Mareluna

My friend and I came here for a late dinner after our pickleball session on a weeknight and was blown away by how good the pasta dishes were. We ordered the ragu d'anatra (duck) and ragu di aragosta (lobster) pasta to share. It was the perfect amount of food for both of us without feeling stuffed. I really like the duck pasta and thought that it was quite unique since I don't never really had duck pasta before. Highly recommend this dish! The lobster pasta was a bit on a heavier side and could use more lobster pieces since I usually like my pastas with good amount of proteins and toppings. Service was quick and attentive. The staff checks in consistently and promptly.

Food: The food here was tasty, but the portions are very, very small. We ordered the mussels and fried calamari and shrimp as appetizers. The flavor was good for both dishes. Mussels were tiny though. We ordered two pasta dishes - the duck ragu and also the porcini pasta. Both dishes were very salty and seemed like an unreasonably small portion. We weren't impressed by the food overall. Service: Service was good, but it took so long for our server to come take our order that the hostess noticed and took our order instead. After we finished our first pasta dish, our server thought we had finished our meal. We had to ask for our second pasta dish that we ordered which they missed. The place wasn't busy or full so it was disappointing that our dish was forgotten. Ambiance: The place is pretty small but can accommodate large groups. They keep the place dark for ambiance. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant and won't be returning.

Oof. Had dinner at Mareluna Soho last Friday and it was rough. I took an out of town friend and really regretted it. We liked the ambiance and the Malbec we ordered, but that's about it. For appetizers, we got the gnocchetti friti and herb fries. The fried gnocchi were bland and not particularly warm, served with a dipping sauce we both hated, and strangely plated in three different containers, as if they had three different fillings, but they didn't. The herb fries were super undercooked, so we ended up eating about 1/4th of them. Even if they had been fully cooked, they only had a small sprinkle of herbs and no dipping sauce, very underwhelming. I had the caccio y Pepe as my main, it was fine I guess? My friend felt similarly about her entree. A disappointing showing overall. I send my boss here frequently for business dinners and he's never complained so I have to wonder if this was an off night or if I should take them out of rotation.

Had two very poor experiences at Mareluna. First one was Christmas 2022 I made a res for Christmas brunch with the family on Christmas Day. The day prior to the reservation I received a text from the restaurant confirming our reservation so I assumed all was well. We show up for brunch and the restaurant was closed for Christmas. Had family drive from 2 hours away for the restaurant to be closed and then we had to scramble for find a place that would be able to seat us on such short notice. Completely understand if you have to close on Christmas but accepting and then confirming reservations when you're closed is absurd. Anyway we decided to give Mareluna a try the other week and had another unfortunate incident. There was a hair in our pasta and when we told the server they gave us an attitude as if they were doing us a favor remaking the dish. The food up until this time was not bad but after I had to feel guilty for bringing the hair to their attention, I was no longer hungry. Maybe I was just unlucky but needless to say, will not be giving this place a 3rd try.

We came here for restaurant week and I liked the burrata and duck ragu which is $30. The calamari and carbonara frittata were just okay, also $30 for the two choices. The duck ragu and carbonara frittata were both salty.

Skipped the drinks bc $18 for a glass of wine is kinda bonkers, but otherwise, this place is absolutely fantastic!!!

Date Night!My BF and I came here on a Saturday night with 8:30pm reservations. Upon arrival we were greeted and walked over to our table. Once at the table the gentleman that escorted us over realized my BF's setting did not have a fork which he went and got. The gentleman asked if we would like water to which my BF replied sparkling which was on our table in minutes. After scanning the menu and waiting for a while the busgirl looked over and realized our waitress still hadn't come over. She then got the attention of the waitress who proceeded to take our order. That was the only interaction I had with the waitress besides me asking for the check. We ordered Frito Misto (the calamari & shrimp were fried perfectly and seasoned very well) and Polpette (the meatball itself had zero flavor but the mashup of tomato & parmigiano sauce was tasty). I ordered the Peachy Fizz (taste just like juice) for a cocktail and my BF ordered Peach juice. My drink arrived, his did not so we had to ask for it again. When his juice did arrive I took a sip and we both agreed it taste just like my cocktail minus the basil. The Peachy Fizz would be very refreshing on a summer day. For our entrees I had the Ragu D' Anatra and he had the steak. My pasta was underwhelming, luke warm and not as flavorful as expected. His steak was cooked perfectly (medium as requested) but the salsa verde sauce taste like oil and nothing else. For the entirety of our meal not one person came over to check on us which I find very odd. After about an hour I saw the waitress walking by, I was able to get her attention to request the check. She then asked if I wanted dessert which I declined. The table to the left and right of me both had 2 gentlemen (1 being that gentleman that escorted us to our table) check in on them through out their meals. The service and food were both underwhelming. I wouldn't return.

Nice little social spot, everyone in my group of 6 enjoyed their meal, but I've had better Italian food between NYC and DC. The lobster ragu we found to be a bit dry, needing some more sauce or maybe some more liquid in the sauce.The duck ragu was good and unique, but just not the most memorable thing I've ever eaten.We also got the big prosciutto/burrata plate which I thought was overpriced, but those things always are and I'm just not the biggest fan of the charcuterie type things. Wish we had gotten focaccia instead, or that they gave free bread/oil like many authentic Italian places would.I didn't love that the waiter asked us to order apps/entrees at the same time "because it's busy," but I guess that's NYC. Prefer to order at my own pace, especially if there's a time allotted to our reservation that we are not really in danger of missing. Maybe that's why the pastas weren't as fresh and hot as they could have been, because they made us order at the same time as the app but didn't bring it out til app was done.Idk, these are all little things because there are many amazing Italian spots out there. Still a good meal and experience!

(Overall: B) - Mareluna has a $15 lunch special and a $30 restaurant week deal which is pretty value considering the SoHo area. Their food has high variance, but there are some highlights that are good for sure. The ambience is calm and relaxing, and the staff are friendly and attentive as well -- both key factors that will play in the long run.(Calamari: A) - A classic dish where they mixed in some shrimp in the fry as well as elevated the heat of the chili aioli. Both plays were quite smart, and the calamari itself was tender on the inside, and nicely crispy on the outside. Great dish at a good price.(Mussels: A) - Beautiful appetizer with 90% tender mussels cooked in a flavorful white wine and garlic based broth. This is a classic dish that is executed well at a good price. Would recommend.(Eggplant: D) - Aside from the presentation, I don't understand this dish -- its like a meatball replaced with eggplant, which does not seem a viable substitute as meatballs are dense and can absorb those beautiful sauces nicely; meanwhile, eggplant is airy and watery, so it made the entire dish feel incohesive and lacking substance to me.(Cozze: C) - This mussel pasta seemed to follow a similar ingredient list to their mussels appetizer, but was in every way somehow worse. The mussels were sandy, and the pasta was bland; the residual sauce tasted diluted with starch and is missing those fragant white wine and garlic notes. The presentation and price are quite good though.--Food: EPresentation: +1Price: EAtmosphere: +1Service: +1Menu: EOverall: +3 BInsta/Beli: @amei_eats

I went here with some of my coworkers for happy hour and it was a great experience! They have an extensive $10 HH cocktail menu that also comes with some bites (we got a meat and cheese board). Something I did notice is that they have food options on their hh but it's the same price as their regular menu so just keep that in mind.