Bencotto

Reviews 3

RI

Rick Von Feldt

SUMMARY: This is a corporate Italian place that uses short cuts (frozen shrimp) to create tourist level pasta. If you don’t know authentic, you will like it. But it is far from the best in Little Italy. Recently, over dinner, foodie friends and I found ourselves in an Italian in Little Italy discussion. Was there really any good authentic Italian places left in Little Italy? Sure, we knew of places popping up in Point Loma, Mission Hills, Hillside and Bankers Hill. But surely, there must be amazing places left in Little Italy. In the shift from “mom and pop” places to restaurants with cool Italian names, but owned by large corporations, many authentic places have just gone away. The atmospheres and service levels at the new places are better and more fine tuned. But often the kitchens turn to short cuts to preserve their profit per plate ratings. During our friend dinner, we counted four places that some seem to think have food worthy enough to be called authentic Italian. Bencotto was one of those places. This place describes itself as “Chic bi-level eatery famed for artisanal Italian eats, including handmade pasta & classic desserts.” Chic is good. Artisanal house made pasta can be good. But the real question is, “Does it taste good?” When I arrived tonight, I asked the server, “What is extraordianary?” She responded by saying the squash blossoms and squid ink pasta are our most popular. Anything on our special menu is good.” When I hear a server say the word “popular” – my antenna goes up. Does that mean that this is the item that restaurant tells you to order? Is it something that appeared on a magazine cover, and now every is ordering? Or is it really the dish that tastes good? Unfortunately tonight, it was the first – and not the last. I went with the suggestion of the server. I started with the “FIORI DI ZUCCA RIPIENI” which is described as “lightly fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta and smoked mozzarella, parmesan sauce.” Of course, it was the most expensive of all the starters at $16. The blossoms were fried well. But they absolutely lacked flavor. They were underseasoned. The coating had no flavor. But worse, where there was supposed to be “smoked mozzarella” was at best – well – ricotta. If there was mozzarella in the dish, then it was very well hidden. The parmesan cream was watery and little flavor. I was then told the most popular dish on the menu was the TAGLIATELLE AL NERO DI SEPPIA. It is described as “hand cut black squid-ink fettuccine in a spicy pink sauce with shrimp.” Evidently, the reason that this is now so popular is because the restaurant was fortunate enough to get this dish on the cover of San Diego Magazine’s Food Edition. The picture on the cover of the magazine is chocked full of whole shrimp on a layer of black squid ink tagliatelle. The dish, instead of filled with whole shrimp, was made with tasteless frozen shrimp and rock shrimp. The was no spice to the pink sauce. In the end, the dish was a disappointing tourist meal.

JA

Jay Keyes

Bencotto (translates into "done well" in Italian) is a sleek and trendy home-style Italian restaurant in the middle of Little Italy. With its sharp-angled modern interior accents and dim lighting, the restaurant is as chic as they come and attracts a pretty crowd. However, Bencotto is more than just a scene, it is a well-executed culinary experience. If you love cheese, you should order the "Taste of Aged Parmigiano Reggiano" appetizer, which is described on the menu as two parmigiano-reggiano cheeses with a balsamic vinegar crème. You get about 5-6 ounces of cheese, evenly split between a 24 month and 40 month version. I wouldnt describe the balsamic vinegar on the plate as "crème" as much as a heat-reduced (and presumably well-aged) balsamic -- it is intense and syrupy. I much enjoy the 40 month rendition, a complex and layered cheese that first tastes on the tongue like roasted hazelnut and cumin and develops a sweet toffee-like flavor as it is chewed. I LOVE the "Tortino Al Tartufo," a soft and semi-firm soufflé of ricotta and parmesan cheese with black truffle and a porcini mushroom cream sauce. The truffle flavor is quite pervasive in this rich and pleasing appetizer. While the flavor of the "Tagliatelle Al Nero Di Seppia" is excellent, the presentation is not so good. This is a dish featuring hand cut black squid ink fettucine in a spicy pink shrimp sauce. It looks like a gloppy-looking plate of black pasta drowned in a creamy pink sauce and haphazardly scattered shrimp embedded in it. The fact that some of the shrimp are served tail-on, and some of the shrimp are cut into chunks is also kind of... strange? That said, the dish is absolutely delicious and you should order it if you dont care how your food looks. On the one occasion I came here and had room left over for dessert, I ordered the "Semifreddo Al Pistacchio," a pistacchio mousse with hazelnuts and a sour black cherry sauce. Semifreddo means "partly cold" in Italian -- so why is it that when I ordered this dessert, it was so frozen solid that I wish I had a steak knife to cut it? That aside, once I managed to spoon it in my mouth, it was fantastic. The black cherry sauce was actually pretty awesome, and I would suggest they douse the entire dessert with this stuff. Overall, the flavor of Bencottos dishes shine even if the presentation or texture sometimes miss the mark. Service is consistently pretty good here. I think I prefer Bice, Salvatores, or Cucina Urbana for a San Diego take on Italian, though Bencotto does a better job than any of the other "Italian" restaurants Ive visited in Little Italy with the possible exception of its sister restaurant, Monello.

ME

Melody Li

I have been wanting to try squid ink pasta for a very long time and finally got a chance to at Bencotto. I picked this place based on Yelp reviews and read that this place is known for their pasta. I was not disappointed! We made reservations at 7:00 PM on a Sunday night but probably didnt need to since there were still plenty of empty tables when we got there. The waiter was very friendly and seemed to know the menu well. For drinks I ordered the garden mule. I liked it a lot. It wasnt overly sweet like most cocktails so I downed it pretty quickly! I just wished it was a tad stronger. For appetizers we ordered the riso fritto. Its fried risotto balls with a meat sauce dip. They were scrumptious! Perfectly fried on the outside with creamy rice on the inside. The bolognese meat sauce complimented it very well. For entrees of course I ordered the tagliatelle al nero di seppia (squid ink pasta with spicy pink shrimp sauce) and it was divine! The egg noodles alone were so good. You can tell it was handmade because of how fresh it tasted and it had just the perfect chew to it. If you have never had squid ink pasta before it really doesnt taste all that different from regular pasta. It has a very subtle salty taste to it that you might not even notice. Its mostly for the color. But it definitely had to be the best so far in regards to any pasta dish Ive ever had. The shrimp was cooked nicely and I think there were pieces of lobster in it too. The sauce was great also. I didnt think it was that spicy. My boyfriend had the pasta with lamb sauce (wished I remembered the full name). He said it was just okay since he is more picky when it comes to how his lamb is prepared. Even though he is not a huge fan of egg noodles he can tell it was fresh and handmade. Both of these entree you will find on their specials menu. Lastly we ordered the panna cotta for dessert. I wanted to try it since Ive never had it before. It was delicious. Thick and creamy yet light in taste and not overly rich. I was pleasantly surprised. Other notes about the restaurant: its located in Little Italy so parking can be a pain. The restaurant had a modern/trendy feel to it and it was clean. Oh one thing I liked was the busboy would come around to each table and made sure you had all your utensils. Since mine was taken away when I finished my appetizer. So it was nice to have a new set of clean utensils for the next course! Overall, I had a great experience. I would come back to try their other pasta dishes. They have a sister restaurant right next door called Monello. Might try that place next time too.