I’ll get this out of the way and say I had a great dinner at Al Coro and I would probably return. I’ve always liked chef Rodriguez’s cooking—had some great meals at del posto. As to whether they deserve 2 stars? Absolutely not lol. Despite enjoying my meal, Al Coro is just not at the same level as the other 2-stars in the city. There wasn’t a lot particularly wrong with my dinner here this time—although there certainly were some misses. Maybe they’re just not trying hard since they’re closing again, but that wouldn’t be a good move for their reputation.
Service and atmosphere: service was excellent—no complaints. The Al Coro space is pretty cool as it has a different, old school vibe.
Food: (I added the menu in the photos for descriptions of the food.)
Bread service—they served a huge twisted baguette lol, which was pretty good. They also served breadsticks which were even better, in my opinion. They served these smalls crackers which were so cute and they all tasted really good! The butter with the baguette was good, but doesn’t even compare to the stringy butter (extra churned butter that almost turned into cheese) they served at del Posto. That was one of the best and most interesting butters I’ve ever had.
Pasta—my main disappointment of the meal. First, you only get 2 pasta dishes and if you opt for the smaller menu, then you only get 1. That’s crazy to me lol. There was nothing memorable about the 2 pasta dishes they served. The first was a ravioli filled with ricotta and topped with ham and corn. I can—and have—made this at home. Way too simple. The second was a cannelloni which was better than the ravioli, but still flawed. The cannelloni is filled with lobster but it is served extremely hot. By the time the dish reached our table, the lobster was already slightly overcooked and it just kept getting progressively chewier the longer it sat on my plate. Maybe they should do table side plating of this dish to avoid this.
Shrimp and tomatoes—nothing particularly wrong with this one, I’m just not a huge fan of raw shrimp. I also didn’t understand how raw shrimp goes with the rest of the menu, but again this might just be a matter of personal taste.
Branzino and Fritto Misto—the fish was cooked perfectly. So so good! Neither of us enjoyed the fritto misto—the batter overpowered all of the vegetables and you really could not even taste the vegetables. But no complaints about branzino!
Lamb Saddle—another perfectly cooked dish. This was my favorite and I’m not even a big fan of lamb. This was the highlight of our meal.
Desserts—big disappointment. I loved the desserts from del Porto so it really sucked to be served such low-effort dishes. The chocolate dish was something you could find at a hotel buffet. The stone fruit brioche was just ok, but not worth the calories. I would have rather been served a cheese course or nothing, even. Also, they served these little balls of chocolate-covered gelato and not only were they ugly af, but also none of them tasted good at all. Again, tasted like something you can buy from the store. In fact, there are much better items in the freezer aisle nowadays.
After writing this, I realize it may sound like I had a horrible meal lol. Again, I enjoyed Al Coro overall. I just had high expectations since it has 2 stars. While it did not come even close to meeting my expectations, I still had a good time and enjoyed my meal.
by macchinas