Cucina Di Pesce

This is one of my go-​to restaurants. The food is good, reasonably priced, can almost always get a table, and I like the atmosphere. I love their grilled eggplant appetizer– delicious ! Have to take one star off because whenever I order th eggplant pasta dish, the eggplant is sometimes still frozen in the middle :(I just stopped getting that dish and everything else I have is great!

3 stars is correct. Nothing special. Ordered the grilled salmon and spaghetti with marinara sauce. Wasn’t bad, wasn’t great either.

The Pumpkin Ravioli is amazing! I ordered delivery and the service was very quick. The order also came with some tasty bread. Highly recommend.

Came here for a company holiday dinner and ordered the seafood fettuccine, paired it with riesling and topped off with tiramisu for dessert.
Food was okay, wasn’t as great as I expected it to be. My coworkers ordered the steak and they said it was worth it so maybe I just picked the wrong dish of the night. The fettuccine was still very filing though.
Not sure if there were more diners within our age range (late 20s). Seemed like it appealed to a older age range since it looked like we were the youngest group of the night.

Last night after a failed attempt to get a table at another restaurant we settled for Cucina Di Pesce. I actually always wanted to try and one person from my party of 4 have eaten there years ago. We were directed to a back room. We ordered a couple of appetizers to share and 30 minutes later it was delivered to 2 wrong tables until i finally flagged down the food runner. That is ok what is not ok was the TERRIBLE seafood fettuccine i ordered. After a couple of bites and unable to taste anything i shared with a couple of my friends and all agreed it was just plain awful. The cream sauce had 0 Flavor and it seemed like it was flour and water mixed together with a few shrimps and some tiny scallops (I think). The server NEVER checked back on us during our meal. I Had to ask 3 times for parmesan cheese trying to make my dish somewhat edible. The dessert was offered and shown on a tray display. What? 1991? Never again. San Marzano i will wait one hour and a half next time.

Good! Do I sound surprised? I was, pleasantly. This place has been around for 3 or more decades. It shows. Shabby and tired looking.
But wait! The food is pretty good, and at good prices.
We had a branzino, which was grilled to perfection (to use a ridiculous cliché). The pasta was passable. The cioppino was tasty.
Service was efficient.
Cucina is not the fad it was 30 years ago, but it is a nice place. Normcore. Respectable food at respectable prices. If you’re right there, why not.

I asked for the salmon to be on the rare side, but they game me well done. I understand that not every restaurant make fresh pasta, but at least make the tomato sauce fresh. That thing taste like it came from a jar.

Delicious. Toasted ravioli appetizer was ok. The fusilli with Gorgonzola, sun dried tomato and capers was unforgettable! Soooo good. My fiancé a I went here because it was referred to us. We couldn’t have been happier. The food is excellent and the price can’t be beat. Seriously it’s a steal. There are only a 1 or 2 entrees +$ 20. My fiancé got the clams with linguine, it was very tasty. We had a bottle of red blend with dinner, it was very good. We had desert, German chocolate cake. It was a little dry. I hadn’t had the cake in a while and pushed hard for it. There is a lot of desert to choose from. We both had a cappuccino too. An app, two entrees, a bottle of wine, a desert and two cappuccinos and we barely broke $ 100 and the food was excellent. Loved it. You should go!

