are two secondi on the menu- the chicken under a brick and the saltimbocca.. somewhat understandable, given the reality that a high portion of their clientele is likely to order pastas/primi as mains, and given that the menu pricing reflect this..

i felt the same way about the pastas, and it took me a while to actually find something that sounded appealing.. i'm not big on pastas with tons of shit thrown in and that's what they seem to be offering on the summer menu.. the seafood pasta special contained shrimp, clams, mussels, artichoke hearts, and something else in a heavy red sauce.. it was far from the italian cooking that i'm used to, whereby you highlight high quality seafood by doing very little to it so as to allow the natural flavors to come out and be enjoyed, instead of overwhelmed and tasting like a big mush.. i wouldn't be so hard on it if it was some chain restaurant or someplace where it was trying hard to be different, but this is a place in manhattan that has an attitude about how it's trying to be so authentic they don't serve parmesan with their seafood pastas because they're too delicate and that's how they do it in italy.. unless you pay the cheese surcharge.. it's a load of crap..

the place next door (Il Posto Acquinto, i believe) looked nice and charming.. i think if they simplify the cooking, they'll do a better job.. one of the owners was hanging out there, playing backgammon and chatting up the neighbors.. it seemed nice..

all in all, i think i would have been happy enough having bagatto as my neighborhood spot in albany when i was in college.. i won't be back..

[Dave H]

Dave, please remind me what the name of the restaurant next door to Il Bagatto is.

The Place Next Door = Il Posto Accanto

Originally they shared ownership as well as an awning; I thought I'd heard that was no longer the case, although when I was there a week ago the screen saver on the POS behind the bar said "Il Bagatto", so who knows?

the house red was a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.. at $10 for half a carafe, i didn't expect anything great, but it was drinkable and fine

Unfortunately I have a terrible memory for the names of the wines I drink, so I can't tell you if that's the same one. I just remember very clearly thinking that the $17 or $18 we spent on a full carafe would have been put to much better service as part of the cost of one of the several decent bottles they have in the mid-$20s range. Of course a lot of the house wines you get in Italy are bad too, but at least they have the virtue of only putting you out ~3 Euro.

there are two secondi on the menu- the chicken under a brick and the saltimbocca

Ok, so that hasn't changed. (Isn't there also a fish there too?) Too bad: the stracetti con rucola on the take-out menu is a great dish. I assume if one ordered it in the restaurant they would make it. (Hopefully without a $3 surcharge for offending their precious menu... )

i think if they simplify the cooking [at Il Posto Accanto], they'll do a better job

Go and give the scialatielli a shot: big bowl of wide, flat fresh pasta, nice fresh tomato sauce with some halved cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and a bit of grated cheese. Piping hot, simple, delicious. And the broth in the mussels and clams with crostini will put you in bread-sopping heaven. Cheese plate from Di Palo's; mozzarella flown over from Caserta. I mean, any place where you walk in and there's a prosciutto queued up in a meat slicer behind the bar can't be all bad, right?