Gigi's

I used to live in Coquitlam during the 90's and let's just say it was a black hole when it came to great food.  Things began to improve in the early 2000's and things are heating up as we move into early 2026.  With the rapid development of the city and the addition of the Evergreen Line, there needs to be more services and restaurants to serve the population.  With that in mind, it was probably a good move by the Kitchen Table Group to open up Gigi's in the Tricity Pavilion on Christmas Way in Coquitlam.  The building is gorgeous and has its own parking lot.  It also houses a location of Nemesis.

We arrived shortly after happy hour and the place was hopping.  A few appies were in order including the Calamari Fritti.  I wanted to like this, but as you can see, it was pretty greasy.  Batter was crispy though and well-salted.  Maybe some of the pieces could've been bigger as well.  There was some fried herbs and fennel to compliment as well as a verde aioli, which was creamy and bright.

Moving into a lighter direction, we had the Albacore Tuna Crudo.  This was a competent dish with fresh slices of fish that was dressed in a chili vinaigrette.  I didn't think it was all that spicy, rather it was fruity and tangy due to the orange slices and caper berries.  We also found pickled onions, shaved fennel and fennel fronds.  Hence, there was added crunch, tartness and brightness.

Our favourite appetizer was the Wagyu Beef Tartare.  This featured Australian Wagyu, which I find less fatty (from past experiences).  That was a good thing though as unrendered fat can be rather chewy.  This tartare was not chewy, instead it was silky and buttery.  It was dressed with black garlic mayo and topped with parmigiano reggiano, grainy dijon and shaved black truffle.  This added earthiness, umami, nuttiness and tang.  Nice balance here as it wasn't heavy nor too tart.  Smartly, this was served with the popular cacio e pepe chips that inspired the Miss Vickie's version.

We had one item from the Burrata Bar being the Pistachio Pesto.  Since the burrata is served within 48 hours after being hand-crafted in Puglia, it is pretty much as fresh as it can get (unless you fly to Italy).  Beyond the firm, but thin exterior, the creamy and stringy goodness of the fresh cheese was evident.  No watery mess inside!  That pesto was on point with an herbaceous nuttiness complimented by saltiness of the parm.  We found some extra EVOO on the side and house-made foccacia.

When the Mortadella Pizza arrived, it sported extensive charring and leoparding.  Now there is a growing movement that is moving way from this as Neapolitan-style pizza should only have a few spots.  For me personally, I'm still all for the charring as it creates crispiness and nuttiness.  The dough was well-seasoned and appealingly chewy.  There was plenty of mortadella on top drizzled with pesto, crushed pistachios and pecorino.  Underneath, we had a sauce bianco (white sauce) which was nutty and lightly creamy.  Of course, there was some fior di latte as well.

Onto the pasta course, we had three of them including Alla Vodka.  This employed sedani rigati which held onto the vodka sauce well.  About that sauce, it was quite good with a tomatoey richness that was velvety and balanced.  The amount of vodka used was conservative and it was cooked down properly.  Hence, there was a hint of it, but it stayed in the background.

My favourite of the bunch was the Luigi's Bolognese with rigatoni.  To some, this may be a bit defaultish, but don't sleep on this as it was plenty delicious.  The bolognese was made with veal, beef and pork which made it plenty meaty.  It was creamy enough to take the bite off the tomato and there was natural sweetness.  Along with some parm and al dente pasta, this was a solid dish.

The most interesting pasta we had the Ragu Bianco sporting shredded braised beef cheek.  The ample amount of beef cheek was gelatinous and super tender.  It also had a nice beefiness to it.  Moreover, the creaminess of the sauce created a velvety texture.  With a bit of parm, there was some nutty cheesiness.  The most unfortunate thing was that the campanelle was rather soft.

We had the 16oz Ribeye Steak as our main.  We asked for it to be prepared medium-rare and as you can see, it was spot on.  It was also properly rested with no juices leaking all over the plate.  As such, each slice was tender and moist while mildly-seasoned (with porcini).  There was a decent sear on the outside and it was even on both sides of the steak.

To go with our ribeye, we had the Kale Caesar.  As much as the kale can be poofy in a pile, this was still a rather large portion of salad.  Properly trimmed without the spine, the kale was tender with some chewiness.  It was lightly dressed in an anchovy and caper dressing which was slightly briny with a balanced saltiness.  It was further enhanced by the parm and crunchy pangrattato as well as the focaccia croutons.

