Feeling like Pasta in St. Louis … Cunetto House of Pasta review

 2011, St. Louis Food, U.S.  6 Responses »
Jun 022011
 

So you watched the Godfather or Giada de Laurentis or saw a salumi in the window and just had to eat some pasta. In the US, you always have heaps of choices for Italian. It doesn’t have to be great but you always have a choice for Italian.

In St. Louis, the same choice apply but because of the Hill, one is blessed with a litany of choices in this little St. Louis neighbourhood. Heading into Cunetto’s is like walking into the past.

If you want upscale service, then this isn’t the place for you.  If you want highly attentive service, then this isn’t the place for you. Coming into the restaurant, you should expect to be greeted rather brusquely and overall the bar is old and dated. It is easy to feel like the “common folk” on your visit.  The bar service will probably be curt and short, nothing great. Cunetto’s isn’t really in the business of hamming it up for your business. You either want to eat or not. Note : Reservations are NOT accepted either.

If you want to feed a bunch of grown hungry men, some good Italian food at a reasonable price, then this is the place for you.

I am willing to accept many things for good food, including bad service if the food is spectacular. For a 10 person party, we ordered the following starters, with my comments

  • Melanzane Fritti – Eggplant, julienned, breaded and deep fried. This comes with a good Marinara sauce and you can add your own chilis and roasted garlic into the sauce. Excellent!
  • Gamberi Marinara Diavolo – Shrimp Sautéed in spicy Marinara Sauce. The sauce was ok, and the shrimp were average sized. This could have used some heat. Average.
  • Calamari – Squid sautéed in Tomato and Onion or Butter, Lemon and Garlic . Team liked it a lot. Good.
  • Calamari Fritti – Fried Squid. Generic squid rings fried with the marinara sauce. Average. 
  • Garlic Cheese Bread. The team loved this one, along with chilis, black pepper. Good.

After the starters along with fresh bread, tons of olive oil and chili’s, we started ordering entrees after our vino. What came out, bordered on ridiculous.

Each entree which ranged from 11 – 15$ came in a huge bowl. I ordered two entrees, to try the sampling.

  • Pennine al Bolognese – Small Mostaccioli pasta served with thick Meat Sauce
  • Linguini Tuto Mare – Linguini served with a delicate Seafood Broth style sauce with Clams, Crab Meat, Shrimp and Mushrooms

Both dishes were made super spicy upon my request, and the Linguini Tuto Mare was modified to have a Marinara sauce with tons of sauteed garlic and basil and chilis. It was one of the best seafood pastas I’ve ever eaten. The pasta was well done, the sauce had tons of seafood also. I could barely move after finishing 1/4 of one bowl.

It was definitely good the next day after!!

Coworkers ordered their own dairy filled dishes

  • Petto di Pollo alla Dorfo (Boneless Breast of Chicken, stuffed with Prosciutto, rolled in Seasoned Bread Crumbs, then sautéed in Cardinale Sauce and topped with Prosciutto and Mushrooms) – Massive hit with heaping piles of pasta.
  • Veal Saltimbocca, Chicken Parmigana, all came with heaping bowls of pasta.

Overall, if you’re in St. Louis on the weekday. Head over after 8pm for dinner. You won’t wait, you will get served and you will get a great bowl of pasta. Cunetto’s definitely makes my list for places to eat in St. Louis

5453 Magnolia Ave. St. Louis, MO 63139 | St. Louis – South City | 314-781-1135
Map | http://www.cunetto.com

Deep Fried Twinkies, Cookie Dough and Snickers – no problem! I can gain 60lbs in one sitting!

 2011, St. Louis Food, U.S.  No Responses »
May 272011
 

This is the first hot dog joint, where the desserts take center stage, although you may want to go ahead and sign that living will before you order. If they can batter it and fit in a fryer, then they will do it. It’s about as deep-fried, a festival-style you can get; including choices like a deep-fried Twinkie, deep-fried Ding Dong, deep-fried Snickers bar, deep-fried Oreos and deep-fried cookie-dough balls. Seriously!!!

Pam’s offers thirteen different dogs to choose from. The one that bears the restaurant’s name, the Chicago-style hot dog, is served on a poppy-seed bun and topped with peppers, a pickle, neon-green relish and chopped onions. When I am O’Hare, I always get one or two of these. I know they’re not super authentic, but I love the peppers. At Pam’s, you get a 10″ dog, with two buns, Chicago style.

Yeah seriously, it has two buns on that dog!!

Of course, it would not be anything special, if they didn’t have some ridiculous challenge in this place to crush newcomers. At Pams’, it’s called the Archinator.

The “Archinator” is stuffed inside a baguette, because you can’t find a regular bun that’s 22″ long … The “Archinator,” served Chicago-style, costs $15.99. Of course, you can take the “Archinator Challenge” for $22.99.

