Have you ever been to New York City? Well if you like Italian food, I’ve got a great recommendation for you, especially if you are traveling with a large group. I’m talking about Carmine’s. Carmine’s has a few different locations, but the one you may like is located in Times Square.
I was in NYC for work and I had a few colleagues that were also in NYC for work so we decided to grab dinner together. As usual, I went on OpenTable checked out Carmine’s and since they had availability I booked it. Carmine’s is usually pretty packed so I highly recommend that you make reservations, otherwise you will be waiting for a while.
Carmine’s is a big restaurant with three floors, with dim lighting. It has various table sizes, but it is really good for business meals. A majority of my group were meat eaters, but I had one vegetarian so we needed to make sure we were inclusive in ordering food. My group and I reviewed the menu and we selected Italian bread with cheese, broiled claims and calamari.
The appetizers were really good. The bread was toasted lightly smothered in melted mozzarella cheese. The clams were breaded and nice and hot, but my favorite was the calamari. Deep fried crispy calamari and squid, plus the dipping sauce, a nice marinara sauce. My team got various drinks ie wine or alcohol, but I stuck with my water. After appetizers it was time for the main dishes.
I conferred with my vegetarian colleague and he requested pasta, I also said we needed to be healthy so I ordered an Italian salad, and then we also ordered chicken parmesan, and shrimp scampi. Within half an hr our order was ready, salad delivered first, followed by the shrimp scampi, chicken parmesan, and the pasta. The team was floored with how much food was put on the table, mind you this is family style. We portioned the food and dished it out. The salad was one of my favorites, it had lettuce, tomato and nice Italian dressing. It was really good. I tried the shrimp scampi and it was good but not my favorite. The shrimp was breaded and dripping in butter. My other favorite dish was the chicken parmesan, breaded chicken, covered with melted mozzarella and covered in hot marinara sauce. I can’t remember when I’ve had chicken parmesan but this was probably the best I’ve had. I also sampled the pasta which was covered in a red sauce, it was good but not one of my favorites.
Overall, the dinner at Carmines was delicious and everyone in my team really enjoyed the meal. The meal was good, but I really enjoyed the company of my team and being able to connect with them over some good food. If you find yourself in NYC and want some good Italian food, then check out Carmine’s.
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