This week is their pastafest week where there are a variety of 14 different pasta dishes to choose from. The menu was unique and different had very interesting combinations of ingredients. With seven people at the table, we were all able to get different pasta dishes and decided that we could share and taste each one. Well, that plan failed as our half portioned pasta dishes were quite small. In addition to the small dishes, it took over an hour to get our order (we got seated at 745 and got our food around 9:10). Although it did take long, they were nice enough to give us two complimentary appetizers which were delicious! My favorite was the cheese platter with the 7 cheeses.
Cheese Platter
Humus Platter
Casbah is a unique Mediterranean restaurant located on South Highland Avenue. From the outside it looks small and run down but the inside is nicely decorated with Italian hand blown glass (noticed by Eric of course). Although it could use more lighting, the ambiance is sentimental and romantic but I think it would be a bit too loud for a first date.This night, I ordered the Sheep’s milk gnudi with wild mushrooms, English peas, fava beans, leeks, chervil and black truffle butter. Gnudi is something I've never had before and I thought I'd try it. Gnudi means nude in italian and it resembles nude ravioli- someone at the table described it as fried cheese balls. Basically, its the ravioli filling without the actual pasta. If you know me well, I really got this dish for the truffle butter- as truffles is one of my most favorite things. However, I was quite disappointed when I got my meal as not only was it tiny and I only got 5 pieces of gnudi, I did not taste any truffle in the dish. Sadface.
Gnudi
The rest of the table got the Fettuccini with house-made pancetta, spinach, sunny side up Heritage Farms egg and Manchego cheese, the Tagliolini with grilled calamari, artichokes, lemon, arugula, oregano and bottarga, the Short rib ravioli with swiss chard, oyster mushrooms, roasted shallots and gremolata (which is on their usual menu and is actually really delicious), the Maccheretto with hen of the woods mushrooms, white beans, sun-dried tomatoes, rapini pesto, fontina and walnuts and the Red pepper casereccia with crispy rock shrimp, chilies, shallots, garlic, basil, lemon and olive oil. Although I didn't get to try all of them, everyone at the table had the same comment- it was good- but we wished we had more.
Fettuccini
Tagliolini
Maccheretto
Don't be fooled, Casbah isn't always sparse with its portions- its just their Pastafest menu- so definitely stop by when the event is over!For my birthday last year, my mom got the Orecchiette pasta on their usual menu. My mom, being the asian that she is rarely goes out for food other than Chinese food and she said that this pasta was delicious- which is saying alot.
Like I said, I've been to Casbah a number of times and I have always enjoyed my meals. My friend Pama commented that it doesn't really impress her and after this visit I can see why. Yes, the food is good and the menu is most definitely interesting and refreshing, but the food doesn't mirror the specialty of the menu that I wish it did. Especially for their pastafest, the dishes were very small and the server even suggested that we order two dishes. I would not return again for this event.
As for other meals, I would say that lunch and brunch would be the best time to venture down to Casbah. Their great 13/22 dollar lunch/brunch deals are fairly priced and the food you get is great. I would highly recommend trying Casbah, but to also watch out what you order- as some dishes don't come out the way you expect them to. But all in all, this is a great place if you are looking for something new and different.
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