Little Italy @ Match Public House (Delta)

Ever since my first visit to Match Public Eatery last year (yes, it took me that long to try it), I've liked the place.  I truly believe they have some of the best wings around and their burgers are consistently good.  However, I'm not going to talk about either of these things this time around (even though I did order them).  I was recently invited to try their Little Italy promotion that features a special menu with an appie, pastas and a dessert.  Naturally, I was here to try them all!

The featured appetizer on the Little Italy menu is the Cheesy Fried Ravoili served with house-made spicy marinara and alfredo dipping sauces.  These crunchy little pockets were tossed in garlic butter and the aroma and flavour would've been enough.  However, the dipping sauces were on point.  Balanced and not too tangy, the spicy marinara had some background sweetness as well as a kick.  The creamy alfredo had a nice aroma and cheesiness.

Off to the pastas, we tried the Garlic Shrimp Alfredo first.  This was quite good with al dente tagliatelle pasta bathed in a creamy alfredo that was further amped by the bounty of garlic butter shrimp.  Hence, there was no absence of impact from the sauce even though it was the mildest of the 4 pastas we had.  The shrimp varied in size from small to fairly large ones.  They were cold-water crunchy and buttery in texture.

Our next pasta was the Chicken Pesto Cavatappi with grilled chicken breast with pesto, oven-roasted artichokes, sundried tomatoes and pesto cream.  This was pretty rich and delicious with the herbaceousness of pesto and of course a touch nutty too.  The pasta was firmly al dente while the chicken was nicely charred.  Adding in sundried tomatoes and artichokes afforded some tanginess to break up the richness.

Onto a tomato sauce-based pasta, we tried the Pappardelle with Italian Sausage Ragu.  These slippery ribbons of pasta were also al dente, yet a bit more tender.  We didn't mind that as it had good mouth-feel.  The sausage ragu was meaty and appealingly tomatoey.  There was also a background fennel finish due to the sausage. The addition of Boursin added a cheesy creaminess to the dish.  

Our last pasta was the most typical of the bunch being Nonna's Spaghettini & Meatballs.  I actually snuck a few strands of this first so I didn't get to it last. Yes, the pasta was al dente but due to it being thin, it became softer a bit later (eat it right away!).  The San Marzano tomato sauce was balanced with a good mix of tanginess and sweetness.  Adding in a parmesan cream helped cut the tomatoness of the dish.  To my surprise, we found 8 meatballs!  Even though they were small, the meat was juicy and tender while completely flavourful.

For dessert, we had the ginormous Tiramisu Cake.  So when they say cake, they really meant it.  Instead of lady fingers, we found moist and not-too-sweet coffee soaked sponge layered with mascarpone cream.  It was purposefully sweet with mild coffee notes.  The cream wasn't too heavy where the cake was fairly light.  Overall, the Little Italy menu at Match is delicious and they mean business with legit ingredients.  Prices are reasonable and portions are healthy.

The Good:

- Well-executed dishes

- Reasonably-priced

- Well-portioned

The Bad:

- Possibly another option for appetizer and dessert?