Ristorante Doria & the BJM!

This weekend, we had tickets to see The Brian Jonestown Massacre in Seattle's U-district at a venue which once housed the Neptune movie theater. We don't get to this area very often, and we were looking for a nice pre-show dinner with our good mates Alex and Laura. Ristorante Doria is a place we've wanted to try for awhile. It used to be another Italian restaurant called Mamma Melina's, where we had dined a few years ago. Mamma Melina's was decent, but word was that Doria was magnifico!

We were greeted by a waiter with a thick Italian accent. The service couldn't have been better. However, I do think he must've known that we have this spectacular blog. We started by sharing a couple appetizers. We had a Caprese salad and Zuppeta di Gamberi alla Toscana (prawns in a spicy tomato broth with spinach and garbanzo beans). They were both well prepared, and tasted like a good.

Doria's menu is about as basic as it gets for an Italian restaurant. Not a lot of unusual dishes, just straight-up classics done simply, and all at a great price. None of us wanted to over-indulge, because we would be doing the mashed potato at the rock n roll show. Between the four of us, we shared two entrees. I let Regan decide for us, and she chose one of her favorite dishes -- Saltimbocca alla Romana (veal). I don't think I'd ever had it before, so I couldn't really judge it against other Italian restaurants. I thought it was splendido! Nice flavors of sage and prosciutto complimented the tender scallopine. It came with a delicious side of penne in a tomato cream sauce. The picture above is half of the dish (they split it for us), plenty for one person! If I 'd eaten the whole thing, I would've felt like Dom DeLuise!

Alex and Laura split the Penne alla Puttanesca. I tried a nibble, and it was definitely a robust gathering of anchovy, capers, and olives. They both enjoyed it and said that it was spicy, tangy, salty, and tasted like it was prepared by one sultry puttana. All the food went lovely with a good bottle of Nero D'Avola. The wine list is also simple and on the cheaper side. Most bottles are around $28.

After our meal, chef and owner Marcello came out of the kitchen to ask if everything was okay. Again, I think he might've thought we were some sort of food gurus that could take down his kitchen with one negative word about the quality of his tomatoes. We skipped dessert, wiped the sauce from our lips and headed for the stairway to the best party in the universe.