Review: Sicilian Oven in Coral Springs
By Judith Stocks, Sun Sentinel
Important: This article was last updated on June 3, 2010. Please call ahead to confirm hours, prices, dates and other information.
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 10140 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs 954-340-3001 thesicilianoven.com Cuisine: Italian Cost: inexpensive Hours: lunch, dinner daily Reservations: not necessary Credit cards: all major Bar: beer, wine Sound level: moderate to noisy Outside smoking: no For kids: boosters, high chairs, menu Wheelchair accessible: yes  |
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Background: A sister restaurant to the original in Lighthouse Point, this western outpost offers a similar short menu, the same casual feel, and good food.Ambience: Family friendly and sophisticated at the same time, with a roaring fire in the open kitchen's wood burning oven.
Starters: Wings ($10 small/ $15 large) are marinated 24 hours before oven time and then finished with fire roasted onions, breadcrumbs and shaved parmesan. Pasta fagioli or escarole and bean soup ($7 each) delight with rich flavors thanks to bits of prosciutto and heavenly stock. Tender mussels ($10) are presented in a skillet, topped with fire roasted bread crumbs and fresh basil in an irresistible white wine and garlic broth. While we'd hoped for bread to sop up that broth, the dish is served with just a couple of crostini. When we asked for bread, our server up-sold us an order of crostini at $2.50, saying there was no other bread in house.
Entree excellence: Consider yourself in good hands with the house pizza. These thin crusted pies are smoky from the wood fire oven. There are traditional pies along with ones topped with cervellata (pork sausage) and broccoli rabe or pesto, grilled chicken and roasted peppers. The Boss is excellent, with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and the right ratio of tomato sauce ($11 small/ $16 large). Beyond pizza, pasta Bolognese ($11), made with plenty of ground beef, pork and veal, is served over short cut rigatoni. The taste is fine but the Bolognese lacks richness. Chicken marsala ($10) uses chicken tenders with a pleasant mushroom sauce. Meatballs ($5 for one, $9 for two) are divine. Pasta-free Sicilian lasagna ($12) succeeds nicely with layers of eggplant and veggies. Ciabattas are also available and include chicken parmesan ($8), Philly steak ($9) and the Fughedaboutit ($10) stuffed with eggplant, prosciutto, peppers, fresh mozzarella, lettuce and tomato.
Sides: A better than average dressing coats the house Caesar, but the olives mixed in seem out of place. The combination didn't get a thumbs up at our table.
Sweet!: Like the rest of the menu, dessert listings are short and sweet. Only the tiramisu ($6), which isn't on the printed menu, is made in house. It's light and practically melts on your tongue, but still ranks among the forgettable. Other sweets include cheesecake, chocolate cake and cannoli.
Service: A large cadre of personnel ensures that it's good.
Contact dining correspondent Judith Stocks at judithstocksreviews@yahoo.com.