Villa Rosa

Came here for lunch today. We were a large group so it was cool that they could accommodate us (we called ahead and made reservations). It’s a small restaurant attached to a pizza place. The menu was a simple, nice size selection. I got the chicken parmigiana. The chicken was good, cooked well and was very tasty. The sauce was basic however, almost like a store brought sauce. Nothing special about the sauce. My friend got the meatballs and spaghetti and she really didn’t care for the sauce either. Overall, my entire party wasn’t really impressed with the entrées. The service was ok, not that best but ok. This place had so much potential, but the food was kind of basic.

Villa Rosa Is a relatively small restaurant attached to a pizzaria, as is often done in New Jersey. The place is clean, the service is attentive, and the food, at least the food we ate, is, to put it simply, unexciting. The two of us ate there tonight and agreed that the best part of the meal was the dipping olive oil and the freshly baked bread. It stops there. The pasta fagioli was bland, and the Chicken Marsala was equally bland and watery. In fact, neither of us could detect the taste of marsala wine anywhere in the dish. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, those were the only dishes we sampled, except for the penne with marinara sauce, which was a side dish at additional cost. Whoever is preparing this food seems unaware of the virtues of basil, garlic, oregano, and so on. In other words, the food really lacks the expected Italian fortitude.
Returning to the pasta, a word about their pricing structure: one has a choice of one out of three accompaniments to an entrée. One can choose either soup, salad, or pasta. This betrays our expectations of a New Jersey Italian restaurant, which usually includes at least two of these three items. In summary, we are not rushing back. We much prefer Ciro’s in Monroe Township or Carlucci in West Windsor.