Another one of the many Italian food gems sitting in A-Tooch’s East Village neighborhood that it has taken, hm, about 16 months to dine at.
As I’ve said before, I’m a pretty tough sell when it comes to Italian food. But I heard good things about this casual, reasonably priced spot so we choose it for a group dinner for the BF’s birthday. I was happy with Three of Cups from the beginning; we called them up on Sunday around 5 p.m. to seat a group of six people at 7 p.m. — not an easy feat in NYC. Not only did we have no problem getting a table, we had a pretty sweet six seater booth, too.
There were a lot of us and a LOT of food, so I won’t overload you with pictures of every course — just know it was delish. We got a sample of just about everything you’d need to try to judge a good Italian place (pizza, pasta, meatballs and of course, tiramisu). No one was disappointed! The wine menu is pretty great at Three of Cups, with bottles as cheap as $18. Our group got a couple bottles of a decent white for $26.
Roommate got the Spaghetti alle Vongole with little neck clams. Looked delish (if only I was a clam eater…) We all agreed that the pasta portions were tremendous. Definitely prepare for a doggy bag and lunch for tomorrow.
Against my better judgment I decided to pass up this next entree for the pizza. That didn’t stop me from digging my fork into my friend N’s dish though… Costole di Manzo - beef short ribs with a mushroom risotto and truffle oil. Pretty hard to go wrong with this one. The meat was falling off the bone and the truffle oil gave an awesome flavor to the dish.
Why is truffle oil always the star of the show? I couldn’t resist it either, and went with the Tartufo Pizza. Topped with diced portobello mushrooms, asiago cheese and fresh herbs this pizza was tasty. I’m not even a real thin crust person and I could deal with this one. Heck, the crust was even burnt on half of it and I still loved it.
There was no dessert listed on the menu, but earlier in our dinner we eyed the waiter carrying a big honkin’ piece of homemade tiramisu to a table. A piece so big you could spot it a mile away (we did). We ordered one for the group. It was amazing. Check out my hands getting ready to prance on this deliciousness.
I will definitely be venturing back to this place for their awesome 20% early dinner special or brunch with unlimited bloodys or mimosas.
