Birthday Dinner at Flour + Water

We celebrated my birthday early this year, mainly because we'd been wanting to check out Flour + Water and when I randomly checked earlier this month whether they had any available tables, they had only one available reservation for the next two months, on Easter Sunday. I reserved it since ressies there seem pretty hard to come by, and we decided to just call it my birthday dinner.

Wild Boar Terrina and Warm Trotter with Pickled Spring Shallots, Ramps and Pine Nut


Local Halibut Crudo with Green and Ripe Strawberries, Fava Beans, and Wild Arugula


Rigatoni with Braised Duck Giblets, Liver, Calabrian Chili and Slow Cooked Egg


Farro Garganelli with Fennel Braised Pork and Kale


Chocolate Budino with Espresso Caramel Cream and Sea Salt


Basil Panna Cotta with Berries and Pistachio

The food was all delicious. Reviews of the pizzas had been mixed, so we opted not to order one, but we were extremely impressed by the pastas, which were easily the standouts of the meal. We gave the food an 8.75. There had also been complaints online about the small pasta portions, but we found them to be perfectly portioned for our appetites, which tend to be on the smaller side.

The service was fine, and we gave it an 8.50. The servers were friendly and efficient and gave us food recommendations when we asked for them.

Décor was hip and somewhat minimalist. People complained that the noise level within is deafening, but we were able to easily carry on conversation without having to scream or even yell at one another. However, our reservation was at 5:45 and the restaurant opens at 5:30, so it wasn't packed to the gills yet the way many people online described and was therefore probably not as noisy yet. We gave it an 8.00.

Overall, Flour + Water earned an 86.25 from us. We definitely recommend them for their lovely pasta dishes. This place is extremely popular, so if you would like to avoid the two-hour wait that people have been describing online, be sure to secure a reservation. It would probably also be best to go for an early reservation time around when they open, to avoid the crowds and noise. People with later reservation times often complained online that they still had to wait a while for their table, even though they had a reservation, and that there is really nowhere to stand and wait inside the restaurant.

*For a refresher on our rating system, check out this previous post.*