Located at 171 East Palmetto Park Rd in Boca Raton (561-996-1234) and seating 150 diners inside and another 60 on patio, this superb and exciting Italian gourmet restaurant is open 7 days – from 5:30PM to 10PM, Monday through Thursday and to 11PM, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
While the standard menu features over 40 eclectic dining suggestions, there is a daily posting of Chef’s specials, twenty or more in number. Descriptive information on the menus are augmented by their helpful wait staff.
Of the six standard menu antipasti, we sampled soup-of-the-day pasta Fagioli, a light and flavorful Italian standard. The fried squid (calamari) with zucchini was tender, not chewy and had a great crunchy coating of semolina flour. Two huge tiger prawns were wrapped in Italian pancetta, grilled and served on a bed of Broccoli Rafini – quite heavy on the grilling. The special menu featured a house special a giant homemade meat ball and sausage over eggplant and peppers – a winning combination. Also, plump and tender mussels were complimented by a fine white sauce – delicious! Finally, we had grilled Italian sausage served over a base of tender escarole with Gaeta olives and roasted garlic, so fine a dish! There are three additional daily appetizers for our future tasting.
Of the eighteen pasta listings on these twin menus, we tasted Angelo’s special lasagna… it had the ragu of meat with homemade mozzarella and parmigiana reggiano and was, for all its composition and large portion, light on the palatte. Homemade fettucine with roasted veal in a ragu sauce is a must try as is their special pear raviolini, butter, sage and figs – little bundles of pasta pleasure. A rich dish is D’Angelo’s risotto with wild mushrooms and truffle oil, fine and filling.
The gnocchi pasticchiata and peas had a dreamy tomato sauce and was smooth as silk. If you like a bit of a bite, try the black linguine seafood with a giant lobster tail, large shrimp and clams in a spicy Fradiavolo sauce that lingers on the tongue – wow!
The daily specials feature three or four fish dishes, we were fortunate to taste the Branzini picatta with roman artichokes in an amazing sauce, should it be on your daily special menu, we urge you to partake.
The veal scallopini was nice size portions of very tender meat in deep flavor sauce with perfectly braised sausages. We had the roasted free range chicken with roasted garlic, white wine, cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs served with broccoli Rapini and Tuscan potatoes – succulent! There are a total of ten dishes on the standard menu and a half dozen on each daily special menu for one to savor.
The in-house Baker’s listings total twelve desserts – we had the best even tiramisu of ladyfingers dipped in espresso layered with mascarpone cream and cocao – smooth! Try the flourless warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, a good size apple tart with cinnamon ice cream, a gentle tasting ricotta cheese cake, or a homemade sab[1]ayon with wild berries. Each and every one a delicious ending to great dishes.
Casa D’Angelo has a full bar, seating a dozen or so, plus a standard post-dinner menu of ports, grappa, cognacs and cordials – some 44 in number.
Summing it up, this is one of the finest restaurants in our area with pleasant atmosphere and a caring and knowledgeable staff – We urge you to – Go and enjoy!