329 Haddon Avenue
Westmont, NJ 08108
A place I have had my eye on for some time now is Guimarello’s in Westmont, New Jersey. My cousin lived right down the road on Haddon Avenue in Collingswood, and he had been talking about Guimarello’s for years. I was excited when my mentor approached me at work and asked if I wanted to accompany him and another set of mentor and mentees there for a mentor lunch a few months ago. I jumped at the chance, and we set out for a nice lunch.
When we walked in it was pretty empty, so we were seated right away. We were brought out a basket of pizza bread to start and I was quite pleased because I was ravenous. I enjoyed a few slices of the crispy pizza bread while we waited to put in our order. I decided on their lunch special that they offered of a cup of soup or salad and a bowl of gnocchi Bolognese. I love good gnocchi, so I was really excited to try Guimarello’s so that I could see how it stacked up.
The waitress informed me that they make their gnocchi with ricotta cheese instead of potato, which she claimed made them fluffier and lighter. I was under the impression that gnocchi made with ricotta instead of potato was called gnudi instead of gnocchi, but I am no Italian or pasta expert, so I cant really say for sure. They were a bit bigger than most other gnocchi I have encountered as well. After doing a little research on the matter, I came to realize I was right. Gnocchi is something made from potato and flour. While sometimes you can find them made with ricotta, but this is very untraditional. Gnudi are usually made with ricotta and very little flour. If anyone knows anything else about the subject feel free to let me know because I’d love to know as much as I can about it. Anyways, back to the meal.
The escarole soup was pretty on point. The escarole gave the soup a nice depth of flavor, and the broth was delicious. There was also some kind of sausage in the bottom of the soup. It was super tender and it soaked up all of the flavor of the delicious broth.
After sucking down the whole cup of soup in mere minutes, it was time for the “gnocchi”. It was very tasty, right up there with some of the better gnocchi I have had. It was not the best, or the lightest I have ever had, but it was certainly well done. They were airy and fluffy, and they paired well with the meatiness of the Bolognese sauce. You definitely got the taste of the ricotta in each and every bite. One of the reasons I love gnocchi is because of the wide arrays in which it can be served and it tastes different in each time.
I would definitely go back to Guimarello’s. It is one of the better places to eat in the Collingswood/Westmont area, and it is pretty affordable. You should definitely go out and try it and let me know what you think! Cheers!
.thanks for sharing
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