The Good:
- Solid eats
- Friendly people
- Open late
The Bad:
- Don't expect gourmet, but it isn't trying to be either
The Good:
- Solid eats
- Friendly people
- Open late
The Bad:
- Don't expect gourmet, but it isn't trying to be either
If you know me, I really love hidden gems. You know, the restaurants that are tucked away somewhere, offering good food at reasonable prices. Pasta Timo located in Fraser heights in a small strip mall would be considered such a place with affordable pasta dishes as well as a new brunch menu. The place seemed really familiar even though I'd never even heard of it before. Jackie and I were invited to stop by and try the place out, where it suddenly hit me... The place was giving me Jimico vibes! However, at the same time, it is very different as well when look at location, availability of parking and less of a focus on Korean fusion.
Before I talk about the pastas, I'll get to the brunch items first. I wasn't expecting much from the brunch menu, but all things changed when the Dutch Baby arrived at our table. This was quite good where the pancake was crispy and nutty with a fairly fluffy interior. On top, we found sunny side eggs, fresh avocado and crispy lean bacon. Naturally, the runny egg yolks were perfect for dipping the pieces of pancake we ripped off with our hands!
Now here is an interesting blog post. It is about Roseto Bistro located in PoCo. Now that doesn't make it particularly strange or unusual. However, if you tried to search it on Google, it wasn't showing up for the longest time. In fact, you'd find Hearthstone Pizza as a result. You see, the reason for this is that Roseto Bistro replaces Hearthstone Pizza, but still has some of the K-pizza options leftover from the 2nd iteration of Hearthstone Pizza. Okay, if you are confused, I don't blame you. Currently, Roseto Bistro offers up legit Italian eats prepared by a chef who has worked for years in Italy, but also has some Korean influences in the pizza and the pastas. In fact, RoSeTo represents Rome, Seoul and Tokyo. The fusion between all 3 cuisines are evident in the menu.
I think they should add Athens as well since we started with the Calamari Fritti. Sure, this dish can be every bit Italian as it is Greek. However, let's just say there are influences. We found this dish to be prepared quite well with tender pieces of squid that also retained a pleasant chewiness. The light and crispy batter was properly seasoned where the tzatziki on the side wasn't completely necessary. However, for me, I always like to dip my calamari into it. This was a good start to our meal.
Next, we moved onto some pizzas, 2 of which were very similar. What you see in the picture is the Capricciosa. We also had the Proscuitto e Funghi which looked exactly like the Capricciosa except without the salsiccia, bacon and artichoke. Both featured a uniformly crispy crust that was nicely browned, but could've been a bit more charred. The crust was properly seasoned while the tomato sauce was balanced. Good amount of toppings and the proscuitto added salty meatiness. Both featured arugula on top.
Onto the pastas, the fusion aspect of the menu really showed. This was particularly true with the Kimchi Fettuccine with bacon and mushroom. I quite enjoyed the layers of flavours in this dish where the kimchi offered up mild spiciness along with tanginess and sweetness. The addition of cream toned down the spiciness but also made the pasta a bit heavy. The fettuccine itself was house-made and cooked until al dente. The addition of bacon added salty meatiness and the mushrooms added some pops of moisture and woodsiness.
On the topic of mushrooms, we had a new menu item in the Mushroom Pasta. It consisted of firmly al dente spaghetti with a good amount of mushrooms. This had a certain Japanese flair to it with the addition of butter and soy. This was full of umamainess as well as the classic Asian flavour to the pasta. This also sported a good amount of olives and capers which totally amped the overall flavour profile. There was more saltiness (in a good way) and tanginess to provide impact.
For our non-pasta dish, we had the Cotoletta di Maiale. This featured a pork cutlet breaded and fried until super crispy. The meat itself was tender and moist. However, the best part of this dish was the Japanese demi sauce. It was super savoury with sweetness and a touch of tanginess. It was super addictive and honestly, I could put that on anything and it would taste good. This came with some perfectly cooked veggies and nicely seared gnocchi. They were firm, but soft enough to be appealing.