We ended up with two desserts including the light and refreshing Roasted Pistachio Panna Cotta with a tangy raspberry coulis and a biscotti crumble on top as well as dark chocolate shavings.  The pannacotta itself was creamy and not overly gelatinized.  It was mildly sweet with some nuttiness.  With a hit of tangy raspberry and crunchy biscotti, there was balance and texture.

The other dessert was the Classic Tiramisu.  Unlike other versions I've had lately (including in Italy), this one was on the heavier side.  Thick and cheesy, the mascarpone cream was nice by itself, but in a tiramisu, it was too dense.  That didn't make the tiramisu bad though as the lady fingers were soaked with just enough espresso.  The dessert wasn't overly sweet either.  However, due to the richness, this was thankfully shared among the 5 of us.  Overall, our experience at Gigi's was decent with a beautiful dining space with fairly good service.  Food was generally good with a few things that could use further refinement.  Pretty nice for Coquitlam, but probably not on the level of Downtown quality.

The Good:

- Beautiful space

- Good service

- Decent eats, especially for Coquitlam

The Bad:

- Some more refinements needed with some dishes

Happy Hour @ Trattoria (Burnaby)

After a delicious and well-priced Happy Hour at Italian Kitchen in Downtown, I planned to visit Trattoria in Burnaby for a similar experience.  For those who do not know, Trattoria belongs to the Glowbal Group, much like its older sibling, Italian Kitchen.  It is a bit more casual and relaxed compared to the higher-end Italian Kitchen.  Originally, I tried to make a reservation for Happy Hour (from 3:00pm to 5:00pm everyday), but apparently, they only take walk-ins during that time.  No worries though as we didn't have any difficultly finding a table.  Also, for those worried about parking, especially since Happy Hour happens during rush hour, they have underground parking (albeit not validated) available.

Seeing how we had 5 people, I really dove into the menu and ordered a bunch of dishes, but they started us off with an Amuse Bouche (Arancini).  These were crispy with medium-soft risotto in the middle with melted cheese.  Our first actual dish was the Baked Meatballs.  These large meatballs were soft and tender with natural meat texture still hanging around.  They were well-seasoned with the herbs coming through.  It was topped with a tangy tomato sauce as well as melted cheese.

Next up was the Shrimp & Calamari Fritto Misto.  This was a generous portion of tender, yet with a bite, squid.  It was buttery and not dry despite the batter being crispy and staying adhered to each piece.  It was also properly seasoned too.  As for the shrimp, it had a buttery snap.  Some shishitos were added to the mix and they were good too being tender but still intact.  Some calabrian chili aioli was served on the side.

Unlike the Bruschetta found at Italian Kitchen, the ones here were constructed using pizza bread.  Hence, they were a whole lot larger and ate differently.  We had the Tomato & Basil as well as the Zucchini & Stracciatella.  With classic tomato sweetness and tang to go with the fresh basil and EVOO, the original was the best in our opinion.  Pizza bread was chewy with some crispy parts and soft insides.  I thought the hummus on the latter made things a bit heavy and when combined with the zucchini, asparagus and stracciatella, the whole thing was wet.

One of the best deals on the Happy Hour menu has to be the Beef Carpaccio.  Sure, it consists of extremely thin slices of beef, but the plate was pretty huge.  The beef had a nice colour to it and was buttery and tender.  The mustard dressing was creamy with a bite while the amount of shaved pecorino added the right amount of salt.  Crunch and more salt came in the form of fried capers and some peppery brightness was provided by the baby arugula.  Brushed with EVOO, the pizza bread triangles were nutty, crispy and a good compliment to the beef.

Accompanied by the same delicious pizza bread triangles, the Sicilian Mussels was another solid dish.  Loved the large and plump mussels in this dish as opposed to the often scrawny PEI mussels (although they do taste great!).  I found these ones to be more briny than sweet.  They were just barely cooked through and bathed in broth consisting of olives, capers, nduja sausage, white wine and lemon.  Due to the sausage, it was plenty spicy and salty.  Nice acidity to balance though.

We ended up with two of their pizzas.  For only $15.00, they were a good deal, especially the fully loaded Funghi.   As you can see, there was a good amount of smoked pancetta, mushrooms, 

creamed leeks, sprouts and provolone.  Hence, we had salty smokiness to go with the woodsiness of the mushrooms.  Nice charring on the crust too.  We also went for the basic Margherita and due to less components on top, the crust was crispier.  Tomato sauce was tangy while the fresh basil (placed on top after the pizza was done) was impactful.

There are two pastas on the Happy Hour menu and we got both of them.  The first was the Bolognese with house-made penne.  I thought this was a competent pasta where the penne was al dente with a nice chew.  As for the sauce, it was definitely meaty with a proper viscosity.  It was thick with a mild tomato flavour while somewhat creamy due to the proper amount of milk/cream.  There was balancing amount of sweetness.

