All’onda
“The bucatini with uni and spicy bread crumbs (which we ordered to share as an app) was so delicious I almost cancel the main entree just to order another of this heavenly plate.”
“The Lumache had a rich creamy texture and the chunks of lobster were a good addition to the dish.”
“The pasta is cooked al dente, smoked uni is sweet and succulent, plus the bread crumbs which adds additional texture to the masterful dish.”
All’onda
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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I am pretty shocked to see All'onda at only 3.5 starts on Yelp. I've been there twice now, and am really impressed with the chic, thoughtful decor (did you notice the Gjelina cookbook on the bookshelf?), professional and properly trained service, and delicious food. The proximity to Union Square doesn't hurt either; it's a really central meeting point for a lot of people.
I made a rez through opentable this past Thursday, and started with a glass of the Soave, one of my favorites from Italy. We were served rosemary focaccia, which was fluffy and perfect, and I wish more restaurants had a bread service.
For mains, the uni bucatini (market price, last night was $34) is their specialty, and one of my favorite pasta dishes in the city. I put it on the same level as Michael White's creations, like Marea's octopus fusilli, or Osteria Morini's cappelletti. The bite of the al dente pasta, gently toasted breadcrumbs, and creamy brine of the uni all merge together flawlessly to form well-balanced decadence. We also shared a side of grilled asparagus with dashi butter, which made me (yet again) curse the fact that it's so nearly impossible for New Yorkers to own a grill.
*Restaurant Week Winter 2016 Review Only*
At first, I wasn't sure where the entrance once. I hung out by the stairs until I saw someone else exit the restaurant. Once inside, I was greeted by the hostess and was offered the option to check my coat. One other friend had already arrived so we grabbed a drink and waited for our other friend to arrive. Once our party was complete. we were guided up the stairs, into the dining area.
Once we were seated, we were greeted by our waitress and given menus. I chose the fluke (appetizer), eggplant parmesan (entree) and olive oil cake (dessert). My friends chose the veal meatballs and the uni bucatini. The fluke was simple, yet had just the right amount of seasoning and flavors to make it memorable. Unfortunately, I don't eat veal, but i was told thie meatballs were good.
The entrees were all pretty disappointing. The small plate of eggplant parmesan was okay, but slightly burnt. The uni, which carried an additional charge, was the most disappointing of all. There was barely even a hint of uni.
The whole dinner felt very rushed. We left feeling semi-satisfied with our meal. It was definitely worth coming for RW, but i don't think I would come again for a regular meal.
This place has been on my list for a while and I finally got to try it last week. The ambience is nice – sleek, big comfy booths. To start, we ordered one of the cheaper bottles of wine (an Italian white – cannot remember which one) and were very pleasantly surprised. Our meal was really wonderful. Such a creative menu without going way off the deep end. I love the little Japanese twists on a traditional Italian menu. We started with the arancini, which was perfection. Of course we ordered the bucatini uni – it was creamy, yummy, and perfectly salty from the uni. A bit stingy on the uni – but too be honest, uni has such a unique flavor that more could have really been awful. Surprisingly, the real star of this meal was the eggplant parm. Miso eggplant parm! Eggplant parm is one of my favorite things to make, and I almost never order it out because I never like it as much as my own! The miso made it unique enough. You could barely taste it, but eating it was like – hmm, this is delicious. What's that flavor? If I hadn't known there was miso in it, I wouldn't have guessed.
The olive oil cake is fantastic. Was a touch drier than expected, but yummy and not too sweet. I would definitely recommend All'onda for a more unique Italian meal.
stopped in for 5-7 HH on a friday.
$9 GOOD glasses of wine! lovely ambiance, good service.
food looked good (didn't have any).
totally will be back.
Review is for Winter 2016 Restaurant Week:
What makes All'onda stand out is their choice of menu items on their RW tasting. They put their most spectacular dishes forward at a value price!
We were a table of four so we ordered literally almost everything off the first, main, and dessert. Stars of the night is the beets with ricotta, the short rib, the uni pasta, and the olive oil cake dessert with ricotta ice cream. The meatballs are worth a mention too as it super tender melt in your mouth feel.
I'm super glad I choose this restaurant. Would like to come back and splurge here once a while. Service is good.
Super average is the best way to describe this. Crudi tasting was good enough except the hamachi which was fishy. Pastas are fine (duck ragu, cavatelli with ricotta/tomato). Olive oil cake was tasty with ricotta gelato. Service is very nice but there's nothing to really make me come back here again.
Food: Before we go onto the food, there are some issues I have with the experience. My gf and I decided to check out this restaurant on a wed night. Upon speaking to the hostess (which was very sweet) she told us that it would be around an hr wait, so we decided to wait, after about an hr we checked in the hostess again and she had a startled look on her face (probably because she gave our table away) but she stated that it will be a little longer since there was an "old couple" that had the table and we would need to wait a little longer. After 25 more mins of waiting, she comped our drinks which was very nice of her, and we were shown to our table. The table looked like a makeshift table in the middle of the restaurant with staff buzzing around us the whole night and were knocking into my chair multiple times throughout the evening. All this would have been fine but the food was just not worth it. Now onto the food.
We ordered:
1. The meatballs
Really good meat balls, but it came out kind of cold.
2. Clams casino
Very good, very flavorful and the crusty bread crumbs made it really delicious. The only thing I may possibly reorder.
3. Pasta with Uni
This is the reason why we decided to come here. I gf loves uni pasta and we have sampled many different ones throughout the city. But this one was not very good. For starters it was MP and it was $35 for about a cup of pasta and bits of uni, not even full pieces. The sauce was very thick and like another yelper noted the consistency of glue. It was not worth the price.
4. Rigatoni with duck ragu
It was ok. The pasta was a little over cooked and the sauce was too sweet for my taste. But the duck was cooked well.
Brew: Great selection of beers, especially one of my favorites Moretti.
Overall I would not return, the food was ok and there are many other Italian restaurants in the city to try.
All'onda's unique pasta combinations seemed great on paper, but it fell on execution. My girlfriend and I were excited to try the Bucatini (smoked uni & spicy breadcrumbs) and the rigatoni with aged duck ragu and radicchio, but after one bite into both dishes, we just stared at each other and had the same facial reaction. Both dishes were simply meh. The uni in the Bucatini was not fresh as it was extremely fishy. Given that its market price, I was surprised and lucky to have heard that the market price for the day we had it was $24 as I've heard prices as high as $32 a few times. Crazy because I would never have paid $32 for that dish. The rigatoni was better as there was more layers of flavors in the dish. However, the extremely bitter radicchio didn't offset the chocolate well. There was too much chocolate in the dish as well. Both pastas were cooked perfectly al dente though.