Irresistible planks of polenta are deep-fried to crusty golden perfection and come with a blue cheese dip. Dried ham with roasted eggplant, unfortunately, is less successful, suffering from rubbery crostini. Also mildly disappointing is an entree of three risotto cakes. They were crisp, but lacked dimension. Their mushroom sauce needed tastier tomatoes and the plate could've used another element to keep it interesting, perhaps a vegetable.
Portions are generous, too.
On Friday our waiters, so sweetly attentive until our main courses were delivered, became scarce near the meal's end. They also brought red wine instead of Chardonnay to the couple at the next table and charged us for two desserts when we only ordered one - a lemon torte with raspberry sauce, which, by the way, was delicious. As for us, when we head out of Zanzibar, bustling Ninth Avenue seems blissfully quiet in comparison. The content of this feature is updated weekly on Wednesdays.