I usually don’t leave my office during lunch, but I got to meet with my friend Kenory and try out Fete – a place that I’ve heard great things about!

Walking in, it was a charming somewhat small place and all the tables are kind of close together.  A waitress came over and told us all of the specials today (which were a lot lol.. so I can’t remember).

Upon studying the menu, my friend and I both ended up getting the shrimp bisque (a special that day) for an appetizer.  Between the caprese sandwich or a pasta, I asked the waitress what was the most popular dish.  She said that the carbonara here was very popular and delicious.   Since we both loved creamy dishes, cheese, and pasta, we both opted for the carbonara for our entree.  Seeing it was $21 and the raves of this restaurant, I had a feeling the pasta was going to be very rich, creamy and filling!

The shrimp bisque came out and I was happy to see huge chunks of shrimp in the soup and the smell of broth and seafood permeated the air.  It smelled so good!  I immediately indulged (which explains the half – eaten bowl photo below…sorry! haha).  The flavors were delicious, but the “bisque” was a thin consistency.  Since we were both getting hot and we wanted to save room for the pasta, we got a take out container for the other half of the soup.

When the carbonara came out, we were immediately surprised at how small the portion was for $21 haha (picture below).  It was also cooked with portuguese sausage chunks instead of guanciale – which is Italian cured meat most commonly used in authentic carbonara dishes.

After taking a bite of the pasta, I was immediately overwhelmed by the pepper in here.  WOAH.  I literally bit a few peppercorns and the pepper flavor was overbearing.  Thinking I would taste the cheesiness or the egg yolks of the sauce, instead I tasted straight black pepper with hints of portuguese sausage lol!  My friend agreed that it was way too peppery.

Here’s a closer look at the carbonara. The pepper doesn’t look that much, but it was definitely strong!

At the end, I decided to pack my pasta so Alex could try it.  Getting my check, I was reminded of the fact that for a soup and mediocre pasta, my total alone came out to about $32 (excluding tax)! For lunch, that is definitely pricey.

Later that day, Alex heated up the carbonara pasta and tried it.  He commented it tasted just like black pepper, but strangely enough was also bland at the same time.

While the service here was good, my rating based off the food taste, portion, and experience was, unfortunately, a 5/10.  I thought the shrimp bisque was pretty good, but I could not justify the money I spent on the pasta/experience.