So the bolognese was good, but the Tagliatelle Ghiottone was even better in our opinion.  It featured firm pasta that was bathed in a delicious cream sauce.  I thought it was just rich enough that each strand of pasta was coated without it being heavy.  Little nuggets of tender chicken were plentiful while the slight hint of brandy was in the background.  Some parm added the necessary saltiness.

Although desserts are not part of the Happy Hour menu, we decided to get two of them anyways.  The first was the Torta di Cioccolato (or flourless chocolate torte).  This was rich and chocolatey while not dry (even though it looks it in the picture).  Really enjoyed the nutty hazelnut cream and the particularly the crunchy and sweet candied hazelnuts.  Even though some might view it as gimmick, the Signature Tableside Tiramisu is worth ordering.  I've had it before and it was quite good.  This was prepared tableside and in reality, there wasn't that much of a show.  Yet, since was made-to-order, it had not been sitting around in a fridge all day.  Hence, the espresso-soaked lady fingers were fluffy and not overly wet.  The mascarpone was creamy and stable (not separating) with just enough sweetness.  A good helping of freshly shaved chocolate completed the dessert.  Overall, the Happy Hour at Trattoria was good and featured a good amount of dishes.  We felt it was good value and worth a return visit.

The Good:

- Generally tasty food

- Excellent service

- Well-priced

The Bad:

- Would've preferred the bruschetta on crostinis rather than pizza bread

- Wished parking was validated

Lucia on Main

Awhile back, I was getting my hair cut at my hairdresser when I looked across the street to see that Smitty's had closed.  A few more visits to my hairdresser and I noticed that it was being replaced by an Italian restaurant called Lucia.  Taking a closer look at what it is all about, the place seeks to be unpretentious and welcoming while Chef Zach Steele combines traditional Italian with Westcoast influences.  This sounded like the place to go when the hockey crew wanted to meet up for a Monday dinner.

For a Monday, the place was hopping and was definitely inviting and we never felt pressured to rush through our dinner.  We decided to do our meal "alla famiglia" with a selection of dishes including the Sourdough Focaccia with a delicious butter.  Honestly, we weren't paying attention to what the creamy butter was, but it was fantastic on the appealingly chewy bread with a beautiful crust.

We really enjoyed the Polenta Fritters as they were a whole lot lighter than most other versions I've had.  Encased in seasoned bread crumbs, the polenta was creamy and well-seasoned without being dense.  They were crunchy on the outside and topped with grana padano.  Underneath, we found a tasty pesto aioli that was creamy and well-blended.  Hence, we got nuttiness as well as herbaceousness.

Probably the most popular appie we had was the Calabrian Cheese Dip served with house-made flat bread.  Honestly, we could've put this dip on shoe leather and it would've tasted good.  It was creamy, appealingly salty and cheesy.  However, it was not merely one note as we could pick out the tangy nuttiness of the manchego.  The fluffy bread was the perfect match for this dip.  But again, we put that on other things at the table too!

We decided to order a couple of pizzas including the Capicola and the Wild Mushrooms.  As you can see, the pizzas weren't exactly traditional Neapolitan, but it worked for us just fine.  It was thin, uniformly crispy and had a shattering crunchiness.  I enjoyed the properly salted dough as well as the chewiness of the crust.  With a combination of spicy capicola, roasted peppers and confit garlic, there was not absence of impact.  As for the mushrooms, it was more subtle but still there was plenty of woodsiness and earthy truffle.  I enjoyed the simplicity of this pizza more.

Moving onto the pastas, we tried all of them starting with the Fregola Sarda.  The sweet pops from the charred corn was a nice counterbalance to the salty pancetta. There was rich cheesiness provided by the ricotta salata as well as from the cheese on top.  The little fregola pasta was delicate but still had texture.  Not to be forgotten, the charred zucchini was tender but not mushy.  It had some natural sweetness with a bit of bitterness from the skin.

The best pasta according to everyone hands down was the Spinach & Mascarpone Tortelli.  These precious little pockets contained a considerable amount of filling which was creamy but not runny.  The pasta itself was thin and still fairly al dente (especially for a fresh pasta).  This was all tossed in brown butter, which was nutty and seasoned just enough.  Adding some cheesy saltiness, we had some grana padano on top.

We had some differing opinions about the Lumache with Italian sausage in a vodka sauce.  Some thought it was salty while others thought it was fine.  For me, there were pockets of saltiness, especially from the sausage, but not enough to be "too salty".  The pasta itself was tender and just a bit past al dente.  I loved the vodka sauce as it was creamy with a mild tanginess.

