Corso
None of the secondi struck our fancy, but we did order a substantial number of dishes. So substantial that instead of ordering by the names, I curled my index finger and thumb into a square bracket and pointed on the menu “we’ll take these four and these four, and the potato, and the asparagus please.”
That was 10 out of 25 “dishes” on the menu, if olives and salads could count as dishes at all.
Three years ago, I had a bite of pork belly sandwich from Corso. I remember nothing of it, except that it was memorably good. I vowed to come back, but my cravings are always either rice noodle or pancakes (although every time I get pancakes, their texture is gravely disappointing), so for these three years, the vow stayed as a vow and didn’t happen. I kept hearing from multiple sources near and far about how good Corso was, though, so my confidence for this Italian restaurant increased. When I picked Corso for dinner last Friday, I didn’t expect the restaurant to wow us, but I felt confident that the meal would be solid and comforting, that we would be well fed by the end.
The high note: the server replaced our plates and utensils after each course, yay for a clean platform to taste new dishes.
The low note: how low would you like to hear?
In general, this Asian does not have paramount hope for Italian food (to me, Italian food is pasta and cheese, both of which I find to be comforting yet boring), but there’s a reason Italian food is comfort food: assuming that you start from boiling dried pasta and that you have any sense of taste at all, it’s easy to cook an edible plate of pasta. Not perfect, but edible. Guess what, the tagliatelle al sugo at Corso was NOT even edible: it was pungent, muddy and in dire need of more tomato sauce and minced carrots. Each of us took one single bite, then a drink of water and that was it. The plate looked untouched when the server later cleaned up the table.
As far as bad restaurant experiences go, Corso had set a new record the moment they managed to screw up pasta and ground meat.
Were we well fed by the end? Well, we were fed up for sure. Why am I not trying to be nice with this review? Because I decided on this restaurant for dinner. I feel responsible when my friends couldn’t enjoy the meal, thus a positive review would be akin to lame excuses to sugar coat my poor decision. In fact, Corso left such a disappointing taste that it doesn’t even deserve a longer title in this post.
Bonus story: the table next to us ordered the butter-roasted chicken. The lady, who appeared to be in her 70s, looked over when our pastas had just arrived and said to her husband, who was signing the bill, “Look, they got the tagliatelle and the cavatelli. It looks good”. So I turned around, smiled with her and asked how was her chicken. She said it was laden with so much butter and cooked perfectly. I replied “It looked ah-may-zing.” (Chicken breasts never excite me, but I figured the situation called for a diplomatic comment.) In hindsight, did we just order the wrong dishes? Nah, it’s much harder to make white meat succulent than to make pasta edible. But I’m glad that at least one customer was happy with her meal.
The APPETIZERS (antipasti)
Marinated carrots – $5
Tasty level: banal (in any decent banh mi can you find equivalent carrots, with less oil)
Tuscan chicken liver pate – $8 – with sage, anchovy and capers.
Tasty level: Mud (I blame it on the overtone of anchovy)
Crostini – $8 – mussel ragu on toast
Tasty level: Good.
Why is it yellow? Beat me.
Grilled shrimp – $11 – in chili oil and parsley
Tasty level: Horrid.
The shrimps taste metallic. Was it overgrilled on open gas flames?
Salumi – $14 – spicy coppa, sweet coppa, toscano, ciccioli on toast, finocchiona.
Tasty level: Meh.
There’s no difference between the spicy coppa and the sweet coppa, or anything on that plate for that matter.
The SIDES (contorni)
Asparagus – $6
Tasty level: banal
I like the asparagus and I would have ranked it higher, but the sauce… They call it “fontina-tartufo fonduta”, which sounds like a chant to me, is so pungent because of the truffle.
Fries – $6 – One of the few edible items.
The first MAIN COURSES (primi)
Cavatelli – $14 – pasta with garlic pork sausage, kale, olives and parmigiano
Tasty level: Good
It’s not all that different from your homemade macaroni and cheese, but we could eat it happily.
Funghi e polenta – $15 – wild mushroom and polenta.
Tasty level: Meh
The polenta seriously needs more salt. There’s no taste in this dish at all. (The mushroom was faintly sour actually.)
Trippa alla Florentina – $9 – tripe stew with pancetta, spicy tomato, parmigiano and mint.
Tasty level: Okay. But it is too monotonic with the tomato sauce.
Tagliatelle al sugo – $15 – pasta with braised beef and pork.
Tasty level: Inedible.
What did they braise the meat with? Mud?
The DESSERTS (dolce)
Panna cotta – $6 – vanilla custard with spiced vino Lambrusco and Mission fig sauce.
Tasty level: Meh. (The custard is tasteless. The fig sauce is okay, though, it was neither too sweet nor too tangy)
Affogato – $6 – gelato with espresso
Tasty level: Good
If they had screwed up ice cream too, I don’t know what I would have done.
I like the vertical theme
Kristen studying Corso menu.
Kristen also reviewed Corso on her blog, Put It on Kristen’s Plate. We shared the same meal, and her review shows the same grave disappointment but with more thorough consideration than mine.
She also raised a good point: when the server approaches you with the question “Is everything okay?”, how do you respond when the food, in fact, is not okay? Do you say the common “yes” to just send the server away from the table? Do you explain what tastes bad? Do you ask to speak to the chef?
Address: Trattoria Corso
1788 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA 94709
(510) 704-8003
Dinner for 4: $172.77
Reservation is advisable. Despite its surprisingly horrible food, Corso continues to thrive in North Berkeley. All tables later than 5:30 pm on Friday were booked.
Hello, you used to write great, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your super writings. Past several posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
1Very good written post. It will be valuable to everyone who utilizes it, including yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – for sure i will check out more posts.
2As a Newbie, I am permanently browsing online for articles that can benefit me. Thank you
3Absolutely written articles, thank you for selective information. “No human thing is of serious importance.” by Plato.
4I’ve recently started a website, the information you offer on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
5Whats Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It positively helpful and it has helped me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & help other users like its helped me. Good job.
6I have not checked in here for a while as I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
7I regard something really special in this web site.
8I truly enjoy studying on this internet site, it contains wonderful content. “One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly.” by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.
9I really like your writing style, great info, appreciate it for posting :D. “Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” by Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky.
10Hello, Neat post. There’s an issue together with your site in web explorer, could check this?K IE nonetheless is the market leader and a huge portion of folks will leave out your excellent writing because of this problem.
11Excellent read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch since I found it for him smile Thus let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch! “Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.” by Lawrence Peter Berra.
12Really fantastic information can be found on weblog.
13F*ckin’ tremendous things here. I am very happy to peer your article. Thanks a lot and i am having a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
14The other day, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
15Good website! I really love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified when a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your feed which must do the trick! Have a great day!
16I like what you guys are up also. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my website :).
17Absolutely composed subject material, Really enjoyed reading through.
18I gotta favorite this site it seems very beneficial very useful
19Valuable information. Lucky me I found your web site by accident, and I am shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it.
20I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this site. Thanks, I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your web site?
21It’s exhausting to seek out knowledgeable people on this subject, however you sound like you understand what you’re talking about! Thanks
22I like this site very much, Its a very nice place to read and obtain info .
23