Review of Ribalta Neapolitan Cuisine, 48 E. 12th St., New York, NY

★★★

Overall Rating: Very Good ($$)

Neapolitans Rosario Procino and Pasquale Cozzolino, founders of Ribalta, bring their experience at New York's Keste and PizzArte to a Neapolitan style restaurant that offers a very good Neapolitan pizza combined with complementary dishes and exceptional service.

Pizza type:

Neapolitan

Pizza ordered: Margherita

Crust:  The crust on the Ribalta pie is a good version of Neapolitan crust and displays a nice charring on the bottom; however, it is a bit pale.  Otherwise, the crust had a nice firmness on the edges that transitioned into chewiness in the upper center.  The bottom crust was a bit too pliable, but overall, the crust had a nice neutral presence. 

Sauce: Ribalta's sauce was a nice crushed tomato base that was delicate and a nice complement to the overall flavor. It was not over applied nor did it have any seasonings that stood out.

Cheese: The Margherita pie was topped with a very good mozzarella. The cheese was a bit nonuniformly melted.  This is not necessarily a problem, but it does cause me to question its form and how it was applied.

Other Topping(s): The fresh basil was applied in a timely manner, but could have been more evenly applied.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere at Ribalta is a hybrid of the clean lines of urban chic and comforting Italian restaurant. The restaurant was not overly noisy. I really enjoyed being able to carry on a conversation; not being overwhelmed by a roar of voices.

Service: We made a reservation for an early evening dinner, and this worked out well, because the restaurant was full by 6:00 p.m.  The service was excellent; our server took time to answer all our questions and never seemed rushed, despite the full restaurant.

Utensils: Heavy utensils and high quality paper napkins.

Overall: Ribalta Neapolitan Cuisine in NYC is a solidly, very good Neapolitan pizza maker.  The restaurant was a very good experience at every level.  If you are fan of Neapolitan pizza, you can't go wrong here.  Enjoy!