Other than the tortelli, the Bucatini Bolognese was also really good.  Featuring fresh bucatini, there was a more gentle texture than the dry version.  It was tossed in a hearty bolognese that was rich and meaty with a background creaminess.  It was plenty savoury with a balancing sweetness as well.  The generous amount of grana padano provided plenty of nuttiness.  I would come back for this dish alone.

We only ordered one meat dish in the Squid that was grilled and served with salmoriglio.  The exterior of the squid was quite nice being nicely charred and appealingly chewy.  However, the inside was rather soft and mushy.  It would've been better that they butterflied the squid and grilled it for a more uniformed preparation.  As for the salmoriglio, it was a nice compliment to the squid being tangy and bright.

For good measure, we added some sides including the Broccolini and the Potatoes.  We really enjoyed the perfectly prepared broccolini as it was crunchy but cooked all the way through.  Nice char that offered smokiness and caramelization.  We didn't enjoy the potatoes that much as they were not crispy and quite dry.  As much as there was plenty of cheese and herbs on top, it didn't season the potaotoes effectively.  Overall, our meal at Lucia was good and we thought the pricing was completely reasonable.  Service was great and we never felt rushed.  Would come back.

The Good:

- Generally tasty food

- Reasonable prices

- Nice vibe

The Bad:

- Those potatoes were not very good

- I didn't think so, but many at the table thought some things were salty 

Bar Corso

A year ago, I had a fantastic meal at Bar Corso that featured small share plates that were well-prepared and relatively reasonably-priced.  We had sat outside on the streetside patio enjoying the nice weather, while people-watching and having good conversations.  I had planned to come back but things were rather busy in the past year for me, so it got lost in the shuffle.  Ironically, Jackie and I were invited to try their Tasting Menu where I was able to return and do something different.  

For $65.00, we were served 5 courses starting with some antipasti in form of Sottacetti featuring various pickles.  These were crunchy and tangy with the celery being our favourite.  The beets were good too.  The side of Focaccia Bread was a bit too dense for our liking though.  In the past, I've only had Bagna Cauda as a dip with crudités, but this version, the radishes were already tossed in the anchovy, garlic and olive oil dip.  It was tasty with a briny creaminess that complimented the fresh and crunchy radishes.  Crunchy garlic chips on top added extra aroma.

The anitpasti didn't stop there as we had 2 more items including the Albacore Tuna Crudo and the Marinated Zucchini.  We found the crudo to be fresh and bright.  I personally would've loved more acidity, but it was sufficient in this case.  The spiced tomato gel added a muted kick that was needed.  Crunch from the puffed risotto was the textural contrast that was the cherry on top.  As for the zucchini, the tender ribbons were fresh. The aromatics of the saffron dressing was in the background while the stringiness of the stracciatella added creaminess.  Some light crunch was provided by the fried zucchini blossoms on top.

Onto the Primo course, we were served the Escarole.  This consisted of sautéed Bitter Farm greens that was nicely tempered by a roasted peach and burrata sauce.  The sweetness of the peach (elevated by being roasted) and the creaminess of the cheese was the prominent flavour profile of the dish.  There was some crunch from the escarole while the pine nuts provided a different crunch to the dish.  Lastly, some black olive added some briny saltiness.

 

Our favourite course happened to be the Agnolotti filled with taleggio.  I found the pasta to be just the right thickness where it held everything together but was still delicate with an al dente chew.  What really made this dish was the toasted kelp and marsala buerre blanc.  With just a hint of sweetness to go with the nutty and umaminess of the kelp, the sauce was rather addictive.  It wasn't too heavy despite the butter, so we could eat lots of this.  Too bad it wasn't a big portion.

 

After a considerable wait (but was forgivable since it was a Friday night), we were served the Galantina.  This consisted of a roasted guinea fowl ballotine topped with turnip greens, shaved black truffle.  It sat atop caramelized turnip puree with preserved lemon and pistachio.  The ballotine itself was a touch dense, but the meat was still juicy.  Loved the combination of flavours as we had earthy, salty, nutty and bitterness.  This helped add some literal meat to a mostly vegetable-forward menu.

 

At the end, we were served the Semifreddo asll'Olio d'Oliva.  Really enjoyed this as the semifreddo was exactly that, semi-frozen.  Hence it had a soft texture, but not melted.  A bit creamy and just sweet enough.  The sea buckthorne glaze was tangy and provided a contrast to the sweetness.  Overall, we thought the food at Bar Corso was thoughtful and carefully-prepared.  It was as good as I had remembered and the pricing for the tasting menu is reasonable.

