Baby-Paca, Mamallama and I were pretty full from lunch and thought that we wouldn’t need dinner. However, a little after 8 we started to get a little hungry. We were feeling pasta, so we decided to go to Cotto’s.
The decor inside is modern with dark wood furnishings, accented with shades of red. While it provided a more hip and cool environment, it lacked the rustic, homely feel of what you’d expect from an Italian restaurant.
The restaurant wasn’t too busy when we got there as it was close to closing time. We were seated and brought water and menus right away. As we were browsing through the menu, our waitress informed us that all pizzas on Mondays are $12 (we also found out about $12 pasta Tuesdays) so we decided to get a pizza, along with a salad and a pasta to share.
Beet salad ($10): The dish had slices of red and yellow beets plated nicely with arugula, honey citrus vinaigrette, citrus and goat cheese crumbled on top. The acidity in the vinaigrette complimented the delectable sweetness of the beets and masked the bitterness of arugula. The goat cheese was so smooth, it basically melted in our mouth.
Salmone ($12 (original price $17): The salmon pizza is blanketed with fresh mozzarella, smoked salmon, crispy capers, 63 degree egg and a drizzle of hollandaise sauce. The pizza was not delivered to our table hot, only kind of warm. while the crust was crispy at first, it quickly became chewy as it cooled off. The 63 degree egg was perfectly runny and delicious, but I felt like the salmone pizza was a bit too dry as there was no sauce under the layer of smoked salmon, which was a little too salty.
Linguine boscaiola ($16): I’ve been craving parpadelle pasta for the longest time so we substituted the linguine with parpadelle for this plate. This dish also did not arrive to our table hot, which is a shame because it probably would’ve tasted better. The pasta was cooked to al dente but the noodles were only lightly coated with a thin layer of alfredo sauce, which made the dish a bit dry, along with the ground beef and pork. I also could not taste the mushroom and vegetable sofrito, but I loved the rich, earthy taste and aroma of the truffle oil. Truffle oil was basically our reason for ordering this plate.
Our food took quite a bit of time to get to our tables, considering how relatively empty the restaurant was. We were puzzled as to why our plates didn’t arrive hot as well. Our waitress also forgot to bring the cheese grater over so we had to remind her. Perhaps everybody was busy cleaning and closing up the restaurant. Overall, I think we’d return for their specials on Mondays and Tuesdays, but we’ll probably come a little earlier next time.
alpaca lunch 