The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, August 02, 2018, Page 14, Image 23

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    14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Coast Weekend’s local
restaurant review
Galletti’s Spaghetti House
misses some Italian pillars
Review and photos by
THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA
MOUTH@COASTWEEKEND.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/MOUTHOFTHECOLUMBIA
A
t the heart of Italian cook-
ing is simplicity.
As Anthony Bourdain
raved of one of his absolute favor-
ite dishes, cacio e pepe: “It’s like
the simplest, nicest thing in the
world.”
Italian for “cheese and pepper,”
cacio e pepe is something like the
forefather to mac and cheese. It’s
quick and easy to make — just
noodles, salt, pepper, olive oil and
Parmesan.
Along with other Italian cor-
nerstones like pastas pomodoro,
carbonara, these simple dishes
sing in large part because of a
commitment to ingredients that
are fresh and well-crafted.
Which, unfortunately, you
won’t find a lot of at Galletti’s
Spaghetti House in Seaview,
Wash.
For starters, the pasta is neither
fresh nor house-made. And for a
place that serves almost exclusive-
ly starchy, noodle-heavy dishes,
that’s a cracked foundation.
There isn’t a whole lot of
choice at Galletti’s, either. It
mostly boils down to sauce —
largely tomato or cream — and
meat — from land or sea. Every
entree includes a side salad and
piece of garlic toast.
Starters are limited to bread-
sticks, bruschetta and stuffed
Peruvian peppers. Besides the
bruschetta, there’s no antipasto to
speak of — no cured meats, olives
or fine cheeses. So the “Spa-
ghetti House” moniker is a more
accurate descriptor than “Italian
Restaurant” sign inside, a family
GALLETTI’S
SPAGHETTI
HOUSE
Rating: 
4806 Pacific Way
Seaview, WA 98644
360-783-7060
Hours: noon-9 p.m. Mon-
day-Saturday; noon-8 p.m.
Sunday
Price: $$ — most dishes in
the mid-to-high teens
Service: Intent on chatting
Vegetarian/Vegan
Options: More troubling
for the carb-wary
Drinks: Wine, beer, soda
KEY TO STAR RATING SYSTEM
Side Salad
Lasagna
Chicken “Picata”
heirloom.
About the salad and bread that
accompany each entree: They’re
pitiful. In one case, the salad was
minuscule, not more than three
or four puny bites. In another, it
included a piece of spinach wilted
with black rot. The bread, mean-
while, is bleached and insub-
stantial — not unlike the 99-cent
grocery store variety. As “bread,”
Italians might not recognize it.
They certainly wouldn’t respect it.
Cheap as the garlic toast appears,
if one wanted a second slice, it
wouldn’t be complimentary.
Galletti’s entrees may as well
have been cribbed from the Olive
Garden menu. Galletti’s, howev-
er, does away with the teeming
portions and all-you-can-eat
specials. While adequately filling
on account of being carb-bombs,
Galletti’s plates were surprisingly
petite.
Speaking of surprise: A glass of
red wine was served, inexplicably,
at well-above room temperature.
Anyway, the entrees.
The Chicken Parmesan
($16.95) came out quick enough
to make me wonder how accurate
the claims of being “cooked-
to-order” were. Either way, the
breading was soggy and paste-
like. Along for the ride were loads
of melted cheese and a marinara
that was a bit sweet but otherwise
indistinct.
Same goes for the Lasagna
($14.95). I’d have a hard time
picking it out of a lineup that
included run-of-the-mill dry pasta
and canned sauce from the gro-
 Poor
 Below average
 Worth returning
 Very good
 Excellent, best in region
cery store.
The Chicken Picata ($18.95)
was creamy and cheesy, with an
lemony twang. The chicken was
dry, pulverized and overcooked.
And there wasn’t a whole lot of it
— not for $18.95, anyway. What
there was a whole lot of was oil,
pooling up at the bottom of the
bowl.
While a traditional chicken pic-
cata recipe calls for the chicken to
be dredged in flour and browned,
Galletti’s forgoes the breading
and — of course — adds a bunch
of noodles. But hey, maybe that’s
just Galletti’s take on the dish
— perhaps that’s why they spell
“Picata” with only one “c.” Either
way, there was little in terms of
portion or flavor to justify the
dish’s nearly $20 price tag.
And that’s pretty much how
Galletti’s left me: flat. Missing
were those essential Italian build-
ing blocks of freshness, quality
and personal touch.
Rather than celebrating sim-
plicity, Galletti’s turned out to be
rather basic. CW