Uva
“The decor is very rustic yet intimate, and the vibe is great for both romantic dates and fun evenings out with friends.”
“Very hearty dish for a very hearty appetite
Sheep's ricotta cheese and black truffle honey – creamy, salty, sweet.”
“When I lived on the Upper East Side, I frequented Uva, and make it a point to stop in whenever I'm back in town.”
Uva
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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I came here for Father's Day for a family brunch in June 2016. For the 4 of us, we shared the caprese salad, grilled calamari, salmon special, pasta with mozzarella eggplant and tomato sauce, and the ravioli with mushroom sauce.
I really wanted to love this place (and overall, we had a great experience) but the food really wasn't anything to die for. I'm not sure if it's because I had really high expectations for Uva but I wasn't really impressed. It wasn't bad by any means, but nothing really stood out for me. Perhaps this is the curse and blessing of NYC – there are SO many good places to eat that even the pretty good ones sometimes don't fit the bill.
If I had to choose, my favorite dish would probably be the grilled calamari. I guess I am VERY picky about pasta because I haven't had any really "to-die-for" pasta dishes as of late. Nope, Nishi didn't do it for me either.
That said, the garden is REALLY beautiful and it was perfect for celebrating Father's Day with my family. The server was wonderful and my entire family had a great brunch experience.
I may come back another time to try the other dishes…. Overall, it's a great brunch spot if you're looking for a place to catch up with friends, but I wasn't crazy about the food.
3.5/5 stars.
***For brunch***
While my girlfriend and I both live on the UWS, we decided to venture to the UES for brunch this weekend. I'm not sure if it was worth crossing the Park; however, we did enjoy our brunch at Uva. Because of the rain, it was cool enough to sit outside, which is always a perk! I enjoyed my "rustic" (bacon, mushroom, artichoke) frittata. I was expecting it to be a slice of frittata; however, it was gigantic so I took half of it home. The dish comes with potatoes, which I wasn't interested in. They did switch it for fruit, but for a heafty cost. I also ordered the ricotta and truffle honey bruchetta. The little bruchetta was the strongest dish. I note at the top that this review is for brunch only since – given other reviews – I suspect Uva is a much better spot for dinner than brunch.
I've been meaning to come back to Uva for a while since I had the most mouthwatering prosciutto-wrapped scallops the first time around. So when my girlfriends and I were looking for a restaurant to eat in the Upper East Side, it was a no brainer. I tried to make a reservation for four people on a Thursday at 7:30pm one week prior on OpenTable and all the peak dinner times were already unavailable. When I called, I was told they do not take reservations for parties less than 5 people. Oh well. So we showed up anyway the day of for walk-ins and crowded as it was, we were seated immediately once all four of us arrived. They have a downstairs for additional seatings which is a little more intimate.
Burrata barese: The burrata was so creamy, yet so light. It went really well with acidity from balsamic glaze. Made me feel all classy. Haha.
Gnocchi di ricotta: I was pleasantly surprised as to how good this was. The gnocchi was very soft and pillowy. It didn't seem heavy at all. The truffle flavoring was not overpowering, but just right. I thought this was executed very well.
Mezzelune alla boscaiola: These are half-moon shaped ravioli filled with prosciutto and mozzarella served in a creamy mushroom sauce. The fillings of the ravioli looked and tasted more like a some sort of a boiled pork meatball. The mushroom sauce wasn't anything particularly interesting. The ravioli arrived at room temperature.
Petto d'anatra: Pan seared duck breast in thyme sauce served over sautéed mushrooms, spinach, and fingerling potatoes. This was probably the most disappointing choice of the night. We were never asked for our preference of doneness. It came medium. While described in the menu as to be pan seared, the skin was soft and chewy, lacking any sort of crispness. At least the duck wasn't too gamey.
There was an arugula salad topped with shaved parmigiano cheese we had ordered that was fantastic and very appetizing but sadly I don't recall the name. It might have been the insalata di carciofi.
Unfortunately, Uva no longer offers the prosciutto-wrapped scallops which is really surprising because that seemed to be one of their most popular dishes. Now that it no longer is available, I feel I have less of an inclination to want to return. Plus, its really hard to have a group conversation in Uva because it is very loud in there with the music blaring.
Really happy we came here! My mom really liked the food which is a rare feat because she is very hard to please.
The awesome:
The service, outside seating and open late on weekdays.
Cow ribs (melt in your mounts) with rosemary potato purée.
The ricotta gnocchi with cream sauce and truffle oil.
The good:
The paper thin Sardinian style flatbread was served cold with "Kraft style" grated Parmesan cheese (May I suggest you guys serve it hot next time with the melted to crispy Parmesan perfection next time?)
The not so good:
The acoustics inside, too loud!
Will return soon when back in NYC for sure, amazing food!!
Uva is open until 2:00 AM and I love that. We actually chose Uva as our dinner place *because* of their late hours. Our evening event ended so late, our options for eating out were somewhat limited.
