I don't know if this was the biggest meal I ever had, but this was the most ridiculous amount of food ever served to just two people. Mark and I went to Carmine's in Manhattan and noticed the menu was eerily similar to Bucca di Beppo's menu, with one main difference - no small sizes. Both are family style restaurants and apparently, Bucca di Beppo used to only serve one size, but probably got tired of throwing so much food away, they started offering small sizes some time back. And now they even offer single portions, so you can skip the whole family-style thing all together. Carmine's would do well to also offer small sizes. (Perhaps now they do.) Anyway, Mark and I stupidly ordered both spaghetti and meatballs and a side order of garlic bread. The plates we got had enough food on them to feed about 15 people. And sadly, we were just visiting New York and staying in a hotel with no refridgerator and no microwave, so most of it went into the trash. We wanted to give it to homeless people, but didn't really know how to approach people sleeping underneath piles of blankets on the sidewalk. Anyway, the food was wonderful, especially the garlic bread. Previously, my favorite garlic bread came from a restaurant in Santa Monica called Papa Louie's, but they closed and I thought I'd never have that garlic bread again - it was a very unique recipe and I can't even tell you what was on it, but it was heaven. Well, the garlic bread from Carmine's was identical to Papa Louie's, so I was happy to know someone else has that recipe.
