Basilico's has been around for quite some time in Huntington Beach. I would guess around 10 years at the same location. I live real close by the place, and have visited them several times, but this was finally the time I got to dine there.
Why was it so difficult to dine here? Well, first of all the wait. They are an extremely popular Italian restaurant in Huntington Beach, and their place is tiny. It may seat only about 15-20 people max at a time, and its always packed. The wait to dine is usually about an hour, and they take no reservations. Hence, the difficulty dining at this wonderful restaurant.
This year, we went prepared. We expected the wait to be about an hour (in actuality it was 50 minutes) and brought our blankets, newspaper, magazine, books, and a Nintendo DS so that we can keep ourselves occupied while we wait in the car.
And finally, after the hour wait, we were able to get in to dine. It was sure worth our wait.
By the way, sorry about the pictures. Since its really dark inside, my pictures didn't turn out very well. But hope you get an idea of the place.
Okay, so about the dining experience. First of all, Basilico's is pretty famous for its bottle wine practice. Since a bottle of wine here is relatively inexpensive ($15-$20 a bottle) it is recommended that you get a bottle with your date, and dine slowly at the restaurant. That's exactly what we did, and we got a bottle of Mondavi Chardonnay for $20, and dined like we were Parisians.
We first got the Fried Risotto Ball for appetizer which was delicious. It complemented our Chardonnay very well. You of course get your bread and butter, so we enjoyed our appetizer, bread, and wine as we waited for our entrees to arrive.
For entree we got the Seafood Linguine and the Fettuccine Alfredo Milanese. The Seafood Linguine was good, but it was a bit overwhelmingly "Herb-y" for me. I think they put in too much Italian parsley, and it wasn't the usual Seafood Linguine that you get at Italian restaurant. But who knows, maybe this is the authentic version.
The Fettuccine Alfredo Milanese was superb. I usually don't like Alfredo sauces too much since they are usually very heavy in cream, and after a few bites, I get a little bored of the flavor. Not here. The Alfredo Milanese here was just superb. Mmmm... The sauce was creamy, yet for some reason not too heavy. The pork in the Milanese was cooked perfectly. Very thin, and tender. You eat the pork and the pasta together, you are just in heaven. And drink some of your Chardonnay afterwards, you will fly again to heaven.
So the meal was wonderful. We got Tiramisu for dessert, and life was good. I had a wonderful Valentine's Day thanks to Basilico this year. Hope you can go visit them too.
Oh, I forgot to mention this, but if you don't like to wait an hour before being able to sit down, you can actually write your name down, and go on over to the Irish Pub in the same mall for some drinks. The pub is called Fitzgerald's and they will actually give you a call at Fitzgerald's when your seat is ready. That way, you can keep yourself busy and entertained before your romantic dinner.
We didn't know about this, so we waited for an hour in the car. Next time, we'll be drinking at Fitzgerald's before.
Basilico's Pasta E Vino
19171 Magnolia St Ste 1
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
19171 Magnolia St Ste 1
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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