Acqua

with trepidation (at least for me after reading the reviews) five ventured to Acqua on the waterfront last night. i really want this place to succeed so take this review with a grain of salt.

Acqua has a great view and despite the dreary evening, the awesomeness of the niagara river and view of canada still stood out. the menu selection was interesting and although nothing jumped out at me (see my entree selection), i found it to have respectable choices.

the table started out with their clams and lobster diablo appetizer. it was great! spicy, sweet and unique. truly a must order. they also served a duck lettuce wrap. i enjoy p.f. chang's lettuce wraps and these are comparable. chopped duck is provided with various sauces (hoisen, sweet and sour and some other spicy sauce)along with lettuce leaves to create your own 'lettuce taco.' excellent. i was told the lobster bisque was good - spicy but not overpowering. i ordered their caprese which was equally part mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and salad. it had syrup-y balsamic dressing so you know i liked it.

so far so good.

for entrees, the table had their pork tenderloin served over a white bean and corn succotash with a cherry compote. i thought it was a little dry but still ok. also ordered was their titan shrimp and scallops served with orzo, fennel, artichokes (also a big lure for me) in a pernod (orange) broth. not too bad but not outstanding. their yellowfin tuna was very good served with kimchi and honey wasabi. seared outside and pink inside. the most controversy came from the pecan crusted sea bass. this was a huge piece of fish. there was no pecan to be found although i thought i was spiced well. the problem is that the inside was not cooked enough and it's easy to understand why as it was so thick. it did come with a delicious sweet mashed potatoes though.
and i ordered, wait for it, their all-you-can-eat spaghetti and meatballs. i know, i know. very olive garden. the pasta was blah and there was some discussion of whether the meatballs (pork and beef) were any good. i enjoyed them more than the others but they had a strong flavor that i couldn't put my finger on. very similar to Toro's meatballs.

for dessert i ordered their chocolate bread pudding. although the cinnamon stood out more than the chocolate, i thought it was pretty good. also ordered was their cake parfait. Acqua serves various desserts 'shooter' style in a smallish glass which makes for good sampling of the various desserts but not really good for sharing. regardless, the small bite i tried was good but i was told that there was something 'funny' about it, especially the berries.

as i stated earlier, i really want a buffalo waterfront restaurant to succeed. my expectations were minimal after the horrendous reviews i encountered looking for their website but i have to admit that Acqua exceeded my expectations. in addition, they took the sea bass off the bill even though we never requested it. although not perfect, it's clear they are trying. so Acqua gets *** mannillos.