Saggio is an intimate, little hideaway offering Southern Italian specialties. It has warm, intimate atmosphere, and the staff there are nice and welcoming. It is one of the locals’ favorite spots in the neighborhood. It is cozy and everyone is friendly, and it even has a fireplace all the way in the back. They will bring you some nice complimentary Italian bread and olive oil with olives in it, how great is that!
They have nice selections of menu, and daily specials on top of that. We went there on early Friday evening to check the place out. We ordered everything off the daily special menu. We started off with Insalata Al Tio($13) and Imported Burrata Mozzarella ($17) to share as appetizer. Insalata Tio has Arugula, spinach, kale, roasted beets, pistachio, and goat cheese. It was very fresh, super large amount (we shared among 3 people and still had left overs!). Really awesome and refreshing way to start the meal. The waiter told us that the Burrata Mozzarella is a very popular appetizer item, and that some customers travel from far just to have this. So, of course, we had to try it. When it came to our table, it was this huge ball of mozzarella with sliced tomatoes and basil. I tell you, it was simply divine! The dome of mozzarella had amazing texture, with the perfect softness inside, I can see why some people will travel from far away to taste this heavenly Mozzarella.
We also ordered a bottle of wine to go with the meal, and we chose Riesling. They had Rehin River Reisling ($36/bottle). It is a German wine, with peach and apple notes. A great wine with sweetness, but I felt the bottle was completely overpriced here. Next time, I will skip ordering wine.
The waiter told us that Lasagna off the special menu is the most popular food item, and that it almost always gets sold out quickly. So, naturally, we had to have it. It is Lasagna Verde alla Bolongnese ($18), and is spinach pasta with bolognese filling. It came steaming hot to the table, still bubbling on the top. It looked a bit small, but yet it was surprisingly very filling. The homemade spinach pasta tasted great and was cooked to perfection. And sure enough, this item got crossed off the menu within 30 minutes from when we put in our order. Another item that our waiter recommended was actually his favorite dish, even more so than the lasagna. It was Ricotta Spinach Manicotti ($18) which is more of a vegetarian option to the lasagna verde alla bolohnese. It had this amazing ricotta with spinach, with their homemade pasta. Great vegetarian lasagna, it was steaming hot and filled with flavor. Again, it looked small but it was certainly satisfying. Both lasagna was really delicious, and perfect on a chilly night (or any other night, really).
Finally moving on to some desserts. We ordered Ricotta Cheesecake ($7) and Apple Tart ($7). The cheesecake was very different from normal cheesecake I’ve had, the texture of the cake with the ricotta was very interesting. Light and airy, flavorful and not overly sweet. It did not feel heavy, and their homemade whipped cream was also very light and tasty which was really nice. I am not a huge fan of apple pie or Apple tart, but this one was really good! Not overly sweet, freshly made, the crust was nice also. The big chunks of apples are baked just right, and still had strong enough texture without being too soggy.
I will definitely go back to try some other dishes from here, minus the wine.
Saggio – 829 W 181st St., New York, NY 10033