I would always pass by an Italian restaurant on my way to the Rafael Hernández airport in Aguadilla. I do admit, I am fascinated by Italian food, so you can imagine how my curiosity, and desire to try it out, would grow every time I would see it. Finally, one day, we chose a Saturday, and went to visit Ristorante Il Pomodoro.
The entrance to the restaurant was appealing, and when we entered, I saw the restaurant was divided into different sections, just like rooms in a house. The ambiance was good, the place had an elegant feel to it, it was air-conditioned, and the music was pleasant. The downside of the menu was the lack of variety I had expected, it did not have pizzas or calzones. However, it did have some entrées, and appetizers that attracted my attention. I started off by ordering bruschetta. Now, bruschetta had, at one point, been the object of my obsession. I had made it plenty of times, and I wanted to see how a professional would prepare it. I am used to seeing it with diced, cold tomatoes, together with onions, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper, all on a piece of toasted Italian bread. To my surprise, we were served a plate of pieces of toasted bread (not Italian, but close enough), with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese on top. You can see them in the picture, though the camera I had wasn’t the best (I brought a better one, but it lost its charge). Even though I was a little disappointed with the bruschetta, I do admit that it tasted great. The sauce was not very heavy, which prevented the bread from falling apart, this is very important to me. Whenever I see bread disintegrating due to any kind of liquid, for me, it just ruins the whole texture, and flavor.
After the bruschetta, I ordered a meat lasagna. This plate did not disappoint. I was delighted by the presentation. It was served in a lasagna (boat-shaped) bowl, engulfed in pomodoro sauce, and mozzarella. The noodles were al dente (they had a bite to them), cooked well, without being too soft. The meat was seasoned just right. And though, I am not a meat lover, I did eat all the meat, and there was pretty much. The sauce was exquisite, the flavor was not too strong, like the store-bought sauces tend to be, laden with high fructose corn syrup. It had a light, delicate flavor, but it was awesome. I could have drunk the sauce, it was that good. The only things missing on the dish were the other cheeses I usually expect in a lasagna: ricotta, and parmesan, to join the mozzarella.
I also tried the pasta Alfredo with (most likely) grilled chicken breast. I really wanted to know what their Alfredo sauce tasted like, because the ones I have tasted tend to be too heavy, and somewhat bland. It is almost like, when I would taste those, I would get the feeling that some ingredient is missing that would have given it more life (something more zesty, perhaps). However, when I tasted the Alfredo sauce at Il Pomodoro, I was impressed. I really think, that is the flavor, and consistency that sauce should have. It wasn’t too heavy, but rich enough to coat all of the other ingredients on the plate. These other ingredients on the plate, who also did not fail to meet my expectations, were the chicken breast, and the fettuccine pasta. The chicken breast had a light crust to it, which showed me it was throughly cooked, and that is also something that I find very important. Furthermore, the fettuccine was al dente, firm, without being too soft, or undercooked. Also, it was a pretty good portion that was served.
Satisfied, but sorry that the meal was over, I ordered desert: Tiramisu. First of all, the price was reasonable, and the portion was a decent size. I was pleased by the fact that it did not have too much cocoa powder, because it tends to be too bitter. It only had a little bit of cocoa powder sprinkled on top, which, to me, was ideal. What I loved about the desert was the element of creaminess it had thanks to the mascarpone cheese. Also, the desert is not too sweet, I liked this because I am not a fan of excessively sweet deserts. It did have good texture, a beautiful presentation, nice consistency, and excellent flavor. (In the picture I had already started to devour the desert, that is why the presentation was not so neat.)
After the desert was finished, we asked our friendly waiter for the check. In the end, I have to say, I would love to go back there, and try other dishes, and appetizers that I did not try that time. I was happy with the service, the prices, the ambiance, and over all with the food.