People who have read my few reviews may have noted that I appreciate good value in dining, and dislike nothing more than being a victim of trendy overpriced silliness when looking for a satisfying dining experience. Came back to this place after twenty-​something years and was thoroughly disappointed. Yes, the restaurant has a nice ambiance, very good service, and very reasonable prices. However, that is NOT an excuse to serve up bland, tasteless Italian dishes and to cut corners in their preparation. Another Unilocal reviewer really said it well about this place: «Life’s too short to eat mediocre Italian.» — especially in a city like New York.
Here are a few examples: The seafood lasagna was bland and listless, and tasted like the tiny shrimp and scallops came from a can. The black ink linguine with shrimp was ok, but again on the bland and tasteless side. The tap beer selection tasted flat, as if the keg had been there forever and wasn’t properly maintained. Again, the service was very good, and the eclectic décor is definitely interesting and inviting for some.
What really galled me, however, was the announcement upon getting the bill that the establishment accepts cash and American Express cards only (not Visa or MC). Is this some kind of retro, mid-1980’s snobbery joke? (I remember those times and stupid ad campaigns…). I totally appreciate cash-​only establishments — in fact, often like them more — but the small AmEx sign on the door upon entry created the expectation that this place was not cash-​only, and accepted credit cards.
Who in 2015 ONLY carries an AmEx card anymore? Time to wake up move into the 21^st century, and take note that «life’s too short to eat mediocre Italian» in this great city.

I’m a firm believer of trying places at least 2 times and I have to say that this place has not dis-​appointed.
The staff is super friendly and accommodating and the food is delicious, classic Italian/​American fare and priced reasonably for NYC and I really enjoy the eclectic crowd that patronizes this establishment.
On my recent visit we started out with baked clams and Grilled calamari as appetizers and went on to have a plate of their fettuccine with seafood in a light cream sauce, the pasta was fresh and cooked to perfection !
Bravissimi !!!

Always cucnia di pesce does an out standing job! I’ve been ordering from them for years and have never had a complaint. Guess that’s why they’re still in business for like 60 years! I always get my extra sauce and even extra, makes me so happy! Even extra bread if I ask and no hidden charges! Best service ever and fast delivery too. Keep doing what your doing and I’ll keep returning A+

Canceled an OT rez and archived their BBE deal after the weather turned and I realized they were on Eat24. Ordered up the Pumpkin Ravioli $ 13.07 for pickup and quite enjoyed it. FYI it seems Free mussels marinara at the bar 4 – 8 and possibly even a free bread basket on the counter.

The stars really are for the service. While the prices are good, as other reviewers have posted, life’s too short to eat mediocre Italian. There are many other options available in this great city. Stuffed mushrooms were chewy and lacked any discernible flavors. Tomato & mozzarella app was tasty but that’s standard really. I had the sicilian lasagna. I’m not sure if it was the quality of the cheese or the way it was cooked, but it had a rubbery texture and again, no real prominent flavors to speak of. The staff, however, were super attentive, pleasant and very accommodating.

Great early bird dinner. Glass of wine. Salad. Soup. Chicken Parm and pasta for only 18 which included a 20 percent tip. (The dinner is 14) Very impressed with the chicken, soup and a glass of decent wine. They also give a sample of homemade hummus that was great.
Great place for this. My friend hated her calamari and mussels. Get the parm and you will be happy. Great value. She really should have spoken up she said it was not edible
and very dry. The chicken was perfection. Stay away from the Mussels and calamari dried out and bad.

Wow! This place is absolutely totally… meh
The ONLY credit card accepted is American Express
To be honest this place is kind of a disapointment. Went here because someone mentioned on Unilocal that there are free mussels at the bar during happy hour. This is NOT necessarily true. When I visited they did not have any and I was told they don do it all the time and it depends on the market value. Super lame.
fiiiiiiiine…I can excuses that but the food was nothing special and slightly subpar.
The appetizers were buy one get one as well as the beers and well drinks. Happy hour is from 4−7PM.
Ordered fried calamari and escarole. The escarole was fine. The calamari gives you an impression that there is a severe global squid shortage. The individual rings were placed around the giant dish of marina sauce. Again, if they were good it’s a different story but the fried calamari is lightly dusted with some seasoning/​batter which gives it a grainy feel and adds zero in the taste department.
Hey at least there was free bread at the bar and the bar tender was friendly. This saved the review from a 2 star moment.
The décor is fairly nice. One unusual thing that’s is interesting is that outside the restroom there is a very small common sink for hand washing. Never seen that before.
Add this to you list of places you can skip.

