Allora by da Soli (Italian)

We looked forward to trying Allora, 892 Route 73, Marlton, NJ 08053, since we love Da Soli in Haddonfield. We were not disappointed! Chef Mark has done it again! We met friends, Larry and Linda, for a 7:15pm reservation on Saturday, March 7.

Ken devoured the bread and peppers that were brought to the table.

Appetizers:

Jay and Ken wanted to split the grilled calamari, but the server heard fried. No worries! It was lightly breaded and came with a delicious marinara sauce.

The server also brought the grilled calamari (on the house). That was so nice. The calamari was grilled to perfection and the spicy pomadora sauce with pepperoncini was AWESOME! Yum! Will definitely get again.

Linda and Jay shared the orange and beet salad - thinly sliced fennel, baby arugula toasted walnuts, honey maple dressing, creamy ricotta, balsamic drizzle, topped with grilled shrimp (hey! Jay didn't get any shrimp, Linda! LOL). Delicious and refreshing.

Larry enjoyed the sausage appetizer special - it was seasoned to perfection. Jay helped a little and couldn't stop eating it.

Entrees:

Larry ordered the beef special, which he couldn't finish and took the rest home. The gnocchi was heavenly.

Ken ordered the Tuscan Braised beef - fork tender beef, oven roasted in a rich red wine pan sauce with plum tomatoes, rosemary, and roasted vegetables (grilled zucchini). He devoured it. Jay didn't get to taste any...

Linda ordered the Herbed Crusted Salmon special, which came with white beans. She doesn't like a lot of sauce, so she didn't finish and took most of it home...

Jay ordered the Tuna Siciliano - grilled ahi tuna topped with diced tomatoes, fennel, capers, basil, and olives. She ordered it rare. Although it was very pink, it wasn't quite as rare as she'd thought it would be. She needs to keep in mind that this is not sushi grade, and order accordingly in the future. The entree came with risotto, which was a bit crunchy, although flavorful, and grilled zucchini. She devoured the dish anyway, because it was so good.

Wines enjoyed:

Since Larry and Linda helped us to celebrate Ken's birthday, 11 days early (we have a birthday MONTH), we were treated by the restaurant to a slice of creamy cheesecake! What a nice surprise! Ken doesn't like singing out in public, so we didn't (party pooper! LOL!). Jay ate most of the cheesecake.

We were too full once we got back to their house to eat the cake they bought Ken, so we took it home...

Good food! Good friends! Good times!

We will return in a few weeks with more friends. Hopefully, it won't be as loud (is the same group of obnoxious diners following us?), but we'll see.