Lauren and I spotted Passione while eating in Red Lobster in the same shopping center on Old Country Road and were anxious to try it.
The restaurant looks attractive and grand on the outside and equally as impressive on the inside. This isn't your typical Italian restaurant. The place is finished in dark wood, walls and furniture creating a very warm environment. The decor seems to have more of an Indian style feel to it rather than Italian.
One of my favorite parts about the experience is that the menu is the same style as Emilio's in Commack. It's very reasonably priced and has a large selection of your typical Italian favorites.
Lauren and I were seated at a table by the wall. The restaurant is very well sized and we took note of the booths in the back. They're quite big, raised off the ground, and have a curtain on the sides giving them a more private feeling.
We both had water with lemon to start. (We're on sort of a health kick these days.)
But we did enjoy the lovely bread basket that came to our table.
It had a nice assortment of breads including Italian and a Passione signature pizza bread. Also an olive assortment. Delicious.
For our main courses, I started with the Chicken Francaise. It came with a side of pasta or salad and is served with tomato or marina sauce. I opted for the pasta with marinara sauce and ordered a mixed garden salad to start separately. The salad was small, but crisp and delicious. I also really enjoyed the creamy italian dressing I ordered it with.
The food presentation was impressive. The portion was large and my chicken came with a small mixed vegetable salad on the side as well as a delicious fried potato. Everything was tasty and fresh including the Francaise and marinara sauces.
The service was a bit slow, but we blamed it on the fact that the restaurant wasn't open very long. It's only been a few months. Once we got our food, we really didn't mind anyway.
The desserts looked great but as usual, we didn't have room to sample them.
All in all we rated Passione a solid 3.5 mints out of 5 on the Dinner Mint Scale.
We will definitely be coming back!
Also worth noting - the beautiful outdoor patio. Lauren and I had to peek on our way out. It's a pretty large area all lit up and has full waiter and waitress service. Definitely a great spot for a first date or romantic night out.
Passione Restaurant
231 Old Country Road
Carle Place, NY
516 741 4800
http://passione-restaurant.com/