*All food was complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Classy food

- Well-prepared

- Tasting menu is well-priced

The Bad:

- Being a veggie-forward menu, it may not be that filling for bigger appetites

Jimoco Café & Pasta

Wow, this is a ol' favourite on Austin in Coquitlam...  Jimoco opened shortly after I started this blog over 16 years ago.  This Korean-run pasta joint was famous for its 2-for-1 grand opening special that lasted what seemed like forever.  Now the menu has expanded and although the 2-for-1 is long gone, their dishes are still reasonably-priced.  I've been here countless times over the years and the food is great for what it is, especially for dining in.   It was a life-saver when the kids were younger as we would eat here economically while still having a good time.  Jackie and I dropped by recently and it was great to visit an ol' friend.

We started off with the Calamari which was served with a spicy tomato dip as well as a sour cream sauce.  Crispy and fairly light, the batter was mildly seasoned.  Inside, the squid rings and tentacles were bite size and sufficiently tender.  There was an appealing chew to them.  We also had the Meatballs sitting in a bright tomato sauce.  Although small, the meatballs were almost juicy inside with a tender meatiness.  A light oven-roasted sear on the outside was a bit crispy and aromatic.

We somewhat made a custom dish by taking the Linguine Soul and adding a Chicken Parmigiana to it.  This was a fairly spicy pasta that had lingering effects without being painful.  Beyond that, the sauce itself was tangy with some sweetness.  Despite sitting in all that sauce, the linguine itself was al dente while the brininess of the ample seafood came through.  The mussels and clams were both buttery and plump with all of them open.  The piece of chicken parm was quite thin where the meat was also firm but not dry.

We had 2 dishes that were nearly identical except one was the Rose Seafood and the other was the Seafood Rose Tteokbokki.  The biggest difference except for the carb involved was the addition of fish cake and the spice level in the Rose Tteokbokki.  Otherwise, both sauces were creamy and mildly tart.  Once again, the seafood brininess was there, but not overwhelmingly so.  The pasta was al dente while the rice cakes were chewy, yet soft at the same time.

For me, whenever I see Linguine Vongole on the menu, I must have it!  Despite almost everything we had was seafood related, I just couldn't help myself.  Good call on my part though as this was good.  Once again, the pasta was firmly al dente while sitting in minimal moisture.  Despite that, the dish did not eat dry and yes, the clams were abundant here.  Good clam flavour while the pasta itself was mild-tasting with just enough seasoning.

One of the more striking dishes was the Squid Ink Cream.  Yes, the sauce was black thanks to the squid ink, but if one closed their eyes, they wouldn't even know it.  For me, it tasted creamy and rich.  There has only been a handful of times I have actually tasted the squid ink in my pasta (it has the slightest seafoodiness and earthiness).  Once again, there was ample seafood that provided a taste of the sea.  The pasta was once again al dente.

So our one non-seafood pasta was the Beef Soy.  A bit similar to the Japanese Butter Soy, this was much sweeter and more saucy.  Lots of meat juices from the sliced beef meant this was full of umami and depth.  The umami was further reinforced by the addition of mushrooms.  By the same token, the sweetness was layered since we also had sauteed onions as well.  Pasta was al dente despite the moisture and the beef was easy to chew.

Even though there is a certain Korean influence at Jimoco, I'm not entirely sure that they serve "Korean-style" pizza.  It is true the crust was a bit thicker and there was a good amount of cheese, but the Pepperoni Pizza we had was pretty much a standard North American-style pizza.  The crust itself was crunchy and chewy while the centre was a bit soggy due to the generous amount of sauce, cheese and pepperoni.  Other than that, it was non-offensive and did the trick.

Onto the desserts, we had 3 of them including the Chestnut Tiramisu, Affogato and Basque Cheesecake.  I enjoyed the flavour of the tiramisu as it was lightly sweet and had nice aroma, but the chestnut was rather dense (as it usually is).  The Affogato was pretty creamy from the hard ice cream.  However, the coffee was strong enough to balance that sweetness.  As for the Basque Cheesecake, the texture on the top, bottom and edge was silky but firm.  In the centre, it was softer and almost a bit jiggly.  It was very subtle in flavour and maybe needed just a bit more sugar.  Overall, the food at Jimoco is exactly how I remembered it - solid and especially good for the price.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post* 

The Good:
- Solid Korean-style pasta
- Reasonably-priced (nothing over $20.00)
- Decent portion size

The Bad:
- Pizza a bit soggy in the middle
- Parking in front is hard to come by