For dessert, we had the Frittelle tossed in sugar. These little donuts were very soft and fluffy while the outside was crispy. They were a touch greasy though. I enjoyed the mild flavours and the slight crunch from the granulated sugar. Overall, the food at Roseto is quite good. The pasta is freshly made and totally legit. The incorporation of Asian influences is seamless and reasonably-priced. Totally loved the pork cutlet where it is a crazy good value at $22.00. If you are needing to eat out as a family in the area and were going to spend chain restaurant money anyways, go check out Roseto Bistro. You will be surprised.
*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*
The Good:Ever since I first visited Nonna's Cucina on Hastings back in 2022, I was hooked onto their made-to-order pastas and sandwiches. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of seating at that spot since it is more of a take out restaurant. However, my prayers have been answered as they have opened up shop on Commercial Drive where Vivace used to be located. Now their menu has been expanded as well as offering cocktails and other bevvies at their bar.
Before we got to the dishes we ordered, they started us off with some Pizza Bread with fresh cheese, basil and tomato sauce. Loved the chewiness of the bread while the crust itself was slightly crunchy and nutty. Well-seasoned and a great appetizer. Onto the actual appies, we had the Tuna Crudo with Limoncello cured albacore tuna, lemon puree, pickled onions, castelvetrano olives, fresh basil, radish, chili threads, pea shoots and micro basil. The tuna itself was bright and lightly sweet while being delicate. The Limoncello was there, but not overwhelming. That allowed the lemon puree to add acidity and freshness. The pickled onions and olives provided some texture, tanginess and saltiness.
Onto another appie, we had the Bomba Chili Prawns. Sometimes, when there is the promise of spice, it is ultimately a fail, but not here. Those perfectly cooked prawns sat in a sauce that was definitely spicy with a combination of calabrian chili, butter, parsley, pizza bianco, olive oil, charred lemon and white wine. This offered up hits of saltiness, tanginess and of course spice. That bread was great for soaking all of this up.
Not looking like much, the gigantic Carbonara Suppli (similar to an arancini) was stuffed with tubettini rather than aborio rice. Hence it was a pasta dish within a fried ball. To make this a carbonara, we had the usual ingredients such as egg yolk, guanciale, pecorino and Parmesan. However, we also had mozzarella inside since it was a Suppli after all! This was quite rich and somewhat creamy with plenty of cheesiness. The pasta was actually still somewhat al dente and the panko crust was crunchy.
Onto the pastas, we took some photos first (of course that is what we do), but we didn't waste too much time and dug into the Mezze Rigatoni featuring meaty Italian sausage. This was was quite good where the pasta tubes were firmly al dente while the braised fennel ragu was aromatic with rich tomato vibes. It was bordering on salty, but hey, we like flavour (rather than being bland!). There was ample sausage that had some spice.
The Spaghetti alla Chitarra was topped with massive meatballs (another $8.00) and bathed in a pomodoro sauce with, basil, olive oil and parmigiano. More tangy than the ragu (because it is a tomato sauce = pomodoro), this was bright and it really benefited from the fresh basil (adding herbaceousness). As for the pasta, it was pretty firm, but that is what we like! The meatballs were meaty with very little filler. So there was no airiness to them. That is what I like more too.
Probably my favourite pasta of the bunch was the Orecchiette Cime di Rapa. This is normally their vegetarian option, but we erased that with the addition of fennel sausage. Loved that sausage as it was tender and flavourful. The pasta itself was also firm (like the others) and had an appealing chewiness to them without being overly heavy. The combo of rapini, garlic, house made Calabrian bomba and pecorino romano gave elements of brightness, spice and saltiness.
My least favourite pasta was the Herb Ricotta Gnocchi, not because it wasn't good per se. I just found it the heaviest of the 4 we had due to the cream. Now if you like pesto cream, then you will probably disagree with me. It did have a nice flavour to it with the pesto coming through. There was some background fennel essence as well as a bit of brightness from the arugula. As for the gnocchi itself, they were somewhere between pillowy soft and firm.
We also had some dishes that were not pasta including the Veal Scallopini Marsala. This was a well-executed dish with tender slices of veal that were lightly floured and seared. The marsala wine sauce with mushrooms was moderately rich with plenty of earthiness. I found that the veal was seasoned enough to stand on its own, so the sauce only added to the layers of flavour.
