Della
“I have come here on many occasions, from Valentine's day, to birthdays, to Sunday Brunch.”
“The fried oysters were fat and juicy and so artfully presented with caviar and greens.”
“For entrees we both had pasta – The duck pappardelle and pork belly carbonara.”
Della
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Happy Hour: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
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I didn't have a good start for this place. Putting a reservation down for a date night a week before coming, I was asked to seat at the bar for a table to open up. Beside asking for a quiet table on my reservation, I was given a table next to the kitchen and their work station. It's really unfortunate that they take reservation however never follow up with request.
Drinks are decently priced but really mediocre. We were looking forward for the fried oyster however they ran out. If you are looking to try something specific, do call ahead I guess. They have a few dinner special introduced by a happy waiter which is really nice. We went along with a few special without being pressured of course.
I would say the portion is pretty generous. I had their seafood plate and you can really share that among 2 light eaters. In term of ordering, I would go for 1 app, 1 entree and maybe maybe 1 pasta homemade. With 2 drink, that will set you back around $80. In the city, you can't really do that. Food quality is definitely fresh and delicious.
I really hope this place will do well however please step up on your commitment.
J-What about the dome place?
Me-What?
J-It's a dome.
Me-Is that a new type of cuisine?
J-It's Italian but the food is probably better because the ceiling is a dome.
Me-We should probably find out.
My girlfriend and I initially heard of Della when I was browsing Facebook's Kensington group. An article mentioned a few new places in the area, and when it comes to food, we're all up on that scene.
The conversation you read above is the exact conversation we had while walking towards Windsor Terrace around 7 on a Sunday night.
We arrived to a very friendly staff member who seated us quickly. Our equally friendly waiter came over and shared the specials. Once our order was in and we had a chance to take a look around, we relaxed in our comfy booth closest to the bar. Since our table faced all the other booths at the front of the restaurant, we watched everyone eating and listened to their conversations. Don't lie…you aren't any better than me.
My lady got the handmade pappardelle with duck ragu and I got the short rib. Looking around at the other diners, we noticed that most people chose the pappardelle as well.
Every bite was delicious. The pappardelle was cooked beautifully, the duck was moist, the short rib was flavorful and super tender. I could even hear the people at the other table moaning with pleasure as they complimented each dish.
So I guess my girlfriend was right. Della figured it out. Those dome ceilings must really enhance the flavor of Italian food.
Okay, so after all the rave and crazy reviews, I had it IN MY HEAD that I wanted to go here and get this amazing steak I kept hearing about. So Saturday night the BF and I walk over. It was crowded, but it is a small place and Saturday night on a holiday weekend, so we were prepared to wait. We were told it would be about 30 minutes, so we sat at the end of the bar.
The drinks were all good, and for the ingredients and quality, $10 was well worth it. We didn't get any appetizers, but the duck wings looked GREAT. We were on the bar so we saw EVERYTHING coming out of the kitchen. Our steaks were GREAT, the vinegar apple onion confit or whatever was delicious, and the potatoes were nice. For $19 it was WELL worth it.
There seemed to be some panic/disarray with the staff, but I think it's just because it's new still and they are BUSSSSSYYY, so with all of that considered, I can't say I wouldn't be similar. We did have to wait a long time – and never got a booth after an hour – but the manager comped our drinks, which was more than generous. I will definitely be back, but I'd like a booth or a table and maybe during the week or not heavy dinner time. If you are going on a weekend, I would suggest making a reservation.
An ok neighborhood restaurant.
Our server was a bit frazzled and we ended up not knowing about the specials and we didn't get the olives that everyone else got to start.
We also asked for a recommendation for a wine and she just pointed out one bottle without any description — weird for a wine bar.
We shared the bitter greens salad, which was not bitter at all (luckily for me). We also had a pasta each. The puttanesca was a touch overcooked, but the fettucine was good and full of flavor. We were both still hungry after the salad and pasta, so we added the pork loin. The pork was seasoned well but was a bit overcooked too.
Overall, the service is spotty, but it's ok for a neighborhood restaurant.
Having been to Della twice (brunch and dinner), I'm definitely not immune to it's charm, but was a bit let down by aspects of the experience. While the dishes were all good to great, there are factors that keeps it from being a 4-5 star experience that I hope will be worked out; and while I compliment the majority of the dishes, the food was not good enough to warrant overlooking the other issues . The review is mainly for dinner :
Pros
-The space. It's unique with a rustic (but not overdone typical Brooklyn rustic) tint, dim lighting, and an interesting tunnel area where the bar is that leads to the back area with additional seating.
– The cocktail list and wine list were more than adequate. Something for everyone.
-It's partially responsible for further building up this part of Windsor Terrace. In a way this pocket of cool, new restaurants is reminiscent of Ditmas Park's surge onto the map. Notable differences between the two still exist, of course.
-Some items really stood out. The duck wings as a starter and the papardelle (we shared) were fantastic. Taglietelle (w/ leeks) was my entree that I truly enjoyed; cooked perfectly and the butter sauce was pleasant if slightly unmemorable. Short rib was done well, and branzino was cooked to perfection. Some of the lamb ribs on the plate that my wife ordered were better than others, some were seemingly overcooked and too charred; and I'll chalk some of the inconsistency to the first con on the list.
Cons
-It seemed like some of the items were waiting around for quite a bit, compared to others. While the pasta came out looking very fresh, some of the dishes (such as the lamb ribs) had elements of longer-than-usual-hot-plate exposure (difference in temp across different parts of food). One of the shared certainly had the degree of long-term hot plate exposure. And that's because of ….
-Service was poor. While our server was very friendly and polite, and we genuinely liked her, she was utterly lost in the shuffle, with what seemed to be only 4 tables (we were the 5th, but one left shortly after). We didn't have the specials read to us after 15 minutes of sitting (which sucked because the owner/manager who seated us raved about the specials. We had to ask about the specials when we finally got around to ordering), the drinks took a long time to come out (over 10 minutes) and one was forgotten. Timing was poor throughout. Once the mains were put on the table, we ordered more drinks and received them 20-25 minutes later. The meal was already over. Speaking of drinks…
-The beers were not labeled as cans/bottles on the written menu that night. Disappointing.. While there were only 5 to choose from, I had wrongfully assumed they were drafts. And why did we wait over 20 minutes for a drink order consisting of canned beer? Zero sense.
-The cocktails are good, but nothing too extraordinary. Wouldn't come here for the bar alone (Despite the AWESOME interior). The Kew Gardens is refreshing, and was probably the one I would go with on a summer day. Otherwise Pass the Dutch (incredible title) would be a good choice if you're looking for some punch to your beverage, however, it was a little too heavy on the bitters.
So, overall, good food but not extraordinary to the point of being able to forgive sloppy service. And the mistiming of food preparation also takes a bit away from the points for food. If you look carefully at the kitchen, it appears that the size of the kitchen is at a big disproportion for the amount of tables there are to serve; more so than usual. I love small restaurants, but it seems like here, they are shooting a little too much for the stars . But my understanding of the kitchen logistics is limited ; was only a server in my past life and that's where I see a lot of lapses here that were avoidable when I had 8 tables to work with.
Brunch – Cocktails are great, work terrifically well in terms of complimenting the dishes. Gravlax was a hit and received praise from a friend, I loved the Challah french toast. Friend was underwhelmed with the Tortilla. But in the end, this isn't a brunch place and while everyone enjoyed the time (and more importantly, the ease of reserving for a party of 6 here), the conclusion that this is more of a dinner-centric restaurant and should be graded on their dinner experience, was reached. 4 stars for brunch.