I had been wanting to try Pasquale Jones ever since I heard that it was from the same people as Charlie Bird - as restaurant that I really loved when it first come out (I'll be honest and say that I haven't been back there in a while, so I don't know how it is now). As with any hot new restaurant, getting a reservation here is painful and next to impossible since they only release a few on Resey 2 weeks out.
But if you come here right when it opens like Neel and I did at 5:30pm, you will stand a great chance of getting a seat. The menu is small plates, thin wood fire pizza, pastas and some secondi type dishes. Neel, my oenophile friend, was obsessed with their wine list - which includes half bottles, which is a great idea for both the restaurant and the diners (also super dangerous because you think you're only drinking half a bottle but clearly you end up order much more). We settled on the pane carasau ($9) to start, the sweet shrimp ($20) and the cuttlefish ($18) for appetizers and for mains, we got the little neck clam ($24) and the squash blossom pizza. The pane was strictly a survival order for Neel since he was starving. It was a thin crisp "bread" that's like papadum and it came with light ricotta, black pepper and honey. It was a nice way to start the meal but not sure if it is a must order. However, for me, the must order was the sweet shrimp. Yes, it's crazy pants to pay $10/shrimp and I can understand that this type of shrimp isn't everyone's cup of tea but I loved it. It was creamy, sweet and simple with just olive oil and a dash of salt - don't forget to go after what's in the head of the shrimp too. The cuttle fish was also a really wonderful dish - cooked perfectly with a a nice charcoal earthy flavor to it and it had some chew to it. I liked that it was also cooked simply with not a lot of fuss to it.
Next we got the little neck clam pizza. Of the 2, this one was definitely my favorite. It came with parsley, garlic, lemon, cream and clams of course. It was really different and well balanced in flavors. You could taste the clams but it didn't taste weird on a pizza - it just all somehow worked well together. The crust was great, that perfect combination of chewy and crispy at the same time. It was a thin crust for sure but it held all the toppings really well. Unfortunately, the squash blossom didn't wow me as much. I love a good squash blossom dish and while this one wasn't bad, it just didn't stack up against the clam pizza. It kind of felt pedestrian and they made it because squash blossom are so on trend. To be fair, I was kind of drunk at this point, so it's possible that I wasn't in the right state of mind to make a fair assessment but I can definitively say that the clam pizza was much tastier and better than the squash blossom one.
I can see why Pasquale Jones is a hit - nice space, great wine selection and simple but great pairing of food. It's a great space to catch up with friends and chill in an unpretentious environment. My only gripe is that the appetizers were priced too high - while I gladly paid the $20 for the sweet shrimp, it doesn't really make it ok to charge it but I should note that 20% gratuity is included to the menu, so I guess it was really $17 but still....Total bill: $108/pp with tax, tip already included and lots of wine
Photo Credit: Yelp
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