Casa Carollo

Last evening, after a l-o-n-g time in traffic, rather than return to the Candlewood Suites and cook my own supper, I decided to patronize Casa Carollo Italian Grill.  Also in my mind was the thought the traffic might clear by the time I finished my repaste.

Definitely a locally-owned operation, I found the wait staff to be attentive and friendly.  I considered their steak offerings but was put off by the grades of cooking offered:  rare, medium rare, well-done - no others considered.  So, I opted for the "usual":   spaghetti bolognaise.  Salad and bread was included; iced tea, unsweetened, no lemon was additional.

The bread plate contained two mini-Italian bread loaves topped with sesame seeds, an end piece of French bread, and a dozen mini-bread "knots" with some sort of glaze containing very powerful minced garlic.  I emphasize the word "powerful".

The salad was a little lettuce, several wedge slices of tomato, sliced onion, green & black olives (one each but they were big), a cheese triangle (thick), and that green, pepper-looking thing with the stem (removed to another location).  The bleu cheese dressing seemed to me to be mostly mayonnaise but I did find two medium-sized lumps of cheese (assumed to be bleu because I didn't wipe them off to see).  I sort of tasted like bleu cheese but was thick ... more like mayonnaise.  Well, it certainly didn't drip off the salad parts as they were moved to my mouth.

The spaghetti was spaghettini (Yea!) with a "heavy" meat sauce - more meat than sauce (2nd Yea!). The waitperson asked if I would like grated cheese and brought one of those screw-top shakers (3rd Yea!). With the screw-top off, you can get the cheese out more easily! And, the cheese was freshly grated with lumps that would not have passed through the perforated top anyway. So, with half the available cheese on the spaghetti, I began consumption ... which did take a while.

For those of you who would like wine with your meals, they "Proudly Host Valenzano Winery as a Retail Outlet. Valenzo - one of Southern New Jersey's fine wines."