I spent a semester in Italy, sampling all sorts of wondrous pastas and meats, so when I go to an Italian restaurant in the States, I take it for what it is. There’s a big difference, I learned, between Italian and Italian-American cuisine. Fiore II delivers the latter but, to its credit, offers delicious fare nonetheless.
The bread rolls, for instance, looked more like challah rolls than bread you would find in Italy, but were still scrumptious. With a soft, doughy inside, these “refined garlic knots,” as a friend called them, were topped with garlicky parmesan cheese and oil. It would be quite easy to fill up on these tasty treats.
As we were forewarned, it took awhile for our waiter to even take our orders, and then some time after that for the food to arrive. The appetizers were good, but not particularly special. The fried mozzarella arrived in cubes and could have been tastier, although I thoroughly enjoyed the garlic-tinged marinara sauce served alongside. The stuffed mushrooms were filled with a breadcrumb-seafood filling and placed attractively in a flavorful, buttery lemon sauce.
It was the entrees that really stole the show. The entrees are broken up into four sections: a vegetarian selection of pasta and eggplant, chicken, seafood, and veal. I liked that eggplant receives such attention on this menu, since there are so many methods in Italian cooking for preparing this vegetable. Without asking us what dressing we preferred, we all received our salads with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette.
The vegetarian entrees that I sampled were delectable. The penne pomodoro, which can easily be a boring amalgam of pasta and sauce, stood out, thanks to a hint of pesto. The eggplant fiore was composed of a platter of two large pieces of breaded eggplant covered with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella nestled in a vodka cream sauce. Each non-pasta dish came with a side of pasta in marinara sauce, a practice unknown in Italy.
The chicken dish I sampled was delicious. It was made up of two hefty pieces of chicken topped with spinach and sun dried tomatoes, also bathed in a pink vodka sauce.
Then there were the incredible seafood pastas. Although much pricier at $16.95, these dishes are among the best of their kind that you’ll find in Middletown. The penne pasta with shrimp and small, tender scallops was incredible. The slightly spicy marinara sauce soaked up the flavor of the scallops, incorporating this flavor into the sauce. The spicy shrimp pasta, a mound of spaghetti served with tender shrimp in a spicy sauce, reminded me how much I’ve missed good seafood.
After such impressive entrees, the desserts were slightly disappointing. I opted for the overdone tiramisu. Arriving topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, it was nothing special, although it did satisfy my sweet tooth. The strength of this restaurant lies in its entrees, not to mention its good old-fashioned charm.
The Bottom Line: Everything moves slower at this traditional establishment. With such delicious food, some might say this only adds to the restaurant’s charm.
Fiore II, 332 Main St, Middletown
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon-10 p.m., Sunday noon-9 p.m.
Price: entrees $11.95 – $19.95
Best Bets: Eggplant Fiore, Chicken Fiore, Pasta with Shrimp and Scallops, Spicy shrimp pasta
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