The Mermaid Inn Crew Bring Neapolitan Pizza To The UWS

Our latest installment of Quick Bites brings us to the Upper West Side for pizza, courtesy of the folks at the Mermaid Inn.

THE VIBE
The Upper West Side avenues of Broadway, Amsterdam, and Columbus are home to more tired, mediocre restaurants than any similarly-sized chunk of pavement in all of Manhattan. So when a new spot opens that seems to promise both decent food and a little excitement, the desperate denizens of the 70s, 80s, and 90s show up in droves.

This is certainly the case at Pizzeria Sirenetta, which just opened last week and hosted nearly a full house on the two nights I went in for an early dinner. True, this pizza-and-pasta place didn't appear out of nowhere: Sirenetta is owned by the Mermaid Inn team, the almost absurdly popular seafood restaurant which doubled its capacity up here (and is STILL getting slammed!) by moving right next door.

Sirenetta—or "Little Mermaid"—-takes up residence in the former Mermaid Inn location. There's a somewhat raucous (for the UWS) bar and eating area up front, a slightly more sedate dining room in the back, a semi-open kitchen and pizza oven in the middle. The typography, the signage, and the logo have all been done by the same illustrator who gave Mermaid Inn its playful, distinctive look. The servers are eager and friendly, the music boppy and unthreatening, and children are most certainly welcome.

In other words: they did not mess with their Upper West success.

(Scott Lynch/Gothamist)

THE BITES
Though Pizzeria Sirenetta plays it safe, with a menu featuring nothing you haven't seen before, the good news for locals is that the pizzas and pasta dishes are good.

My companion and I tried four of Sirenetta's Neapolitan-style pies—individual-sized, minimal toppings, "wet" in the middle, burning on the crust—and enjoyed them all. The spinach pie had plenty of presence on the table thanks mostly to the sharp fontina and hot peppers; and the Spicy Salami pizza delivered on all fronts, with gamey meat, creamy buffalo mozzarella, sweet tomato sauce, and briny olives.

The Anchovy pie is for dedicated fish fans only, as the tiny swimmers utterly dominate everything else here. Note too: this pizza and a couple of others come without cheese, which can make the already though appropriately scant layer of toppings seem *really* scant, so set your expectations accordingly. Our fourth pie was the Fennel Sausage, which did its job just fine. In all cases the crust was appealingly chewy and charred.

There are four pastas offered at Sirenetta as well (for some reason they've listed a bowl of soup in this section, and although it sounds pretty good there is no pasta involved). The Linguinette with meyer lemon and a big blob of ricotta was maybe my favorite dish from either meal, a generous sprinkling of bread crumbs adding a nice little crunch to each bite. And the thick, al dente Rigatoni with a meaty, mushroomy ragu was as hearty and satisfying as you would want such a dish to be.

Both pastas, it should be said, definitely did not need any additional salt from the little bowl they put on each table, though I would have ground some pepper on my lemon linguini had their been a mill there.

Fried potatoes with capers, scallions and lemon yogurt, $11. (Scott Lynch/Gothamist)

Neither of our starters were worth getting again. The Chicory Salad with pancetta and hazelnuts arrived way overdressed with vinegar and meager with everything else (especially for $14); and the Fried Potatoes, while perfectly competent, were mostly interesting because of the capers.

Following the "free chocolate pudding" tradition at Mermaid Inn, there is no dessert menu at Sirenetta, but your server will bring you a small, complimentary cup of decent panna cotta with your check.

THE VERDICT
Upper West Siders have been burned so many times over the years by bad new restaurants that it's always a relief when someone seems to care enough to get the whole package right. Mermaid Inn and, now, Sirenetta have really got the neighborhood's number, with a large enough investment—more than half the block is taken up by these two spots—as a great incentive not to screw things up down the road.

Pizzeria Sirenetta is located at 568 Amsterdam Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets. Open daily for dinner at 5:00 p.m. and until 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 on Sunday and Monday. (212-799-7401; pizzeriasirenetta.com)