Oh Marea Marea

Marea 
240 Central Park South
New York, NY 10019

www.marea-nyc.com

I’ve been wanting to eat at Marea for about a year, before I finally step foot into this sleek and classy restaurant. It was a tantalizing wait, but I saved it for a very special birthday occasion. For months, I must've read a ton of Urbanspoon and Yelp reviews, while I admire the yummy photographs online. So when the day finally came for me to visit Marea, I knew exactly what to order. It wasn't my birthday, but it sure felt like it! :)

 Ricci - sea urchin, lardo and sea salt.

Here we have a crostini spread with creamy sea urchin, that's topped with thin velvety sheets of lardo, with a touch of sea salt. I’ve never had lardo before, and thought it was weird at first, but the layer of porky fat gave an interesting texture, and complemented the sea urchin and toast very well. The sea urchin was buttery and perfect. In just two savory bites, heaven practically melted in my mouth. If you love uni as much as I do, you’ll definitely love this!

Clockwise from top to bottom: bigeye tuna, geoduck clam, and pacific langoustines

Then I ordered a tasting of 3 different crudos. Crudos are sliced raw fish appetizers dressed in olive oil and lemon juice. Sort of like the Italian version of ceviche or sashimi. There are about 15 choices of crudos on the menu and I wanted to try everything. We ordered the geoduck, langoustines and the bigeye tuna. All 3 were freshly prepared, and tasted wonderfully juicy with a delectable sweetness.

Polipo - grilled octopus, smoked potatoes, pickled red onion, radish, chilies, and tonnato.

Next we had the grilled octopus. This is definitely a must try! It's filled with a smokey flavor, perfectly tendered, with smoked potatoes, pickled red onion, radish, chillies and a tonnato sauce. It brought back wonderful memories of my trip to Greece, because all I ate there was fresh grilled octopus. 

Astice - Nova Scotia lobster with burrata, eggplant al funghetto, and basil.

Astice immediately followed, with chunks and chunks of succulent lobster paired with creamy burrata, eggplant and basil. This dish is colorful and absolutely beautiful to look at! I didn't want to eat this piece of art... but my belly didn't listen. :P

Spaghetti with crab, Santa Barbara sea urchin, basil.

I’m a huge uni fan. So when I saw a pasta dish with sea urchin, there’s no doubt that I will order it. This was probably one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had! The pasta was al dente and the delicious sauce captured the flavors of the sea. Every bite had crab, and every bite had sea urchin in it. I savored each appetizing bite slowly, with a huge smile spread across my face. I would go back regularly just for this dish, but I can’t possibly afford to indulge in this insane plate of goodness.

Fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow.

Finally, Marea’s signature dish - fusilli pasta with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow! The verdict? Perhaps my expectations were too high because everyone hyped it up for me, but I thought it was just good and not great. The pasta had a great bite to it with perfect braised octopus. The bone marrow was flavorful and rich, but I thought it was a tad too salty for my palate. I preferred the crab and sea urchin spaghetti over the heavily raved fusilli. However, I would definitely order this dish again, hoping that it’ll be perfect the next time around, with less salt.

This was indeed, a very satisfying meal. Yes the signature dish was a bit disappointing, yet still good… everything else tasted wonderful, especially anything and everything with sea urchin. This two star Michelin restaurant truly deserves all the buzz it’s been getting even though it's on the pricier side. But it was worth every bite and every penny. Definitely a treat for that special someone!

Mickey's rating: 9/10
Price range: $$$$