Casa Restaurant

72 Bedford and Commerce Streets
212/366.9410
about $125 for two, with two drinks, without tip

Whenever I am in the West Village, I always stop by Casa and look in. I tell myself that I should get Brazilian food next time. One Saturday night, all the surrounding restaurants had an hour-long wait so we ended there and were seated promptly.

With our caipirinhas, we started with four appetizers to share. The beef carpaccio with watercress and hearts of palm was pretty good but I prefer my parmesan shaved rather than grated. The lightly breaded squid was overcooked and extra chewy so we barely finished it. We also shared the salada completa which convinced us that the hearts of palm was from a can. The greens needed a healthy drizzle of good olive oil to be resuscitated.

Our one consolation was the Brazilian sausage with sautéed onions. It was spicy and salty but finally hit the spot. I had high hopes for Casa but how can I ever order from the main courses when they can’t even get the most simple appetizers right?