This “Archinator” is topped with sauerkraut, chili, cheese, tomatoes and peppers. (The price also includes an extra-large order of fries and a 32-ounce soft drink.) If you finish the “Archinator Challenge” and you receive a $20 gift card and your picture on the wall.

Now if you didn’t want the challenge, you could consume your calories in a multitude of other tasty, death concoting ways.

Your first choice would be to have deep fried twinkies … sprinkled with icing sugar. Do get it extreme with the cherry sauce.

Here is a close up …

Didn’t feel like that craziness, then you could have deep fried Snickers bar … in funnel cake batter.

So wait, you didn’t like the deep fried twinkies or snickers, then how about deep fried chocolate cookie dough …

More Balls of Glory …

Nuff said … you’re in St. Louis .. get over there! NOW!

Pam’s Chicago Style Dogs & More
6016 Delmar Blvd.|In the Loop!
St. Louis, MO 63112
ph: 314-721-PAMS (7267)

Jerk Chicken in St. Louis … seriously! And it’s phenomenal!!!

 2011, St. Louis Food, U.S.  No Responses »
May 232011
 

In my travels, I am constantly surprised at how little I know about things I claim to know a lot about. For instance, I really like my Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas, swimming with gravy and with tons of hot sauce and some water cress salad on it. Simple food, with an extraordinary impact!

Having worked in St. Louis for the last 15 months, I’ve had time to appreciate this city and the suburbs. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend St. Louis to anyone, if they had to choose from the multitude of other much more interesting cities in the US.

As for the food though, St. Louis is growing on me … slowly but surely. This city has some great food but nothing has amazed me more than “Mi Hungry” … it is ridiculously difficult to find good Jerk Chicken in Toronto (even when the damn West Indians have taken over this city), yet I find the best Jerk Chicken I’ve had in years in St. Louis?!!?!

This is a simple place. Once you walk into the unassuming MiHungry (adjacent to rubber burning smells wafting from the nearby auto repair shop), which was obviously an old school diner that was taken over by Miss Ava and her Jamaican husband – this is the second of two locations (the other is in downtown St. Louis), the food will get you.

The decor is complete with exterior plastic and vinyl benches and on the inside, a long counter with barstools. If the food doesn’t get you, then the down home charm of Miss Ava will keep you in - she reminds me of the women serving breakfast and lunch in the Old Breakfast Shed in Port of Spain.

If you’re looking for something swank and posh, then this is definitely not the place for you. This place is all about ridiculously great food and service … nothing more, nothing less.

On coming in, Miss Ava immediately offered samples of her “greatest hits.” Diane and I couldn’t refuse and we graciously accepted samples, which included three kinds of meat: chicken prepared one of three ways: fried, reggae, or jerked; cornbread, green beans, candied yams, collard greens and rice and peas. I think I was hooked right there.

As for the entrees, I had my customary rice and peas with Jerk Chicken. The rice and peas was different, not like the traditional coconut water infused rice and peas with country thyme and seasoning. This was a sweeter southern version of it (Miss Ava is from the South), and it was tasty though, very tasty. The star was the Jerk Chicken – perfect Jerk Sauce with seasonings, a good heat from the skin and meat and tons of smokey greatness in the meat. Only in Jamaica, do you get meat smoked over wood like this. More on that smokey business in a bit!

The food on display is easy to pronounce and even easier to eat. You want Jamaican food with Soul food … then this is the place. Collard Greens with Turkey … check! Candied Yams … check! Sweet Corn … check!

Want some Reggae Wings?

Just when I thought the Jerk Chicken was the top, she offered me the Jerk Pork. I was a bit skeptical, not wanting to ruin the great impression I had of the place – Jerk Pork is yet another ridiculously simple dish to make but a difficult thing, to do really, really well.

 The pork was fall off the bone tender and saucy with just the right amount of spicy (hot enough to tingle, but not so hot that you can’t taste your next bite, so of course she had a home made spicy BBQ sauce that made me reminsce of the sauces we have in Trinidad). I was so stuffed with food, but the Jerk Pork simply blew me away – phenomenal.

Of course, I wanted to up the ante and be difficult, so I asked for Fried Plantains. No problem mon! She takes out a raw plantain, peels it, cuts it up in about 10 seconds and flash fries that thing right there for me.

Miss Ava grinds her own spices for the Jerk chicken, pork and sauces she is serious about the flavor.  She and the husband are so serious about the flavour that you will have to ask them about this!

Mi Hungry Catering and BBQ

Don’t let the “dive” look of this place cause you to drive by… You must stop. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

So you’re in St Louis and you’re in the mood for an awesome hot dog …

 2010, St. Louis Food, U.S., U.S.  No Responses »
Oct 192010
 
So you're in St Louis and you're in the mood for an awesome hot dog ...

then there is only one place you go to … don’t stop, dont pass GO, do not collect $200, proceed directly to the “awesomeness” of Iron Barley. This fine establishment is definitely not the height of culinary excellence. They do not pretend to be anything more than what they are … a place that makes [... Click here to keep on reading this article]

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