Domenico’s Italian Restaurant & Lounge

Domenico’s Italian Restaurant & Lounge
3702 West Truman Boulevard
Jefferson City, MO

On night two of my stay in Jefferson City, I was not really in mood to drive around. That was partially because of the weather condition: though not rainy, it was windy and chilly. So, instead, I was hoping for restaurants nearby, with the caveat it couldn’t be a chain or in the mall. Once again, I took a suggestion from my clients: Domenico’s.

Once again, it seems I was suggested a well-known place. I arrived just after 6:00 p.m. and they were half full already… On a Tuesday night! Now that’s something a lot of restaurants would be jealous of.

Did I mention something about the artificial sweeteners on tables?

A glance at the menu (available on-line, here) and I was torn. Should I go for the stereo-typical pasta? Should I go for steaks? What about chicken, veal or seafood? In my case, my answer has always been “something I can’t get locally” or “something different”. And that answer came in the form of veal. How come veal, if it is something that is available here? If I go through the process of elimination, that would be the dish I seldom have. As for the order itself, it started with the option of salad or soup – I chose soup.

The soup of the day was cream of broccoli. In retrospect, I think I should have gone for the salad, as I hadn’t had my share of vegetables for the day. Sure, the soup had broccoli but… As for the soup itself, it was not smooth; rather it was quite thick. The broccoli itself wasn’t too noticeable. It was almost as if it was added as an afterthought. Not bad, not good…

As for the bread, it was better than a lot of places I have been to but not extraordinary. Once thing that was really noticeable was the butter: it was not yellow-ish but almost off-white. It was quite soft I must say, thought not overly overpowering. In fact, I was doubting it was butter but something else.

As for the main, as mentioned above, I went for veal…

In particular, this dish, called Veal Marco: “Topped with provel cheese, fresh mushrooms, broccoli and our white wine, lemon and butter sauce, seasoned with a hint of garlic and cracked red pepper“. I won’t say I tasted the cheese, garlic or red pepper; however, I did notice that odd combination of white wine, lemon and butter. Any hint of crispiness from the breading of the veal was “lost” thanks to the sauce. By no means that meant it was bad; instead, it gave a really interesting contrast.

The dish had two lows, the first one being the side pasta. I had the option to go from “white sauce” (i.e., creamy) or “red sauce” (tomato). I chose, as you can see above, the red sauce version. It was acidic/sweet, fine but nothing else stood out. The other low was the slightly overcooked broccoli. The deep green colour was long gone and there was almost no texture left.

To finish the meal, I opted for a dessert, in this case, their Amaretto Cheese Cake. The cheese cake on its own was bland. But, the combination of Amaretto and layer of toasted almost really brought it up. One thing I must mention is that the Amaretto caught me completely off guard. It was my first time I had it and, while I couldn’t “taste it”, it did “hit” me (as a reminder, I have low alcohol tolerance).

Overall, I found out why this place is highly regarded. It had some odd issues, sure. However, it might be due to my concept and expectation of some of the dishes, not that they were bad in any way.

Tagged under: Italian • Meat