Dieci

I don’t know if I should do 2 or 3 stars. I mean to be honest… the food isn’t that fantastic meaning it wasn’t mind blowing. I think the staff is nice enough but it was really expensive for what it was. There are FAR better choices in the city.

When my friend recommended this place, I was skeptical. I love Italian food, and I love Japanese food. But fused together? I thought I would walk in (and out) disappointed but boy was I wrong. The food was SO flavorful and just so so good. We ordered quite a few things but the pork belly buns, uni scrambled eggs, octopus and spaghetti alle vongole were items that stuck out in my mind.
The restaurant is extremely small — can fit 20 ppl (if even) at the most so reservations are a must. Service was also super attentive and quick.

Love love love their uni egg
My second favorite was the truffle steak and the foie gras.
The mediocre dish was the squid ink pasta and the Brussels sprouts. I can probably make it better.
The things I didn’t like were the lamb chops and the duck (entrée). They were both very dry and tasteless.
I forgot which sake I picked but it was really good! Also I love that they carry my favorite Japanese beer koshi hikari. If you like rice lager, you should def try it!
I don’t like the layout of the restaurant. That long table does not suit the tiny space. Very uncomfortable since people are going in and out constantly.
Also the restaurant is super hot from the heat from the kitchen.
However, I will be back just for their uni egg

Like many people say, it’s really small restaurant. For appetizers, we had chawamushi, which is egg custard with foie gras. It tastes really soft and nice. Some appetizers are not available. For entrees, I had black tagliollin with calamari and tomato sauce. It’s flavorful, but nothing impressive. Maybe I still prefer authentic Italian pasta rather than this fusion. My friend got the fettuccine with uni. she likes uni, but the whole flavor is too bland. Steak is alright. Anyways, all the entrees have lots of carbs (not diet-​friendly), even miso cod has risotto. The best part of the meal is actually the earl Grey crime brûlée. The combination of tea and sweetness is awesome.
So for this place, come for earl grey crime brûlée, come for uni.

My cousin and I have embarked on an uni pasta adventure and this was our first stop! It’s a super small and cozy restaurant in East Village serving Japanese-​Italian fusion. Because we both love trying everything, we ordered all our items to share.
As an appetizer we ordered the chawanmushi, which is egg custard with foie gras and mushrooms. We thought this would be spreadable foie gras, but it came in a little bowl looking more like soup. It tasted really delicious. The egg custard was infused with foie gras flavor, and the mushrooms were soft yet still added texture. Definitely one of the more unique dishes I’ve tried!
Next up came the uni fettuccine. There was a generous amount of uni, and it tasted fresh and super creamy. The pasta was simple but tasty — noodles cookies al dente and covered with a plain cream sauce. There was also a good amount of calamari dispersed in the pasta.
We also got the spicy lamb ramen, which I actually liked better than the uni dish! It was a lot more flavorful, and the noodles were softer and soaked up more of the tomato sauce. It had a strong lamb flavor which I really loved.
Even though we were super full after this, we couldn’t help but try the earl grey crème brûlée for dessert. Ugh this was THE best part of the meal! The crème brûlée had a definite earl grey taste and the top sugar layer was perfectly burnt. It came with white chocolate ice cream on the side. Amazing.
Service was great, food came out fast. The only downside is the tiny space. We sat at a communal table and barely had any room between us and the people dining beside us. Other than that, highly recommend!

