The first of our waiters quickly came over with a huge wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano and with his cheese knife and gave us each a nice piece. He then offered to take a picture of us with the cheese because he saw how excited we were! Right after he asked if we wanted a cocktail to drink and we said sure! I ordered a rum and pineapple (not rum and coke because I had given sweets and junk up for lent) and Nicky a vodka and sprite.
Once he left, another server came over and dropped a plate of thin zucchini "chips" that were drizzled in oil and garlic. I LOVE THOSE!! And then another server came, dropped off sopressata, and offered us bruschetta (yummm), I said of course and Nicky said no thank you. Right after that man left, ANOTHER one came over and dropped off spicy garlic bread, regular bread and focaccia. I was so excited, we hadn't even ordered yet and food just kept coming!! We got our drinks and we cheered "to us." We ate and ate (and unfortunately I couldn't taste too much because I was sick and stuffy, I was PISSED) and were a bit confused because we had never been to a restaurant like this, plus we didn't even have a menu! I was like "Nicky, what if they just give us whatever food they want?" and he was like "they can't do that what if we don't like something??" I was really confused and for some reason, nervous, so I told him to google Il Mulino and see what it said!! HAHA! we're so embarrassing! But just as he was about to, our second waiter came and asked how we were enjoying our complementary antipasti and asked if we wanted to wait a little bit or if we would like the menu. Ah-ha! There we go, our question was answered! *phew* We said yes we'll take a look at the menu now, acting all nonchalant as if we knew what was going on. When he gave them to us and left, we died laughing.
To be honest I was already pretty full from all the food they had given us, and you know me I HAD to eat it. But you can't NOT eat at a beautiful, fancy restaurant like this, you can't make them think you only came for the complementary appetizers and say "ok thanks see ya next time!" NO! So we decided on having a bowl of Tortellini in brodo each, I wanted the pollo encrusto and Nicky spaghettini carbonara. When the waiter came to take our order, Nicky asked if they had meatballs (which he had had last time in the other side of the restaurant) and the waiter said that if we wanted an order of meatballs, he could make that happen! So we got an order of meatballs, two tortellini, one chicken dish and one pasta dish!
I don't know where we thought we were gonna fit all the food we had just ordered because we were both already filling up, but we couldn't stop eating. Anyway, we got our soup first so we could take our time and drink on it slowly, I wish I could have tasted :( the tortellini I couldn't taste at all but the soup felt good for my throat and Nicky said it was really good! Then we got our meatballs, which came 3 to an order. I could vaguely taste them but from what I could gather, they were yummy! after having a meatball each, we were already exploding! The waiter came and asked us how we were doing and I guess our faces told him how full we were and he laughed and said he'd give us some time to digest before our entrees came out. YES, THANK YOU!
We sipped on our drinks and held hands and chatted about how great this place was; I have to say I was very impressed. Just then our entrees came out. My pollo encrusto was a huge breaded chicken cutlet in lemon, white wine sauce. It was very good, but just too big for me! I had to take a break and sit there for a while. I cut small pieces and ate little by little, I think I ate a good amount before I literally could not eat any more.
The waiter came over and saw we were done and we did a pretty good job! He asked if we wanted any dessert or coffee and I said I'll have a tea please! Nicky got an espresso. They also said that they give complementary grappa or limoncello and asked which we'd prefer and I said we'd take two grappas perfavore! They brought over a beautiful wooden tea box so I could choose which tea I wanted! I chose pomegranate green tea. They brought over a little pot of hot water, Nicky' espresso and the grappa. Not long after, they came over with a cheesecake and fruit with a candle and they sang happy anniversary to us! We had forgotten that we had mentioned it on Open table! They sang so nice and everybody in the restaurant clapped for us! We said thank you and one waiter said "What? No kiss?!! Come on!!" So we kissed and they clapped :))) It was so sweet and made me so happy! We picked at it, I ate the fruit and whipped cream since I couldn't eat dessert and Nicky had a little of the cheese cake! It was very sweet of them! So many complementary things, and they were so good to us! (we left them a niceeeee tip ;)) We had the grappa, well I had it, Nicky didn't like it (too strong for him haha) But I understood; grappa is grain alcohol with a high proof so it is very strong.
