Elisa's Italian

Cuisine: Italian - Traditional

Yum Factor: 3.5/5

Fu to the Wu (service): 3/5

FengShui: 3/5

Moolah: $$ - Economy Class

Repeat-Worthy: Yes

Elisa's Ristorante Italiano was actually much more Italian than we expected. Although reviews by the other expat magazines have questioned the authenticity of the food served, the felt that it mirrored more the hearty American Italian style and less of the classical European Italian fare that it may have been judged by.
Although we agree its not 5-star St.Regis Danieli's quality, but in defense, we honestly don't think Elisas is trying to target the high-end clientele anyway - but rather, targeting a more casual, family-oriented, group-of-friends customers.
And to this fact, Elisas passes with flying colors.

Beef Carpaccio was fresh & followed the traditional recipe with no surprises. The calzone was of massive proportions & for the first time in a while, was even better then its simple menu description. We loved the fresh-out-of-the-oven steam as we cut through the melted cheese of the calzone. Lamb chops was slightly overdone for our tastes but made up for the accompanying sauce served with salad. Our final penne pasta was exactly as one would expect. Just a simple penne with tasty tomato sauce - nothing out of the ordinary, we got what we ordered & were happy with it.

Service was friendly & the checkered table cloths further emphasized that Elisas target clients are not high-end but just foodies looking for an appetizing italian fix "next door". Don't come to Elisas expecting a michelen-trained waiter that can give you a full speech of the wines offered, do come to elisas for an unpretentious, well-fed hearty italian meal.

Foodie Addict: Xi2