The Gossiping Gourmet: Italian food at its authentic best

Every once in a while, I like to review a restaurant that has been around for a long time and seems to remain popular. One such business is Cucina Roma in Costa Mesa.

When I first stepped into the dining room, I felt as if I was in a time warp. This is the kind of Italian restaurant that I grew up with. All over the walls are photographs, posters and album covers of singers and celebrities from another era. Adorning the place are random ornate chandeliers, strings of little Christmas lights and flags.

The place is casual, and on the night my dining companion and I were there, it was very busy.

It also has an outdoor patio for warm nights.

Black leather seats and booths, several TV sets, soft lights and big windows on the street side complete the picture. It is noisy and buzzy inside, the kind of atmosphere you want in an Italian restaurant.

The food is also just what you want — really tasty with large portions at good prices. With a children’s menu, Cucina Roma is a restaurant the whole family can enjoy.

We began with calamaretti, a generous portion of crunchy fried calamari and fried shrimp served with a spicy tomato basil sauce for dipping. The calamari was a little chewy, but the thin crust was really good.

Our entrée came with a bowl of really good Italian wedding soup for a dollar more. The light chicken broth contained small and also very good meatballs and acini di pepe, which are tiny round balls of pasta, as well as escarole for color and taste.

I had to have pasta, the ultimate test of an Italian restaurant. The Pasta Gianni was a real winner — long, flat strands of perfectly cooked al dente pasta with langostino lobster, shrimp and nice-size sauteed mushrooms.

It was served in Bianco Diavoli sauce made with olive oil and garlic and seemed light at first but ended with a wonderful aftertaste of just the right amount of heat. I should also mention that it was a very generous portion.

My dining companion selected the sausage lasagna, another very large portion. The pasta was layered with ground sausage and lots of melted cheese. The tomato sauce was thick and rich. The ground sausage offered a subtle but still spicy flavor.

Although we were not exactly hungry after this tasty meal, we wanted to sample a dessert. Our waiter recommended the house-made cheesecake. This was one more example of the generosity of portions at Cucina Roma. The cake had two layers. The bottom was a nice-sized slice of regular cheesecake, and it was topped with a layer of Oreo mint cheesecake containing bits of Oreo cookies. The whole thing was resting on a thick bed of tiny, sweet and crunchy bits of Graham crackers. So good!

The menu is quite extensive. Appetizers include melted mozzarella garlic bread and Veal Milanese.

In the pizza and calzone department are Alfredo crab and white pizzas, just to mention a couple. Lasagna comes in four versions. Though pasta is king here, two “pastaless” entrees are offered: the Chicken Strappato and the Shrimp Speziato.

The pasta dishes number 25.

This is a casual place for good food and good service that you will want to come back to.

TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at emarkos755@gmail.com.

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CUCINA ROMA

Location: 1773 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa

Hours: 5 to 10 p.m. daily

Prices:

Appetizers: $7.95 to $11.95

Entrees: $12.95 to $17.95

Desserts: $4.95 to $6.95

Wine:

Bottles: $21 to $57

By the glass: $6.50 to $8.95

Corkage: $10

Information: cucinaroma.com (949) 645-5550