10/19/09

The Finest Italian Food in Raleigh

by YPT

I am astonished at some of the reviews I'm seeing. I have eaten there 4 times and will continue to dine there because the food is authentic, cooked perfectly, and the service is unbeatable. Every detail has been looked after, from the ambiance, the personal attention you receive from the waiters, to the food itself. The wine list is extensive, and just in case you want something that's not on the menu, they can accommodate your request.

If anyone would ask me where to go for a "fancy" night out and wanted authentic Italian, I would wholeheartedly recommend Nina's!! It's definitely the best in Raleigh.

• Pros: Fine Food, Personal Service, 5 Stars
• Cons: Plan on Making a Reservation on Weekends and Holidays

09/21/09

OUTSTANDING!

by HHuff

We were just there for dinner last night and once again, I have to say everything was outstanding!! Nina ALWAYS impresses us with her culinary expertise. The wine pairing was amazing and we truly had an incredible evening out. Thank you Thank you and we'll be back soon!!

• Pros: Best food & service in town!
• Cons: A little hard to find, but SSSOO worth it

02/14/09

Not good!

by CaseyinRaleigh

We had reservations for 7:45. We finally were seated at 8:10. The first thing that we noticed is that the tables are incredibly close together; I was uncomfortable having a private conversation with my wife since I could clearly hear the discussions on my left and right. We ordered an appetizer of breaded clams which took 20 minutes to be served. We never got any appetizer plates, so the clamshells remained on our bread plates until after we left the restaurant an hour and a half later. The breaded clams tasted like burnt bread crumbs and salt. Very unsatisfying.

About 15 minutes later, the salad and soup arrived. My wife had ordered the salad with grilled shrimp special and I ordered the egg drop soup special. My wife's shrimp was burned; the only flavor was charred meat. The soup was bland. It tasted like canned, low-sodium chicken broth; I didn't bother to finish it.

By now, we had been there for over an hour, and the only decent food we had was the bread. (The bread was adequate; good but nothing worth noting.) We waited another fifteen to twenty minutes before we asked the waiter to hurry with the entrees. He returned 5 minutes later to tell us it would be ready in another 4 minutes, which it was.

My wife's cannelloni was "okay", but the sauce was starting to caramelize. Perhaps this was intentional, but to us it just tasted either burned or overheated. I got the Linguine con Vongole, which was EXCELLENT! This was the best Linguine with white clam sauce that I have had since I worked in a 5-star Italian restaurant in DC almost 15 years ago. It was amazing - big chunks of garlic, a generous portion of clams, al dente linguine.

At this point, my wife gave up on her cannelloni and we shared the linguine con vongole. (Which got us some very snotty looks from other patrons, but at this point we didn't care.)

In short, with the exception of the Linguine con Vongole, the whole restaurant was awful. It cost us $90 and 2 hours to get a bad meal.

• Pros: Linguine with white clam sauce
• Cons: The rest of the food, service, ambiance, service, host staff, bar staff, food came out VERY slowly, over-rated.