Marcello

Having an early hockey game has it advantages. However, the main advantage in my opinion is that there are more restaurants open when we finish our game. So, taking full advantage of this, I suggest to my teammates that we should go to Marcello. Everyone seemed quite pleased at this choice since it was a break from our usual Asian late night fare. Marcello is located on Commercial Drive or "The Drive" as it's known locally. I've been to Marcello before; but it has definitely been awhile. So after our game, we went to meet up at Marcello. It took all of us at least 15 minutes to find a #)$*#)# parking spot. Finally, after endless circling, I found one right next to Marcello. I
guess patience and blind determination paid off.

We spent quite a bit of time looking over the menu trying to decide what to eat, there are so many delicious options. Finally, Emilicious suggested we share everything, like a true Italian meal. That was music to my ears, I could try everything! I have more to blog about! So we ordered 2 pizzas, the Carpicciosa and the Prosciutto e Funghi. In addition, we had 2 pastas, Chef Tagliatelle and Spaghetti Alla Vongole, and Frittura Di Calamari. It took a long time for someone to come take our order, it was probably 15 minutes. Then it took another 15 minutes for our drink orders to arrive (they were only beers and pop). THEN, it took another 40 minutes to get our food! No kidding! When the food arrived, the pastas were between cold and lukewarm. That was too bad, because the pastas were quite good.

The Chef Tagliatelle (mushrooms, black olives and capers in a creamy tomato sauce), was excellent. The home-made egg pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce was a perfect balance of creamy and tomato. I could have eaten a pound of this easily, it was that good. However, the portion size for the pastas at Marcello are quite small. It is definitely quality over quantity. This may not be an issue with some people since a large quantity of mediocre pasta is not necessarily appetizing (see Anton's). The Spaghetti Alla Vongole (clams in a white wine sauce w/tomato) was also very good, the spaghetti was also al dente and there were fresh in-the-shell clams as garnish. The flavours of this pasta was very delicate and there was just enough sauce to coat the spaghetti. The calamari was executed very well. The squid was not tough; yet it was not mushy either, just the perfect texture. It was not oily and the pieces were the right size, not being too small (would become too crispy) or too big (won't fry easily becoming mushy).

The pizzas were also very good, the thin crust was crispy and light. There was a perfect amount of toppings, cheese and sauce to give the pizzas a good flavour without making the crust soggy or making the pizza itself salty. I especially liked the Carpicciosa, there was a good combination of ham/salami (salty), artichokes/olives (tart) and mushrooms (earthy). The Prosciutto and Funghi was very similar, minus the artichokes and olives. I like the food at Marcello, the flavours are right and the atmosphere is inviting; however, the service is slooooow and the portions are a bit small. I know you are not paying for quantity here; but for me there are plenty of other places you can spend $18 for spaghetti and clams.






The Good:
- Flavours are good
- Great atmosphere
- Pasta has good consistency and is cooked correctly

The Bad:
- Pricey for what you get
- Slow service
- Hard to find parking

Marcello
1404 Commerical Drive
Vancouver, B.C.
604-215-7760