10/27/2009
Marco Polo
345 Court St
Brooklyn, NY
Fellow Foodies, I am here! Does the name look somewhat familiar? Think about it and it might come to you! Anyway, Beauty & the Cook is here to give you the real deal review on some of your favorite and soon to be favorite restaurants in NYC. I’ll be honest: I’m totally picky about what I eat so this is very new for me but together (and I DO mean together -we’ll discuss the CHALLENGE later), I think this will be very exciting! So let’s begin! First stop: Marco Polo Ristorante (345 Court St., Brooklyn NY).
 
As soon as we walked in, Marco Polo gave me the complete feeling of Italy. From the paintings of Old Italy on one side of the wall to the mini wine selection on the other (it was just to give you an idea of what they had but not at all the FULL selection), it just felt very comfortable. The restaurant manager, Mike, gave us a tour of the restaurant first and then it was time for the feast to begin! First, we had a sample appetizer of the very fresh pizza from their sister restaurant next door, Enoteca! Delicious, oh my goodness! I'm telling you, if this is what the pizza in Italy tastes like, please book me on the next flight. Okay, let's get serious now: the first appetizer we had from Marco Polo was the Octopus Carpaccio. Yes, Octopus. Now since I said I’m picky, you can imagine this isn't on my list I've things I’ve ever eaten. But being a Restaurant Diva is all about trying the new and let me tell you: it was GOOD! It was thinly sliced with no tentacles and over it was a very nice cucumber salad. I was so surprised that I enjoyed it and probably would have enjoyed it MORE had I not known what it was. Our third and final appetizer was the Buffalo Mozzarella with tomatoes. While the Mozzarella was very fresh, I must admit it was a little too creamy for my taste. I think you all would probably like it though if you really love cheese.
 
Moving on to our entrees, we started off with Fettuccine Vino Rosso. As one of the more popular dishes, this is red wine soaked fettuccine tossed in a parmesan cheese wheel! It was a good dish but it would have been much better without the extra parmesan shaved on top of the already cheesy dish. I think that took it a little too far over the top but nonetheless, it was good! Moving on to our final entree, I had striped bass and grilled shrimp with breadcrumbs and steamed shrimp (the dish was originally rack of lambs but just to let you know, I only eat chicken, turkey and SOME seafood). DELCIOUS, DELICIOUS, DELICIOUS!! The fish was made perfectly and the breadcrumbs on the shrimp even seemed to have some other type of flavor to them that gave it a real kick. I enjoyed dinner overall, no matter what might have been "too much" for me, and had a great time trying the new food.
Did you think we were done? Oh please, of COURSE there was dessert! Before I even tell you what we had, this was BY FAR my highlight of the night. We had a variety of desserts on our plate: a Ricotta gelato (which was the BEST - it was like a mix of cake and gelato that was PERFECTION), chocolate cake with fudge sauce that was so chocolaty and gooey that was...yum, and finally a sliced pear (not your ordinary pear) with HOMEADE vanilla ice cream. Ohhhh, take me higher because after that, I did not know how I was going to walk out!!
Alright, so my overall Restaurant DIVA Dining experience of Marco Polo is 4 out of 5 stars!!! The atmosphere was great, the food was good, and our waiter Izet was the best. Because there were certain foods I DIDN'T love, I can't give it that other star and I think they could work on speeding up the service a bit. But I implore you to get thee to Carroll Gardens and taste the divine food at Marco Polo Ristorante!! Take a date, your friends, family - whomever! It's affordable so no need to worry about an echo in your pockets after dinner. When you're done, make sure you come back to the blog and give us your own review - we'd really like to hear what you think!
Before I go, my CHALLENGE: I challenge you all to go try a new restaurant whenever you get the time (and yes, the money). But not only that, make sure you don't go when you're STARVING so that you can try something you've never eaten. Be open-minded, you guys, because that's the only way we're going to learn about what we like and don't like. You in? Good!! Happy eating!!
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