I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with Il Mulino. The ambiance and atmosphere was amazing and beautiful, the service was perfect, the food was delicious, their restaurant mission is very well portrayed through their impeccable staff, food, presence and mannerisms. In my opinion, Il Mulino was the best dinner date that we have had! They we excellent I have absolutely no complaints except that I'm a little upset that I couldn't taste everything 100% but its ok, it only means that we'll have to go back :)))
His Take: Ariana and I decided while we were in Atlantic City that we would go out somewhere nice to eat. I had mentioned to her that I had eaten in Il Mulino at the Taj Mahal before and that I really enjoyed it. That’s all it took to convince her. We made our reservation using open table, and I added a special note that it was anniversary dinner (because Virgil’s as you know was no anniversary enough for me). We arrived at Il Mulino and were immediately seated and greeted. Il Mulino is set up beautifully. This is truly a great romantic date spot. The tables were set up with flowers and candles and it really set the mood we were looking for. Immediately after we were seated, one of our waiters, yes we had two, came over with a giant wedge of Parmeggiano cheese. My eyes lit up when I saw this. I LOVE PARMEGGIANO CHEESE. Our waiter sliced us both a healthy size piece right from the giant wedge, but mind you I probably could have eaten the whole thing. We ordered our drinks, I a vodka and sprite and Ariana I believe a rum and pineapple juice. Next our waiters provided us with some bruschetta (toasted bread with diced tomatoes that are seasoned), some fried zucchini slices that were cut into chips, a few slices of salami, and three different types of bread. We literally feasted on these and then realized, we had not even got our menus yet! We wondered if maybe Il Mulino forgot or was just going to serve us until we could not eat any more (not a bad thing). On cue our waiter brought over our menus and asked us if we enjoyed their complimentary foods while we waited. Yes, complimentary foods, as in FREE. Not only was this first wave of food free, but it was absolutely delicious. Our waiter also told us if there was anything we did not see on the menu, we should inquire about it and he would try to accommodate us. Last time I was at Il Mulino, the same one in Taj Mahal, just the other side of the restaurant, I tried their meatballs and they were amazing, so I wanted them again! I did not see them on the menu, so I asked our waiter and he told me it would not be a problem. Ariana and I also ordered a Tortellini in chicken broth each as an appetizer. Our waiter was kind enough to suggest bringing just the soups first before the meatballs. What an excellent idea. The tortellini in chicken broth soups were just as excellent as everything else! And it was a great size portion, ordering one each was the way to go. Plus the soup was perfect because Ariana was not feeling so well. The soup was tasty, and I love tortellini soup! Next came the meatballs! Ariana and I enjoyed our three meatballs (sorry there is only one in the photo, we forgot to take a picture before diving in). These meatballs were just as good as the ones I remembered eating last time. For our entrees, Ariana ordered a Lemon Chicken and I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara. I tried Ariana’s chicken and it was delicious and very lemon-y! Mind you her piece of chicken breast was pretty big. Now onto my dish! Spaghetti Carbonara is one of my favorite dishes. It is spaghetti served with pancetta, onions, cheese, and egg. I was excited when I saw the amount of cheese in this dish as well as adding more. Il Mulino made my Spaghetti Carbonara perfect. I really enjoyed it. Ariana liked her chicken, but could not finish it because she ate most of the complimentary food. When our waiter asked us if we wanted desserts he was shocked to hear us say no, but understood that we ate a lot. He asked us if we wanted any coffee or after dinner drinks. I ordered an espresso and Ariana a tea. Pretty standard espresso for me, but Ariana was brought out a tea box and let her choose her own tea! I thought this was pretty cool. Ariana also suggested we order a Grappa each, which is an Italian after dinner drink. I had heard of Grappa before and could have sworn I had it, but after tasting it I was pretty sure I did not. I did not like Grappa! Remember how I mentioned I had put in the note on open table that this was our anniversary dinner? Well Il Mulino served us a complimentary (more free!!) cheese cake slice and they sang anniversary! We were surprised by this and it was an overall nice cap on dinner.
Il Mulino was truly the perfect date. The place was great, the service was excellent, and the food was even better. There are two other Il Mulino’s in New York and I promise you I will not hesitate to go back at some point in the future. Il Mulino might have been the best place Ariana and I have been to. I loved everything about Il Mulino. Head over there and you have my word that you will not be disappointed.
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