Mima - Irvington, NY

This past Friday, I decided that after a long work week, it was time to kick back and pamper myself a little at a nice Italian restaurant. My partner in crime for the night suggested Mima, so we took a trip down to Irvington.

Just a fair warning - If you want to check out Mima, be sure to make a reservation. I called on my lunch break that Friday and reserved the last table left for 8:30. But trust me, it's well worth the two minutes it takes to make a reservation. You can smell the great food from about a half a block away.

Buffalo al forno with some vino

The menu isn't big, but we were still overwhelmed with what to order because it all looked great. They had a nice Italian wine selection, so we paced ourselves and started with our drink orders. We chose one of their mid-range red wines, Barbera d'Asti, and it was delicious - We had no problem polishing off the bottle by meal's end.

After about an hour or so going back or forth looking over their cheeses, cured meats and appetizers, we ordered some parmigiano reggiano and their bufala al forno, which is a bruschetta-type dish with toasted Italian bread, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, garlic and pesto.

Cheese with quince sauce

In the words of my dining partner, the appetizers were "to die." The cheese came with a sweet dipping sauce that was amazing. I had to ask what it was made of and, to my surprise, was a quince sauce. If you're like me and not up to date on your obscure fruits, a quince is related to the apple and pear family, and when it's concentrated down, goes perfectly with the cheese and breads they served it with.

For the main course, we both were craving pasta. I chose the gemelli. It was hand-made, fresh and topped off with panchetta, onions and an egg cracked on top. Overall, the dish was very tasty. I could see how some would think that the panchetta could overwhelm the dish, but I had no complaints. And any time I can have an egg included in my meal, I'm all for it. I had no problem finishing my dish.

She chose the whole weat pappardelle, served with wild boar ragu, zuchini and piave. This had a much sweeter taste and the zucchini worked well with the sauce and the whole wheat pasta.

We were stuffed by the time we finished our entrees and the bottle of wine, but managed to split their tiramasu for dessert. I'm a pretty rough critic when it comes to tiramasu, and after the first bite, it took a lot of restrain not to finish the entire piece before my partner could have a taste.

Overall, the meal was great. Depending on what you order and drink, dinner could get a little pricey at Mima, but at the same time, you're not going to feel ripped off. The portions are more-than-enough and the tastes are on point. A dinner for two will surely break the $100 mark, but I've had many meals that didn't come close to this one that cost about the same. I can surely say we'll be making another trip back to Mima to try one of their other entrees.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5