Reservations are not available here and the sun is hot as we wait outside the front door of Mama D’s.  Even the “Baby Chipmunk” (my bro’s daughter) has had her fill of it after a few minutes.  However, the restaurant is kind enough to provide tasty lemonade, “spa” cucumber ice water, bread and meatball appetizers while you wait.

Dad and Elfie (a.k.a. Bella)

David and Bella

It took about 45 minutes for us to be seated as it was very crowded and clear we missed the first round.  It’s very loud inside and therefore very “kid friendly” so talking is at a minimum while we finish our wait on black leather couches near the fireplace.

Derek, Keiko & “Baby Chipmunk” (Mei)

Derek (my bro)

It is “monkey hot” inside with ceiling fans barely propelling air and doing more for aesthetics than effect.  Given we are in an older section of Newport Beach I’m guessing central air was never added to this mature building.

Dining Room

The staff are extremely friendly, attentive and very hospitable.

Staff

The interior reminds me of a recreation hall of a dormitory or a local chapter of a moose lodge.

“Rat Pack” wall art

We get more bread once seated and I am hoping this bread quality is a sign of things to come.  It has a crispy exterior and is soft and spongy on the interior with cheese cooked into it.  The dipping sauce of olive oil and crushed garlic is a perfect companion.

Tasty Bread

Olive Oil Garlic Dipping Sauce

We open with Quinn’s Calamari Fritti which is good enough but not memorable.  The marinara dipping sauce is a tad tomatoey but not overly salty.  I order Cheryl’s Gnocchi with oily pesto sauce which looks terrific.  The sauce is a very bright olive green and looks very fresh.  Conversely there is a slight sour aftertaste to the pesto which makes me wonder if it hasn’t been left uncovered and exposed to a superfluous amount of air.  It tastes like this is a walnut based pesto instead of a pine nut based pesto.

Gnocchi with Oily Pesto

I prefer pesto with pine nuts so this isn’t quite working for me.  The gnocchi are pleasant enough but definitely not above average.  Again, I hate saying this but they remind me a lot of the imported packaged variety I buy at Cost Plus World Market.  Even the red-labeled package I buy at Trader Joe’s has a more pillowy consistency.

Now that we’re eating I’m feeling even greasier in here.  There is a serious lack of airflow as the place is packed to capacity and this is the dead of August.  I add a chianti classico to the fire since we are beyond “the point of no return” in regards to temperature.

Neopolitan Pizza

Additionally I order Neopolitan pizza with olive oil, Italian sausage, mushrooms and basil.  Due to dietary restrictions I veto tomato sauce on pizzas.  I found the pizza to be pretty decent but not great.  The crust is very thin which is nice but there wasn’t enough olive oil or cheese.  As a result, it ended up tasting more like focaccia bread.  The crust was firm but not crisp.  Since I passed on tomato sauce they should have “gone deep” with olive oil and given they didn’t the pizza was a touch dry.  There are nice big chunks of Italian sausage which taste great.

Salerno Pasta

Bella orders the Salerno pasta with aglio olio sauce (garlic and oil).  The dish has mushrooms, spinach and additional garlic.  I taste it and as usual her dish is better than mine.  Shock-HER!  Her dish is more interesting of course and is very well executed.  That girl has some serious “Foo-DAR” given that daughter of a scientist brain is always calculating.

My dad gets the gnocchi with Fra Diavolo sauce (tomato, garlic and red pepper flakes).  For the record, my dad is 100% Italiano and prefers simpler traditional Italian food.  He says the gnocchi is good and has definite potato flavor whereas some poorly done versions taste like only a lump of pasta.  He adds that it is definitely an “old skool” traditional rendition as they are not the light, pillowy and fluffy variety.

Gnocchi with Fra Diavolo Sauce

He found the Fra Diavolo sauce to be the best he’s ever had.  It was very spicy but didn’t burn the taste buds yet still had nice heat and flavor.  I must confess that I was recently in NYC and SF dining at some pretty outstanding contemporary Italian restaurants (i.e. Spina, Lupa, Poesia and Vicoletto) and “possibly” that has made it difficult to adjust my palate accordingly.  Furthermore, I was eating ricotta gnocchi so there is a slight chance I’m having trouble “comparing apples to apples”.

Debra’s Linguini & Clams in White Wine

For dessert we’re provided with free chocolate chip cookies.  They taste and look like the rolled “slice and bake” style but for free “it’s all good in the neighborhood”.  Fun handwritten messages are on each of our take-out boxes with messages such as “I (heart) cheese” (a house made of Swiss cheese is drawn on the box) and “midnight snack”.

In conclusion, I am a semi-fan of Mama D’s and as a result I will give them another go in the future.  It goes without saying that it will be during the winter months.  As well, I will select a different entrée but Mama D’s showed my family and me enough to warrant a repeat visit.

Date of Visit: 8/14/2011; Restaurant:  Mama D’s Italian Kitchen; Address: 3012 Newport Blvd, Newport Beach, CA  92663; Phone: 949-675-6262; Website: mamadsnewport.com; Key: (5 star maximum per category); Ambiance: ***; Service: ****; Food/Drink: ***; Grade: B