Yup, 2 Stars. Many of my friends know I tend to like almost everything overall and believe me, I never felt more disappointed than this. Note: I may have gone when it was a very off night at Dieci.
After reading so many positive experiences here, I decided to take my sister here for her birthday on a quiet Sunday evening. We made reservations but from the emptiness of the restaurant, we didn’t really have to.
My party of four started with the Pork Buns. They were indeed big and the pork was marinated with its sauce very well. It was a just the perfect balance of sweet and savory. Buns were soft as well. We’re off to a good start but unfortunately, it only went downwards from here.
Potato Sea Urchin, four tiny little pieces of potato with charred, melted sea urchin on top. It was seasoned with sea salt. My piece may have been charred a little too much that it tasted the torch. Not worth it.
Crabmeat Gnocchi was up next and it did look promising but it fell short of expectations. It was a very dried dish that I really could not decide if it was meant to be that way. Both the crabmeat sauce and gnocchi pieces were so dry. My party member also stated that it was very bland tasting.
Next comes the Uni Fettuccine, this was the dish that we came here for. It was not bad but I had better at Basta Pasta. It had a pretty nice presentation. Since the sea urchin was not infused as a sauce, the pasta alone did not have much flavor. The texture was chewy, which I liked though.
Filet Mignon with Couscous. We ordered medium rare but came out more cooked — okay, that’s fine. The flavor was not my favorite. Couscous was cooked with mushroom, therefore, it had a strong aroma but really bland without the meat sauce.
Lamb Chops may have been a close favorite. It was well marinated and cooked perfectly as we ordered. It was made with chili oil, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. It was grilled nicely so it had that perfect charred look and taste. But not a fan of the flavor.
Earl Grey Crème Brûlée. I did love the flavors of Earl Grey but not so much the weak custard. Its texture really ruined it for me for it did not taste fresh. Sugar coat layer was really hard to break through and if I may add, it was frozen cold.
Another thing I like to mention is to never order green tea here. It is $ 5.00 per person ordered. Yes, there are refills but definitely not worth it. And I would’ve appreciated if I was informed beforehand about it since it was not listed on the menu.

Dieci has been on my to go list for a year, but I’ve never really had the urge to go. However, after returning from Japan, I’ve been obsessed with uni, so I finally made reservations here. FYI, reservations are extremely recommended as this place is super small (4 tables and about a 6 chair high top table small).
My friend and I both ordered the famous uni fettuccine. The dish is supposedly an uni cream sauce, but honestly it just tasted like a regular cream sauce to me as there was a lack of uni flavor. Not that I’m really complaining because the dish was good and I loved how there was an appropriate amount of uni on top of the bed of fettuccine (about 3 – 4 pieces worth). The fettuccine also came with scattered pieces of calamari and olives, which I thought was unnecessary. I wasn’t a fan of the olives and didn’t really understand why they were there. Also, the calamari didn’t seem fresh — it was more of the frozen supermarket type of calamari.
I wasn’t craving dessert, so I didn’t I didn’t order any. My friend however, ordered the chocolate lava cake and substituted the vanilla ice cream with green tea ice cream free of charge. He tempted me with a bite and I ended up eating almost the entire thing LOL. The cake was perfectly baked and had chocolate oozing out in the center. Dieci makes the green tea ice cream themselves, so it tasted better than your standard green tea ice cream.
Dieci also has great service and an intimate atmosphere. I showed up 5 minutes late, but they still seated my friend without me being present; usually restaurants are super strict on their seating policy and even give away tables when you’re late. Also, we were there for about 2 hours catching up and never felt rushed. It’s also a huge date spot as the restaurant is pretty dark with lots of candles. I’m pretty sure that the couples at the tables we sat near were on their first dates LOL.
I’ll definitely be back to try the miso cod risotto and their ramen!

Diece is fancy Italian with a Japanese twist. This is a really good place for special occasion, like birthday and valentine’s day for couple or anytime for girl’s dinner night :)
Each portion is small and it was nice to share with the other.
We had total 2 appetizer, 2 pasta, 1 Entrees, and 1 dessert. I was full but also really satisfied.
Uni Scrambled Egg:
Really fancy and delicate flavor. One time as experience is good enough.
Sauteed Asparagus (duck bacon & poached egg):
Flavorful and savory. Duck bacon was really nice addition and brought a lot of flavor!
Gnocchi (crab & cod roe cream sauce):
I loved creamy crab and cod roe sauce!!! They put decent amount of crab meat.
I am not big fan of Gnocchi but I enjoyed their Gnocchi a lot!
Fettuccine (creamy sea urchin sauce and calamari):
Looks Fancy and girls definitely love to see this plate in front of her! Taste is good too but, I will order Gnocchi and something else if I come here again.
Japanese Red Snapper Chazuke (grilled vege rice ball & hoji tea soup):
I liked slightly burnt taste of rice with tea soup. Maybe it was little bit too salty.
Early Grey Crème Brulee:
It had strong Early Grey flavor and I loved it!