This has been my all time favorite restaurant in the East Village since 1986! It’s food quality and service is consistent, never wavered, TOP NOTCH ALWAYS! They make the best Chicken Marsala, hand down! Great prices, until a few years ago it was cash only, now they do take American Express only, so be prepared to pay cash, this is how they can keep the menu price down. Most expensive item on the menu is 22.00, you can’t find that anywhere these days.
The décor is a combination of lovely art and antique mirrors. It has a small dining room, no reservations, so they serve mussels marinara at the bar while waiting for a table, which is a nice touch. All the pasta is homemade. I love their pumpkin ravioli with pesto. Seafood is catch of the day, always fresh. All and all, as the food places change with the times, this one hasn’t changed and I thank you!

Another amazing night with my bestest friend. We were greeted by a very happy go lucky bartender named Marsit, who took care of us for most of the night. We started with the steamed mussels with a glass of wine, where the jeu at the bottom went well with the bread the table provided. After a few well drinks, we decided to go for the blackened seafood ravioli that was recommended and had a bold marinara sauce that made the dish. Red of red sauces. It made the dish that much better.
The ambiance was present and the vibe was super chill. Definitely no negative energy felt. Even the bar backs were friendly and attentive to all of our needs. Definitely give this place a shot. Up to par seafood, where as long as you have a smile on your face, you’ll be treated like one of their own.
We ended the night with an array of dessert options Marsit gave us to try. We went for the crème brûlée, that was homemade. We definitely weren’t floored on how good it was, but it definitely left a sweet end to our night, and will definitely give this place another try when the weather is better and we can sit outside.

Shrug. I’d hit up the nearby Three of Cups ANY day.
Reasonable prices, but the food was certainly nothing special. The tomato sauce was especially flavorless. My margarita was 90% sugar. I’d only go back if a friend insisted.

Nothing necessarily bad to say about it, but nothing worth raving about either. Each entrée comes with pasta, you can choose marinara sauce or olive oil/​garlic, it’s lame. I am sorry, but it’s NYC and it’s not a lunch room… Have your pasta entrées and have real entrées with real sides… And the pastas weren’t even good, super bland.
My husband had the fish of the day, it was grilled branzini and it was really delicious, nice flavors, very simple, very yummy. I had the trout topped with mushrooms, it was okay. Nothing worth dreaming about, a lot of jus, it’s like the fish was still swimming in its own water. Both our fishes came with pasta, I also ordered a side of sautéed vegetables and the waiter assumed I didn’t want pasta and didn’t bother bringing mine. I asked him later, if the pasta brought to our table were the two orders put on one plate and he looked at me because I ordered the veggies, he thought I didn’t want pasta. Whatever, a little presumptuous, it’s part of my meal after all, isn’t it?
We shared the portobello mushroom topped with cheese. It was flavorless.
The best part of the meal was the hummus and the bread served as complimentary appetizer. Oh and the décor is cool. Besides that, food is overall pretty bland and not worth trying.

I love this place.
Cucina Di Pesce — 5 stars, hands down.
This place is a jewel… and I will be eating here regularly. This place has great food, very unique food, classy way of decorating the place and never had one bad experience here.
Welcoming atmosphere and simple menu.
Everything is decently priced: Good value for the money.
I got Sea Bass this time — main course was well-​rounded, thoughtful, and an absolute delight! It was more than enough food and everything was delicious!
Stuffed Mushrooms — good, but kind of standard in flavor and execution… and I’ve had better. But we also ordered the Beet Salad and Bruschetta and they tasted great. Unique flavor combinations.
The staff are always so friendly: the service was good, as our server was very nice and constantly checked on us, even though the food did take quite some time to come out. I think they tried their best. Well done… couldn’t ask for more with this visit.
I can’t wait to try the whole menu! It’s a good place to hang out with friends and have a nice time eating good Italian food.