BURRATA W/FAVA BEANS (3/5) Not a great start. This burrata wasn't as soft and creamy as others we've had. Completely edible, but def not a great example of what burrata can be.
GRILLED CALAMARI SALAD (5/5) I don't think the menu has this listed with the word "salad" in it. But it's def a salad and the grilled calamari is the star, as it should be. GREAT salad. Would order again and again.
VEAL MEATBALLS (5/5) Not the over-sized kind, golf ball size. Good texture, better than most restaurants do – not over processed.
SCALLOPS WRAPPED W/PROSCIUTTO (3/5) Loser dish of the night. Didn't care for the overpowering saltiness of the prosciutto, and the scallops didn't ring my bell. Would not order again.
GNOCCHI DI RICOTTA (5/5) Star of the night. Yelpers got this one right. This is the must-have dish on the menu. Please ignore all reviewers that talk about this dish being "overly rich". That's not the case at all. Yes, it had a rich taste but it comes off actually light. I could eat the whole plate myself and I can't do that with rich food. Order this for sure. Maybe as an appetizer to share for the table.
So, 3 of the 5 dishes we ordered were fab, and the other two weren't so hot. Still, I'm a fan of this place. As I mentioned earlier, their late hours are a huge plus, and the fact that they're putting out great food at those hours is commendable.
Go and get the Gnocchi!
I've been searching for a place like this for a long time, and I finally found it. This place looks and feels like a standard midtown / UES wine bar, however it also serves spectacular food.
The restaurant is basically three components, outside seating in front, bar / indoor seating then a garden in the back. When we went it was scorching hot, event in the early evening, so the air conditioned garden was perfect. It was a sunday night and we had a reservation – seemed pretty crowded so if we didn't I'd imagine we'd have to wait.
To start we split the veal meatballs and the prosciutto with bufala mozzarella.The meatballs were very good – put the meatball shop down the street to shame. The sauce they were in was a tad underwhelming, however the meatballs themselves were melt in your mouth good and full of flavor. The prosciutto / mozz was up there with the best I've had. Extremely generous portion of both cheese and meat. The mozz was perfect both in taste and texture. Normally I'd douse a dish like that in balsamic vinegar, but it was so good none was needed.
For the main course we had the Mezzellune alla Boscaiola (ravioli) and Pappardelle Al Ragu Di Vitello. Both were absolutely top notch. Pasta cooked perfectly al dente, and each dish was phenomenal in its own way. I think I liked the pappardelle the best. The sauce contained a healthy portion of veal and montasio cheese. The veal itself was very flavorful, which you don't always see in a sauce – overall very good. The ravioli was great as well – I found the sauce to be a little bit heavy for my taste, however it seemed to work with the pasta. The pasta is stuffed with mozz and prosciutto – however it has more of a solid texture than I expected. Still very, very good and the creamy mushroom sauce really rounds it out.
Not a big wine drinker, but the selection seemed extensive. Had a lot of wines by the glass which is much appreciated by me. Prices overall were fair – food came to about $35/person + wine. Not sure about the $$ on Yelp – seems a little more like a $$$ place, but maybe I just eat a lot.
All in all – can't wait to come back.
Such a cute homey looking Italian restaurant. We got the carcioli or whatever salad which was fresh and the captures salad. Both were pretty good although nothing super spectacular. We also got the gnocchi with truffle and it was pretty good. The gnocchi could have been a bit better as it was very soft…
Cute place for family dinner but I'm not sure if I would trek up there just for Italian.
Ugh, I had a really bad overall experience at Uva. Between the service, the ambience, and the food, I was unimpressed bordering on dissatisfied.
Ambience — the backyard garden is gorgeous but the flies were out of control on a summer night in the beginning of July. The tables are all WAY too close together. I felt like I was bumping into people as I got up to step outside, and I also felt like I was participating in the conversations of those sitting near me.
Service — I walked in starving and we looked over the menu and decided what we wanted within 5 minutes. I would say it took 10-12 more minutes before someone came over. She did apologize for making us wait, but then she brought out stale bread while we waited for our apps. Yuck.
Food — we ordered the antipasta meat dish and the polenta to start. The meat dish was both underwhelming and overwhelming at the same time. So many meats, so few distinguished flavors. Overall, it was fine. The polenta was not great. It had a sort of ricotta cheese in the middle of it which was so weird and unnecessary. It was too many rich flavors in one dish. Ricotta cheese, polenta, and truffle — no thank you. For our entrees, I got the mushroom ravioli and my boyfriend got the pappardelle al ragu. I was so excited to try both of them and they were both just fine. I've had better versions of both dishes elsewhere. I've kind of felt nauseous since I left the restaurant.
Oh and the wine was mediocre. We actually left out with a quarter of a bottle left which is rare.
Overall, I was so excited to try this place and really disappointed. Safe to say I won't be back 🙁