Tom and I had visited Leon's when it was located on Long Wharf and had an incredible dinner, so we were excited to see that they located closer to us! On a particularly stressful day, we decided to treat ourselves and head out for a nice lunch. The new space (the old Hollywood Video) is large with both classic and modern touches (but what is with the fake ivy on the back corner wall? Just tacky.) All the servers were in classic black and white attire and the head chef could be seen roaming about and visiting with a few tables.
Water glasses were filled and warm, crusty bread was brought over. For my lunch, I went with the Bucatini all'Amatriciana. Portion size was perfect but I wasn't too thrilled with my choice. The pasta (in the description says it is housemade) was undercooked and crunchy almost at times. The sauce was a little chunkier than I would have preferred but I did appreciate the good amount of pancetta, giving the dish the salty and smoky tones. Tom went with the Chicken Zingara, which was definitely a hit. The whole dish was perfectly cooked and seasoned--loved the subtle fennel sausage and the flavor of the pan sauce that tied everything together.
The highlight for us was the head chef walking around with tasting plates of Scungilli (conch in a marinara sauce)--very nice to try something off the menu!
We decided to splurge a bit and get dessert, but to go. I ordered the Biscotti plate, which came in a good sized takeout container. Uhh, where was the biscotti?? I was lucky if there was 6 small chunks of biscotti floating around in this large container. I am almost always tolerant but this looked awful. I sent it back--for $6, I expect a few full-size pieces of biscotti for dunking and enjoying.
Overall, not a bad experience but also, not great. After having dinner at the Long Wharf location, I expected better. Maybe a few kinks to work out still with the new place.
www.leonsrestaurant.com
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