Ok Dieci is small, with two tables and a counter, it probably could only hold 20 people at most; however both the service and flavor were impeccable.
We had a group of four people so ordered several small plates to share before main entrée. Being suggested by my friend to order the uni scrambled egg with caviar so we did that — word failed me to explain how soft the egg could with the help of uni! Grilled octopus was equally delicious. Black cod was my single favorite seafood dish so I went ahead and got the risotto, so glad I made this decision as Dieci simply raised my standard of miso black cod! It was not too salty yet was flavorful enough. My friends also enjoyed their pasta.
Atmosphere was amid and relaxing. Would be back for sure!

This tiny, romantic restaurant is a hidden gem!
I visited NYC for couple days, and I was looking for Japanese fusion type of pasta. So I found this place and wanted to check it out with my friend who lives in NYC.
We got Uni scrambled egg w/​sturgeon caviar. This lovely appetizer is pretty much similar to «egg on egg on egg». Flavorful warm scrambled egg mixed with rich uni and caviar. It didn’t come in an uni shell though, I was a bit sad. :(
My friend ordered Fettuccine creamy sea urchin sauce pasta. Which was quite good, better than any other above-​average cream sauce pasta. Uni match perfectly with the sauce.
For my entrée, I got Spicy lamb bolognese ramen. The sauce was strong and savory because lamb is one flavorful piece of meat. The best part about this dish was their homemade ramen noodles. It still got good texture and has a nice bite to it, perfectly balance with bolognese sauce.
This lovely restaurant can make Japanese x Italian fusion pasta dishes! Quite rare to find this type of restaurant anywhere in U.S.
This is why I love NYC when it comes to food. Anything you wanted to eat, you will find it. Dieci is another solid example in that category.

Unbelievable! Bravi davvero!
The best parts were the two foie Gras appetizers, the Brussels sprouts and the Scallops crudo.
I had the roasted duck, my two other friends had the lamb chops and the ramen. My roasted duck was SUPER! The lamb chops great the ramen in ragù sauce was great too.

Love at first bite.
Dieci is worth going out of your way for. This teeny-​tiny restaurant may be a bit claustrophobic, but it packs so much flavor. Reservations are a good idea since there are only four small tables and then a communal table that fits maybe 6 – 8 people.
I anticipated that the dishes would be on the smaller side (excluding the entrees), so my boyfriend and I shared 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, AND dessert. (I know, we can eat.) It ended up being too much food for me, but I regretted nothing.
Here’s what we ordered:
+ Scallop crudo (a special)
+ Potato gratin with marinated uni
+ Chawanmushi (egg custard w/​foie gras)
+ Uni fettucine
+ Lamb ramen
+ Miso black cod w/​truffled risotto and poached egg
+ Earl grey crème brûlée w/​vanilla bean ice cream
Everything was a *must order* except the potato gratin. They were too small, and the uni and potato pairing didn’t do much for me.
My absolute favorites were the scallop crudo, uni fettucine, miso black cod, and the crème brûlée. Honorable mention goes to the egg custard, which was surprisingly delicious and rich with the foie gras flavoring. My boyfriend loved the lamb ramen; the lamb flavor and oils were absorbed by the perfectly al dente noodles. The miso black cod is large and filling entrée, so get this if you’re starving.
When I thought things couldn’t get better, the earl grey crème brûlée stole the show. This was, hands down, one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time.
Dieci for the win!

