Trattoria La Siciliana - Berkeley/Oakland - 3.5 stars

Date visited: Sep. 10, 2006

Type of cuisine: Sicilian Italian

Comments: Recommended

Ordered dishes:
Marinated clam, shrimp, mussel salad
Bon Appetit mentioned risotto: artichokes, sun-dried tomato, etc.
Linguini al Nero: black squid ink sauce with fresh squid

General impressions:
Cute decor, very compact, two floor high, very noisy. Nice European feeling.
Mediocre salad with good ingredients but lacking finesse in implementation.
Outstanding risotto. Beautiful taste of sun-dried tomatoes, excellent usage of artichokes for texture. Amazing creamy rice grains with the right amount of hardness in the core. Layers of taste, great execution. Best in a long while.
Good linguini. Genuine sauce, full bodied flavor in the sauce, good al dente in pasta, real fresh squid, but overall lacking the extra kick that pushes really good to great.
Very pushy servers. Keeps wanting us to order Family size: double portion of everything, double cost. Not necessary. The amount of food ordered left four girls very full and happy. Supposedly a $8 will be charged, but was not charged.
Need to go early, fills up very quickly with long, long queues outside the door.

Basic info:
2993 College Avenue Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 704-1474 Tuesday - Sunday 5:30pm-10pm Cash only.
Antipasti: $7-$10 Pasta: $12-$19 Risotto: $14 - $19 Carne & Pesce: Forgot