Perla Cafe
“The cacio e pepe and pici nero were both perfectly made and perfectly cooked.”
“We ordered a big mix of appetizers to share and they were all good but the best by far was the asparagus.”
“See below for details of the dishes we tried:
Lamb Breast – One of the best lamb breasts I've ever had the pleasure of eating.”
Perla Cafe
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I love Italian food and was excited to try this place after reading all of the rave reviews. I have to say, I am so happy that my fellow Yelpers led to me to the right direction once again. The food was great (mostly), the space was small, but we had ample space between tables, and best of all, they were playing 90s R&B music in an unobtrusive volume. See below for details of the dishes we tried:
Lamb Breast – One of the best lamb breasts I've ever had the pleasure of eating. It was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. It had just the right amount of heat with the chili, while the yogurt helped to offset the gaminess. The meat was so tender that it melted in my mouth.
Octopus – I was a bit disappointed with this dish. I thought the octopus was over-charred and tasted bitter. I did appreciate all of the accouterments that accompanied the dish, particularly the preserved lemon and the turnip. It was a very pretty dish, wished it tasted as delicious as it looked.
Squid Ink Pasta – our waitress recommended the dish and it was perfect! The pasta was perfectly al dente and the tomatoes brightened up the dish.
Broccoli Rabe – I normally don't talk about side dishes, but I thought this one merited a mention because it went well with the lamb breast and the pasta.
Chocolate Ganache Tarte – Sooooooo goooood!!! I am in awe of that little piece of heaven. The salted caramel sauce was the perfect accompaniment to the tarte. Just realized that I have used the word "perfect" a lot in this review…. I need to dig out my thesaurus!
The service was attentive without being intrusive. Our waitress made great recommendations, quick to fill the water glass, and was extremely patient as we took our time with our entree. Oh and how can I forget the complimentary fried chickpeas that they bring out with your bread. I could eat them all day long! Overall, it was a great dinner with good food and pleasant atmosphere. I highly recommend it!
Great food and modern cool atmosphere. Was here with a group and shared the following dishes:
Appitizer
-Octopus
-Bean seasonal salad with soft boiled egg on top
-Market salad
Pastas
-Pici (duck with foi gra)
-Egnalate (stuffed pasta)
-Black spaghetti
Mains
-Yellowfin tuna
-Baby chicken
-Duck
Dessert
-Strawberry shortcake
-Chocolate moose
As you can see, we got down and don't play games when it comes to tasting the menu. All of the dishes were creative, full of flavor, and picture perfect. My favorite was the Pici and tuna.
When you're not an egg person, don't like bloodies, and think pancakes suck… brunch can be a drag.
Not at Perla! Some of the best brunch food I've encountered in NYC. The biscuits with eggs, sausage and pesto were a great spin on Eggs Benedict. They also have brunch pasta which is HUGE. I even liked the pancakes….
Oh, also, they serve Mangum bottles of Rose. Yes, just yes.
Came here for brunch/lunch on a Saturday around 1pm. Surprisingly the wait was only 15 mins for our party of 3 in the small space !
The coffee is SO DELICIOUS.. I don't mention the coffee a lot on my reviews but this one deserved extra praise !!!
Our friendly was super friendly and suggested I order the biscuits because there were only a few orders left !? This means they must be good and OH MY GOD were they amazing… FRESH made in house biscuits served with a sausage pesto and perfectly poached eggs.. I found it hard not to lick my plate.
If you are feeling in the mood for lunch I also tried the shrimp faro salad, super light and delicious. The Italian hero was also VERY good and served with these fennel chips YUMMMM.
This place does a great Italian lunch/ brunch I would recommend checking it out !!
I came here with a group of 6 on a Wednesday night. We had a reservation and were seated right away. The restaurant is very cute and clean which is a plus. Everything we ordered was tasty and the service was friendly and attentive. HOWEVER- I was a bit annoyed that the restaurant was not willing/could not manage to give me ANY sort of protein with my pasta. I wasn't asking for anything crazy specific; I just requested some sort of protein addition– chicken, shrimp, fish, steak, SOMETHING, which apparently they could not accommodate. I ended up eating only half of a bowl of the Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe because it was VERY rich and cheesy and buttery (more so than at other restaurants around the city) and so I left hungry, because they would not serve me anything additional.