Almost perfect dish (foie Gras on daikon) but the daikon was too hard.
Uni on scramble egg was just ok. Do not like the presentation.
Ambience was cozy and intimate
Tartare was excellent & a big yes from me!
Service was good.
Overall: 2.3

Get to the Chase:
Pros:
1) Absolutely dreamy food!
2) Perfection foodi-​fied
3) Go for the tomato black tagliolini or the foie gras appetizer
4) Reasonable prices for amazing quality
5) Great service
6) They do desserts just as well as their entrees! (Earl Gray crème brûlée, and molten chocolate cake… um I could eat this forever)
Cons:
1) Very small bathroom
2) Limited seating (maybe holds about 12 – 20 people)

Came to Dieci to celebrate my BF’s birthday.
Pros:
* Small, intimate space with modern décor that is perfect for a date. Also good for groups of no more than 4 people. Highly recommend making a reservation online via
and they call you the day of to confirm.
* Excellent service.
* We enjoyed and recommend the Beef Tartare (sea urchin, slow poached quail egg, smoked aioli), Fettuchine (creamy sea urchin sauce and calamari), and Tagliolini (squid ink, tomato, & calamari). Being meat lovers, our absolute favorite dish of the night was the Ramen (spicy lamb bolognese) — as it ramen noodles and lamb sauce were perfectly cooked and super flavorful. Portions are surprisingly generous.
Cons:
* To my best guess, either the sea urchin or Beef Tartare were not prepared well or fresh, because both of us had upset stomachs immediately afterwards.
All in all, spent ~$ 117 for a shared appetizer, 2 drinks, and 3 pasta dishes. Can’t wait to return to devour the Lamb Ramen again…

I decided to try Dieci based on a recommendation made by Ruwan J. and I’m surely glad I did. Overall I would give this place a solid 4.5 stars. Dieci is a perfect place for date night with your significant other. The restaurant is quite small but cozy and welcoming. The service was on point in every aspect from never having to ask for a refill on water to automatically splitting dishes which we were sharing, as well as including hot sauce on the side as I mentioned that I liked the spice but my gf did not.
Moving on to the food, all the dishes were presented beautifully and brought out in perfect time one after another as we sampled each dish. The highlight of the meal for me was definitely the ramen w/​spicy lamb bolognese however here is the breakdown of the dishes I tried:
–Beef Tartare sea urchin, slow poached quail egg, smoked aioli ($ 18) — a bit on the salty side so make sure to eat it with the bread provided. it had a strong beefy flavor to it which I liked. 3.5÷5
–Fettuccine creamy sea urchin sauce and calamari (($ 24) — a great dish for uni lovers. the flavors worked perfectly and the fettuccine pasta soaked up the sauce nicely. the calamari was so fresh and tender 4.5÷5
–Tagliolini w/​squid ink, tomato, & calamari ($ 16) — i really liked the flavor and texture of the squid ink tagliolini, however the accompanying sauce was a bit underwhelming. the calamari however was again super fresh and tender. 3.5
–Ramen w/​spicy lamb bolognese ($ 15) — IMO this is a must get if you are a lamb fan. the lamb flavor was not overwhelming but perfectly balanced within the tomato bolognese sauce and the worked well with the texture of the ramen noodles. ⁵⁄₅
I will definitely return to try some of the other dishes on the menu!

I’ve been to Dieci once before about a year ago when I was on a ramen craze — I saw that they offered a lamb bolognese ramen that sounded different and interesting and I just had to try it. Ultimately, I was left underwhelmed. It was a dish I felt that I could have made at home. I came back to Dieci this past Friday for a girlfriend’s birthday dinner and had a much better meal this time around.
Dieci is an extremely small restaurant with only a handful of tables. Reservations definitely necessary. We checked in for our 7:15pm and were seated at the one high top communal table, sandwiched between two other parties.
We ordered a ton of appetizers since we were starving and I remembered them being on the smaller side — uni scrambled egg, chawanmushi, berkshire pork buns, and two of the specials — scallop crudo and marinated octopus with pickled cucumber and celery.
Of the two egg appetizers, I much preferred the chawanmushi. This came out tongue-​burning hot but the custard was smooth as silk and so clean tasting! The pork buns were not my favorite — I prefer them to be on the fattier side but these were quite lean, although very generous with pork. The scallop crudo was excellent — a huge portion and very fresh. My first time having it in this manner but I am a total fan. The chopped almonds provided a nice crunchy element to the much softer scallop. The marinated octopus was good but nothing to rave about. It was a tiny portion and my least favorite of the 5.
For entrees, we split the red snapper chazuke, fettuccine and miso black cod. The red snapper was cooked perfectly atop a rice ball and hoji tea that was poured over it table side. Ultimately, this dish fell short — it was a little too light tasting for me. The fettuccine came with sea urchin sauce and calamari. The noodles were a tad overcooked and soft but the creamy sauce was very flavorful and delicious. Not heavy as I thought it would be. My favorite was definitely the miso cod though. It was a generous portion of flaky cod packed with so much miso flavor. The accompanying truffle risotto was also prepared excellently, with a poached egg. This was definitely one of the better executed miso cod dishes that I’ve had and what I would come back to Dieci for.
We ended the night with a delicious earl grey crème brûlée finished with a nice caramelized topping. The earl grey flavor was distinct and definitely shown through. Yum!
Overall, great meal and perfect for our little birthday celebration. Go!

