Osteria Morini

Reviews 5

AL

Alice Wang

I was pretty excited to hear that Chef Michael White, owner/chef of Marea and Osteria Morini in New York, was opening an Osteria Morini in DC, especially near the waterfront in the Navy Yard area. DC needs more restaurants like Osteria Morini, casual restaurants that dont skimp on the authentic and quality taste. I came here on a Friday night close to closing and was struck by how gorgeous this restaurant is. Right on the waterfront as I mentioned, its got a rustic decor and ambiance, which pays tribute to its original location in Soho. However, its also got qualities of DC and the Navy Yard surrounding, with concrete support beams, high ceilings, and an open chefs kitchen for guests to watch their meals unfold before their eyes. The menu offers a wide array of smaller plates and larger shared plates. Guests are encouraged to start with a wide variety of cured meats, crostini, antipasti and other small starters to share. Chef Whites signature pasta offerings are served with a variety of traditional ragus and delicately stuffed pastas. To me, it is similar to Fabio Trabocchis Fiola and Casa Luca restaurants in downtown DC; although not quite on Fiolas level, Osteria Morini definitely rivals Casa Luca. For my antipasti, I ordered the capesante, which is scallops, lentils, lardo and salsa verde. Amazing. There was so much flavor and even some complexity to the dish, only gaining in flavor as you continue to eat the dish. Scallops are cooked to a perfection and the lentils are very flavorful. For my pasta entree, I ordered the tagliatelle with ragu antica and parmigiano. Again, such a delicious dish. Everything complemented each other so well in this dish. Its a bit on the heavier side (so much meat) but its a very satisfying and complex dish as the classically dense ragu gets denser (and therefore more satisfying) as you eat it all up, the way classic Bolognese ragus are supposed to be. My boyfriend ordered the bucatini with crab, sea urchin and basil. I had a few bites and really enjoyed this dish as well. Its much lighter than the tagliatelle but equally enjoyable. For dessert, we shared the riso, which is vanilla rice pudding, passion fruit crud, almond crumble, and mandarin-prosecco sorbetto in a glass. Again, loved the dessert and I thought all the flavors complemented each other perfectly. The absolute ideal, light dessert to finish off an incredible meal. Welcome to the neighborhood, Osteria Morini! Im sure youll be a hit with everyone here.

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JE

Jessica Rosenberg

To be honest, we ended up at Morini because no one else in the area had space. Im so glad we ended up here, though, as the meal was a real treat. We started with the trout spread, which came with warm, slightly chewy crostinis. Im not one for crostinis, generally, but these were delicious in their chewiness and warmth, and worked well with the spread. The portioning felt fine for $5. We also shared a plate that had two cheese and one pâté. None were particularly thrilling, but all were quite good. The serving size of the cheeses felt disappointing for the price, but I suppose thats what happens with a cheese plate at a fancy restaurant. The serving size of the pâté was fine. We were also offered bread, and it was warm and rosemary-filled. Yum! For the meal, I ordered the gnocchi. I was surprised to see it arrive with ham laced in, and the waitress told me that the menu had stated ham would be present (the word "speck" was listed, and I hadnt known what speck was), but was nice about taking it back and getting me one I could eat. And I was SO happy she did because that dish, my goodness, I could eat that every day and still not be eating it often enough. Its ricotta gnocchi, with a balance of fullness and delicateness, and it was all in this dreamy balsamic sauce with the crunch of diagonally-sliced snap peas. I kept going "mmm," which must have been incredibly annoying to all around me. We didnt taste any of the desserts or drinks, but the dessert descriptions were very tempting. The bill came to about $40pp (including tax and tip). A nice meal out, and nice it was! Id happily recommend this place to others.

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DA

Dallas Elgin

I had the great misfortune of making a reservation at Osteria Morini for my wifes first Mothers Day. The experience was so utterly unpleasant that we left prior to the arrival of our food. When we tried to move our reservation time up by an hour (earlier in the previous week) to accommodate another friend, the restaurant declined stating that they were at capacity. However, when we arrived the restaurant was less than a 1/4 full at noon. Despite no indication on OpenTable, the restaurant was serving a prix fixe menu (at $60 per person). Several members of our party decided that they were not in the mood for a 4 course meal and inquired if they could split a meal, but were curtly informed that this would not be possible. After deciding that we wanted to remove ourselves from the utterly unpleasant experience that is dining at Osteria Morini we informed our waiter of our decision who then sent over the manager. Upon explaining our decision to leave and our justified reasons for doing so, the manager then proceeded to argue with us. Im often willing to put up with a high degree of pretentiousness in order to eat truly impressive food, but no amount of Michelin Stars or James Beard Awards could warrant the pretentiousness and sub-par service that come with dining at Osteria Morini.

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LY

Lynne Craig

This restaurant was recommended by a friend that lives in the area and frequently dines here. We were excited to try it, as it was our first tim in DC. The entire experience was underwhelming. Our waitress took over 10 min to acknowledge us and while my husband poured water for us, as we were sitting next to the water station, the GM stood at the next table and watched it happen and did nothing.when we finally got service, our waitress never introduced herself, set down the menus and left. After finally ordering and getting our food, which was decent but not memorable, I went to the bathroom. Didnt think I was going to have to wait in line to go to the bathroom in an establishment like this but I did. The restrooms were disgusting. Get back to table and got our bill. Not only could we not read it because At 8:00 they turn down the lights so much you cant even read a dessert menu but we were charged for an extra bottle of wine that we didnt have. Brought it yo the attention of hr server an no apologies - she just cam back and placed it on our table. On top of the terrible acoustics, this restaurant is no different than a franchise Maggianos. #fail

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RE

Renan Augusto

We went here for my sisters birthday and I didnt like it. No one from my family plans on returning because there are much better Italian places. The lighting and ambiance was nice. The waitress seemed to be rushing us. We did not like the service. We were asked for our appetizers and plates before drinks and bread. The bread was great, but has nothing to compliment it. We asked for olive oil, which was okay. The food was okay tasting, but everything food related needs more quality control and tweaking. The mushroom pasta dish is overpowered by tomatoes and lacked salt. The octopus appetizer was too salty. The steak with lentils was pretty good. It was the best. The rabbit was good too. Two people ordered the mushroom pasta and the portions were different. The drinks and wine were good. The service really dragged this place down. We go out to eat all the time to eat at really nice places. We are very lucky to have great cooks in our family. In this case, it was nice to all be out, but the food was not worth the price as we could have eaten better at home. This is not a place that we will return to.

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