Basso56

Two of us ordered one appetizer, one salad, one pasta, and one meat entree and shared everything. It was all culinary ecstasy. we ordered a crab cake appetizer which was at least as good as any I've had in Baltimore, home of the Crab. Baby artichokes salad - texture - excellent. We ordered the traditional napolitan pasta/egg plant - pasta was all semolina and homemade (didn't taste like ronzoni). the pan roasted chicken with fontina cheese was a little salty but i wouldn't let them keep me from going back. great, deferential, accommodating and friendly service. Not overpriced either. Enjoy! Oh - We topped it off with "dolce speciale?" for dessert. also delicious and gorgeous too.

This is simply a great restaurant: friendly service, lovely decour, a central location, and, of course, really really good food. I recommend the spaghetti with lamb ragu. In fact, I think I might go get some more of that tonight...

The food here was every bit as good as the other reviewers have said. However, I made a leap of faith and came here for the first time with two guests, which I normally would not do. The table we were seated at was incredibly small for three, and it was not at all well located. We were in what felt like the middle of the traffic flow to the door. It was not the experience I wanted my guests to have, especially since they were both from other countries and I wanted to treat them to a really good New York experience. I think I will return to my prior policy of never visiting a restaurant with guests unless I have been there before myself and been pleased with everything.

This restaurant is one of the best meals I've eaten in NYC. The food was delicious and the service was teriffic. A wonderful place for a date or to grab a bite to eat before a show.

I've been in NYC for 4 months now, and have been sampling the cuisine at every opportunity. This restaurant was by far my favorite perhaps ever. Almost immediately upon being seated we were presented with a complementary bruchetta amuse-bouche, which was indicative of what was to come the complementary items came between each course. The steak special was cooked to absolute perfection, the wine selection was carefully articulated by our most personable server, the creme brulee was fantastic, and I'm running out of hyperboles. As previously stated by other reviewers, I hesistate to recommend it this highly I would pay twice what I did.

Really really surprised. My friends and I shared a few pasta dishes . The pasta (dough) in of itself were all so delicious! The dishes were great. I came in looking forward to a decent meals and left impressed.

I almost hesitate to write a review for fear that the rest of NYC will discover this gem and I'll never again manage to get a table! But this restaurant is so wonderful that it wouldn't be fair for me to keep that knowledge to myself. I've eaten there twice now, and an argument can be made that the second time was even better than the first because our waiter not only recognized us, but remembered exactly which dishes we had ordered, which wine we had drunk, and which types of wines we had expressed a preference for, during our first meal there two weeks before. The atmosphere in the restaurant is pleasant and laid-back, and it's surprising how little noise carries from one table to another. The service was impeccable: we were never rushed, no one attempted to take dishes from either of us until we had both finished with the course we were working on, neither our wine glasses nor our water glasses ever dipped much below half-full, and although we were never disturbed or interrupted, there was always someone on hand the instant we needed something. Our server, Tomas, was extremely knowledgeable and helpful about the wine selection. The food is stellar, and our greatest dilemma now is to decide whether we want to continue trying new dishes or go back to ones we already know we love (this should be our biggest problem in life!). Despite how this review might sound, I am not at all easy to impress. Basso56 is really that good.