**Make a reservation!!!**
Dieci is dim, small, and if you are claustrophobic, this low-​ceiling close-​quartered place might not be for you. Seriously, save yourself the trouble and make a reservation here and don’t stand around waiting in the minimal standing space they have here… there’s only space for probably 20 in this tiny restaurant.
Service — decent. It’s a small place. Nothing crazy fancy, though.
I avoid «fusion» places like the plague. Japanese and Italian fusion sounds like a strange combination, but it’s not what you’re thinking (spaghetti and meatballs etc) — it’s actually quite nice! After a recommendation by my roommate and salivating over the menu, however, I decided to try it out.
Uni scrambled egg — uni, scrambled egg, and caviar — I feel like so many places do this now. This was alright — the scrambled egg tasted a bit off wasn’t really doing it for me here. I liked the egg on egg on egg (same concept) at SakaMai better.
Chawanmushi — ouch — this burned my tongue because it was so hot, but so worth it! The egg custard was smooth and you could taste the flavor of the foie gras intertwined within the egg. Yum.
Octopus special — skip this — nothing special about it and it didn’t really have any flavor at all.
Uni fettucine — they are super generous on the serving of uni with the fettucine, which is awesome. The pasta was cooked al dente and I’m glad there wasn’t an overpowering alfredo sauce taste… or any, actually. No cheese, thank goodness. The calamari didn’t taste fresh and seemed like it came from a frozen bag of pre-​cut squid. The rest of the dish was good.
Miso black cod — this was good, but tasted like miso black cod from anywhere.
In closure, if you’re not one to usually try a «fusion» restaurant, I’d still give Dieci a chance because their food is quite nice and may change your view on such restaurants.

I really enjoyed the food here! although, I’ve only tried the pastas.
uni fettuccine: my favorite dish here. the fettuccine was flavorful. it was creamy but not overly creamy. there were some capers and olives in the sauce which I really enjoyed. it was a nice kick! and the uni was fresh of course and the calamari was cooked just right delicious!
squid ink tagliolini: this dish was just average. the pasta was all dente but just tasted like soba noodles to me. the tomato sauce was good and the calamari was tender. I didn’t taste any squid ink.
gnocchi: sauce was a creamy cod roe and crab sauce. super super tasty and the flavor was so unique! I loved it. the gnocchi was slightly sweet but a little too mushy. I just wish there was more crab in it. hardly any!
I really enjoyed these dishes. but i split 3 entrees between 2 people and I was maybe 50% full. portions are small. overall, I really liked the unique flavors of the pastas.

Writing an update to express how delicious their Red Snapper Chazuke was. The dish consists of a flaky fish light in taste but not bland, sitting on top of a rice ball that’s slightly crispy. So well-​executed. I have never had a combination of tea and rice. One of the most refreshing and light entrees I have ever had that was not a salad.
In addition to the Red Snapper Chazuke, I tried the Uni Chawanmushi and Sauteed Asparagus with Duck Bacon and Poached Egg. I did not taste the uni in the chawanmushi but it was very light in tasting and delicate in texture. The asparagus and duck bacon was surprisingly unmemorable. The asparagus didn’t take on the flavor of the duck bacon and was a bit on the hard side instead of tender. The egg did give the dish additional richness mixed with the duck bacon.
I normally dislike Asian fusion type of restaurants, but the combinations here really won me over.