Osteria Cucina, Marlboro NJ

Went to Osteria Cuccian a/k/a Buona Sera West last night. What a scene. Notwithstanding the less than ideal atmospherics, had a very sold, albeit very pricey meal. Beautiful night to sit in the outside patio. Classic rock tunes playing all night. Excellent service from the waitstaff. They have this housemade pineapple infused vodka. Delicious, but at $14 a pop, the bar bill quickly amassed. Started with kimono oysters … .small but sweet, and a fennel salad. Wife had giant (really giant) grilled shrimp over risotto. I had a bronzino special with stuffed shrimp and crabmeat swimming in a lemon/garlic wine sauce. Both entrees were terrific. $170 pretip is not a usual Thursday night out, but wife and I hadn’t been out in some time. I’ll probably return again sooner than my last visit more than a year ago.

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Excellent and accurate review! (based on my previous experiences) I’m glad you got to enjoy the patio, I tried to sit at the outside bar and the cigar smoke made it very uncomfortable for dining. (and I enjoy an occasional cigar) FYI give Cuzzin’s Clam Bar, west (towards Freehold) on 79 about 1-2 miles on the right hand side. Similar crowd but excellent food at a slightly lower price point.

Up until recently I had only been here for their happy hour. Since I don’t drink, my impression was usually the same - good fried zucchini and decent meatballs. Since my usual go-to/delivery option for similar food is Frankie Fed’s, I will compare my dinner to them.

Veal parm, while the best of the mains we ordered, was twice the price of FF at $48! Was it that much better? Heck no! It was about the same, which is good, but it’s not like they used special veal or anything that would justify that much of a markup. A special pasta ($36) was supposed to contain lobster meat and shrimp. There was certainly enough shrimp ( maybe 36/lb size ) but no discernable lobster at all. Again, not that it was bad, just overpriced and misrepresented. Heck, a frisee salad was $18!

So, all in all, I’d say the food was decent but I walked out of there feeling like I was robbed.

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Hold up. Veal parm was $48???

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Remember, it probably comes with 15¢ of pasta too

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This sounds like the sort of place that charges extra for all sides.

Yes veal parm was $48. There are contorni separately. It did come with pasta. I’m not sure how much that pasta was worth @BossaNova :grin:

That’s why I only go for happy hour. Went for an early dinner once and just felt really pressured by the service. The servers seem abrupt for lack of a better term. The bartenders are great.

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@NotJrvedivici think I get what you mean when you talk about the scene here now….
For those not in the know, this is one of the real housewives of New Jersey. This is what they put out as far as messsging for Christmas

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Exactly……

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You know what? I appreciate the restaurant being that public about who they are and who they want as customers. Saves me a trip and $$$!

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Now one has to decide, “Is this better or worse than the Christmas card with the entire family holding semi-automatic weapons?”

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Depends. How’s the steak?

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