Italian lunch in Culver City is what we expected when we ordered an Asparagus salad; Roasted Red Pepper soup; and and Eggplant Panini. Disappointed and disillusioned describes our time at Ugo’s Italian Cafe. At least we didn’t have to skip out early abandoning the meal for a Tender Greens rebound. In short, its not authentic Italian. Ugo’s is a poser.. though they have yummy bread. They could use a little coaching on the cooking and Italian themed concept. I just despise eateries that call themselves real Italian food just because they have pasta and pizza on the menu.Ugo’s is an impostor in a land of wanna be’s, but I guess its OK to fake it till you make it in land of posers. Be warned… For those of you who simply want to fill your bellies with edible eats that are knock offs of the real deal. Ugo’s is OK for the innocent and unknowing. It would have been great food for the high school senior luncheon.
We were hungry so we dove in mouth first and realized.. into the eating engagement that we could have done better in our own kitchen, but that isn’t the goal when writing a food blog. “C” said it all tasted the same and gets a c-. It looked pretty, and should have tasted as good—I thought!. I mean the location as well as the food looked good. Ugo’s has an amazing dessert selection, and gelato bar! We were so fooled, and seduced by the superficial skin deep facade of Ugos Italian Café.
The asparagus summer salad contained mixed greens tossed in a creamy balsamic dressing and a bomb of white button mushrooms—too many! The pickled red onions added a nice ping to the chopped asparagus spears, and strands of boiled red peppers masquerading as “roasted red pepper”.
I think the chef…or cooks posing, as chefs need a lesson in how to roast red pepper in the oven or grille. The roasted taste is supposed to taste stronger than a canned flavor. New School Of Cooking , a neighbor down the street offers cooking classes on roasting.
As for the soup…”C” hated it because it was kind of tinny, and lemony acidic instead of robust and deep that comes with a roasted veggie essence in soup. So, we traded the ‘wanna be’ roasted red pepper soup for the minestrone… What we stumbled upon was worse. I hate to be so critical.., but this stuff was awful and so fake.. and unloved… who do they have in kitchen for Italy’s sake?!
We had to cut the losses, and be glad we had something to eat. Bread was the hit at this meal… and we may try again.. on the pasta and pizza…. NOTT!! Might be a bigger disappointment… but the desserts look pretty nice~~ maybe its just a dessert stop… will get back to you on that one later.
Check it out if you dare!
Ugo
3865 Cardiff Ave.
Culver City ca. 90232
www.cafeugo.com
