Basilico in Millburn

[menton1]

I have wanted to go to this restaurant for a while, but the last 2 times I tried, they were already booked for the weekend by Wednesday. The person answering the phone said to book at least 1 week in advance.

Has anybody been to this place, why is it so popular, and is it worth all the advance planning? Thanks.

[Rosie]

Basilico is one of my favorite NJ restaurants. Yes it is good. They are popular because the food is great and the prices are reasonable. BYO.

Some info here

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...991&hl=basilico

[menton1]

Apparently this place has been bypassed, for some reason, by the Egullet NJ Foodies; it obviously gets no play on these boards-- Basilico pales when it comes to chatter about this type of restaurant compared to Fascino and Corso 98, for example.

I will be dining at Basilico soon, and will report back on it, so then there will be 2 of us that have gone there, Rosie.

[Helena Robinson]

We've been there (about a year or two ago), and have enjoyed it. When we finally have jobs/$ again it'll surely make our list of places to try again.

It's definitely worth an advance reservation; especially if the Paper Mill Playhouse has a production going on that evening. It can get cramped and noisy, but not so much to detract from the experience, IMHO.

[Msk]

I have yet to try Basilico, but everyone I talk to loves it. I know tons of people who live in town and the immediate area. I have yet to hear something bad about it.

I plan on trying it very soon too.

If you can't get in, try a Sloppy Joe from the Millburn Deli next door. One of the best sandwiches ever.....Though not a comperable style.

Msk

[bbqbrisket]

Living in the area, I find the food good but the desserts even better.

But mostly, I find that it's a nice place to go and be seen.

[menton1]

Ate here as a party of 4 over the weekend, our reservation came through, needed almost 2 weeks advance notice.

The place is very pretty, lighting is just the right brightness (or dimness), the space is long and narrow, but not that narrow, room for a liquorless bar in the front and a small space in the back up about 8 steps. Place was packed, and the noise level is quite loud, but not intolerable. We were seated about 15 minutes after or reservation, not bad.

The menu had some nice choices, and we had some nice chats with one of the partners because we found out that he is from Western Liguria, which we had just visited in September. Probably one of the few customers that had even heard of his town!! (Alassio). They also recited a long list of specials, no prices given, and some sounded like pseudo-specials. They also pushed the bottled water a little too hard.

We started with a Wild Mushroom Soup, very flavorful and fresh; a tricolore salad, undistinguished; and a spinach/ricotta salad that had a nice addition of roasted red onions and a lovely vinaigrette. The bread served was terrific, a nice mix of crusty levain-type bread, garlic toast, and focaccia squares. In between courses they served a large bowl of olives and a dish of sun-dried tomato salsa that worked well on the bread. A nice touch.

Next course was an Osso Buco, nice but ordinary, a sliced veal in mushroom sauce, very intersting complex flavor, a flavorless but beautifully-presented Shrimp in Mustard Sauce, a bit disappointing, and a wonderful Pasta in Pesto sauce that was very close to the stuff we had tasted in Italy. All in all, the food could be called uneven. Service was good, except that they left the finished plates on the table much too long.

Dessert was last, and I have to echo BBQbrisket, this was the best part of the meal, except we were too full to really appreciate them. We only had 2, a chocolate sampler, wonderful, and the Tartufo, which was 3 scoops of ice cream-- the vanilla was dipped in liquid chocolate and it hardened into a shiny shell, the chocolate was dusted with walnut pieces, and the hazlenut was dusted with powder sugar and hazlenuts. Beautiful, and very very good.

All in all, the restaurant is good. It is not great, which is what we were expecting, but a nice meal, and I would go back. Next time, though, we will try to go on a weeknight when I'm sure it is not as frenzied.