CUCINA enoteca Irvine

Is it normal for Italians to have such amazing food all the time?The tastiest dish tonight was the Tempura Fried Stuffed Squash Blossom. The tempura batter coated the flowers in a crispy layer, and the flowers were filled with smooth, creamy goat cheese. The flowers was drizzled with orange blossom honey and served with pistou sauce at the bottom of the plate for dipping.My second appetizer was the Poached Pear Buffalo Mozzarella. Sliced of pear, ham, and cheese served with vinegar for dipping. The buffalo mozzarella had a marshmallow-like, soft and springy texture that melted in my mouth. It was a high-quality cheese, incomparable to the cheap, smelly cheeses commonly found in stores.My third appetizer was the Roasted Garlic Rosemary Focaccia. The soft and porous Italian flatbreads featured roasted garlic and rosemary leaves, sprinkled with sea salt. The house-made cultured herb butter added an extra layer of flavor to the bread.The Short Rib Mafaldine was average, nothing spectacular.I ordered the Aquazul, a non-alcoholic sparkling water with ginger, lime, mint, and strawberry.Strangely enough, but the appetizers tasted better than the main course.真好奇義大利人平常都吃這麼好嗎？採用日式烹調手法的炸天婦羅釀櫛瓜花。天婦羅麵糊將花裹上一層酥脆外衣，花內填充柔滑的山羊乳酪，淋上橙花蜂蜜，蘸盤底橄欖油和法國香草醬食用。燈光映照下綠油油的醬汁值得來一張近距離特寫。水煮梨起司。梨/火腿/起司切片蘸醋食用。白色莫札瑞拉的口感似棉花糖軟彈，含在嘴裡會化開，是品質上乘的起司，絕非一般市售那種聞起來臭臭的廉價起司可比。烤大蒜迷迭香佛卡夏。柔軟多孔的義大利扁平麵包，表面灑上海鹽，有著烤過的大蒜和迷迭香葉。店家自製的發酵香草奶油為麵包增添了額外的風味層次。紅酒燉牛小排義大利麵普普，嚐到的只有鹹味，吃不出有啥特別。叫了杯無酒精，含生薑/青檸/薄荷/草莓的氣泡水Aquazul。這樣說有點奇怪，但我覺得今晚的所有餐前頭盤，都比正餐好吃。

This restaurant used to be one of my favorites before COVID, but it has gone downhill fast. The food quality isn't what it used to be--the dishes taste old and far from fresh two mushroom pizzas, It's like they're just going through the motions, with no real care for flavor or presentation.To make things worse, the service was just as disappointing. We ordered focaccia bread, only to be told they were sold out. Fine, things run out. But when I jokingly asked for a second round of red wine on the house instead, the server (Jose) came back with one tiny drop of wine in my glass--almost like a joke, but not a funny one. The attitude from the staff felt indifferent, if not outright rude.Overall, this place has lost its charm, both in food and service. What was once a fantastic spot is now just a shadow of itself. I won't be back anytime soon.

Was there with 4 adults/3 kids. Spent around $300 bucks. Staff was solid and accommodating, nice outdoor seating (on the left patio), but the food was just meh. Pizza was cold and dough was tough. The tempura battered squash blossoms were poorly fried and consisted of mostly cheese, barely any vegetable. The portion for the other apps barely fed two people. The meatballs were packed too tight and processed. Some decent highlights... my gin martini, family style salad, and rigatoni bolognese. This place is a huge letdown compared to their SD location. Probably find tastier food at 90% of the other Italian restaurants around here. Would not come here again.

Everything we had here was great, and the level of freshness was fantastic! The focaccia bread was so good with the smooth butter. We ordered a shareable pizza and shareable have chicken. Again, everything was cooked to perfection. I have no complaints. The service was amazing and our waiter was very accommodating and attentive. The ambience is lovely whether sitting inside or outside, but we sat outside because the weather was nice! Definitely returning.

Clam + Squid Ink Linguini 9.13/10- this pasta was absolutely incredible! The squid ink gave it such a unique flavor and beautiful color. They combined fennel, tomato, scallion, and Calabrian chili which created these amazing layers of flavor - the heat from the chili balanced perfectly with the freshness of the tarragon and salmoriglio gave it this amazing herbaceous quality. The clams were super fresh and added such a nice element to the dish, while the herbs made everything taste so vibrant. I loved how they give you a separate bowl for the shells - a thoughtful touch. The pasta itself was cooked perfectly al dente as well. Whole Branzino 7.82/10- while the fish itself was good and perfectly flaky, they went way too heavy on the olive oil which kind of overwhelmed everything. However, I loved how they paired it with heirloom tomatoes and olives - the tomatoes added this amazing sweetness while the olives gave it that perfect salty kick. The fish was seasoned well but just needed way less oil.Grilled Tiger Prawn 8.24/10- these prawns were really fresh and had this amazing char that gave them a subtle smokiness. The harissa sauce added this perfect kick of heat, while the herb crème fraiche balanced everything out. Whipped Ricotta Onion Dip 8.87/10- absolutely loved this! The ricotta was whipped until super fluffy and had this amazing creamy, light texture. They topped it with everything but the bagel seasoning and scallions which added the perfect savory crunch. The potato chips were great with the dip.Tempura Fried Squash Blossom 8.54/10- these were so good! The tempura batter was super light and crispy, and they stuff them with goat cheese. The pistou added a fresh and herby note while the orange blossom honey brought floral sweetness that was subtle, tying everything together perfectly.Roasted Tomato Focaccia 7.32/10- while this was a bit on the dry side, the herb butter they served with it was incredible - so rich and packed with fresh herbs. The roasted tomatoes in the bread added a sweet, slightly caramelized flavor.Seasonal Sangria 3.72/10- I was really excited to try this since wine is quite popular here and I love sangria. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it would be red wine which I'm not a huge fan of. They added apple and cinnamon which gave it these nice and sweet flavor, but overall just wasn't for me.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Instagram: @hungrytamale

Came here with ten people and the service was really goodThey were really patient and gave us a big table Here's a run down of what I ate:The focaccia: was ok. Soft and fluffy. 6/10The eggplant pasta: I didn't really like this. The pasta wasn't really al dente and it was lacking salt. 2/10The margherita pizza. Really delicious. Great crust. Good flavor. 9/10Mushroom truffle pizza. I liked this and my friends did too. 7/10

Came here for dinner since we were at the mall. There was surprisingly quite a bit of bar seating which was good for a Saturday night! We ordered the Pear and Mozzarella appetizer which was really good. For entrees, I would definitely recommend the Bucatini Amatriciana! The flavors were so good in this dish! I ordered the Twilight Club cocktail which was very good, but tiny. I'd love to come back and check out happy hour!

Host was nice upon entry and seated our party of five within 15mins. We ordered a variety of dishes and did family style. I loved the high ceilings and the decor was fun and colorful.Delicata Squash - squash with sweet from dates and tangy from pomegranatesGrilled Octopus - very good with good flavor. So good we ordered two!Margarita Pizza - good cheese spread and red sauceRigatoni bolognese - A FAMILY FAVORITE Braised lamb neck Cavatelli- very interesting dish presentation. Lacking a pop of color to offset the brown. Looked like large worms in a bed of shredded meat. It was very salty and our least favorite of all. Striped Seabass with Manila clam - beans were interesting in the dish. Tasty.

Such a great restaurant!! Philip was our server at the bar, HE WAS AMAZING!!! we loved the pepperoni pizza, best pizza we've had. Such a great atmosphere, would come back!

Great food, and amazing Ambiance. Would definitely come back and bring family or friends.