At first glance, Broli Kitchen appears to be another restaurant in a strip mall in Richmond. However, there is more than meets the eye here (and I'm not talking about Transformers either...). The cuisine is a mix of traditional French, Italian and West Coast fused with Asian influences. Now before you begin to prejudge this place, consider the head chef is a Red Seal certified. Chef Zhuang Li has been the sous-chef at the Downtown Sheraton Wall Centre for 10 years and another 5 years of experience in French cuisine. Pretty unexpected at a little non-decript bistro. Jackie, Jacqueline, Andrew and myself were invited to try out some of their newest and most popular items from their menu.
Next, we had the Pan-Seared Scallops with pea puree and crispy prosciutto. This was a well-prepared dish where the scallops were beautifully seared while the middle was slightly rare. Hence, the texture was on point being buttery soft. The scallop itself was properly seasoned while exhibiting a natural sweetness. On top, the crispy prosciutto added crunch and saltiness. Silky smooth and sweet, the pea puree helped bring the saltiness down a notch.
Our last appie was the Truffle Mushroom Risotto Ball (aka Arancini) with a onion tomato sauce. This was a huge portion of 6 large risotto balls that were somewhat crispy. This is because the onion tomato sauce was drizzled atop all of the risotto balls, resulting in them become soft and a bit crumbly. The aborio rice seemed to be fairly al dente, but with all the sauce, it was hard to tell. Loved the sauce as it was sweet and tangy. Maybe they should either put it on the side or plate the balls atop the sauce on the plate.
Maybe the most interesting and delicious thing we had was the Durian Pizza. Yah, this could be pretty polarizing due to the main ingredient. Durian is extremely pungent and isn't for everyone. However, in my opinion, they did a good job with incorporating it onto a pizza. They used a cream cheese base and combined with the sweet durian and mozzarella, this became reminiscent of a Chinese custard bun, except on a pizza. So this almost ate like a dessert and that was a good thing as the durian was definitely there, but not in a way that was overwhelming. All of the components sat atop a pizza crust that was somewhat similar to Domino's (which is a good thing as well).
Onto the bigger dishes, we had the Confit Duck Leg with rice, veggies and duck sauce. The duck leg meat fell apart easily and was rather tender. It was on the saltier side, but did go well with the rice. With the addition of some Asian spices, the duck had a different flavour than a regular duck confit. Nice twist on this dish to make it unique. There was a bevy of perfectly-cooked asparagus, broccolini, carrots and zucchini. They were vibrant and still had texture.
Classic in its preparation, the Roasted Rack of Lamb was perfectly medium-rare. It was crusted with dijon herb bread crumbs and served with Lyonnaise potatoes, veggies and lamb jus. I was pretty impressed with the lamb as it was slow-roasted which resulted in succulent meat. It was well-seasoned and the jus was meaty enough without being salty. Veggies were great like the previous dish while the potatoes were tender with buttery onions. I would've liked it to be a bit more buttery though.
One of the most surprising dishes was the Bolognese Strozzapreti. It was super legit and could be served at an Italian restaurant. The rich bolognese featured a mix of veal, beef and pork that was super tender. There was a nice balance of tomato and creaminess that made this lightly sweet, aromatic and full of umaminess. The choice of pasta was also key to making this a good dish as it captured bits of meat and sauce. It was also al dente, yet not in an overly firm manner.
We had two of their fish dishes staring with the Ginger Miso Glazed Salmon. Presented as a fairly large piece of salmon, this was a good portion of food. Although the salmon was a bit over, it was still moist and not dry at all. I found the salmon to be mildly-seasoned with some ginger flavour and miso saltiness. Underneath, the miso cream sauce was really good with depth and a balanced flavour. It was a nice compliment to the fish and also added extra moisture.
The other fish dish was the Pan-Seared Ling Cod with potato, seasonal veg and tomato pepper sauce. This was another large portion that was also prepared properly. The fish had a slightly crispy sear while the meat was flaky and moist. Being ling cod, it had a slightly firmer texture but it was still tender. I found it be well-seasoned and really didn't need the sauce. Although the tomato pepper sauce was pleasant enough, a lobster bisque sauce or dashi would've been a better match for the whitefish.
Onto dessert, we had the Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream. We really appreciated that they prepared this from scratch and baked-to-order. Many other places unfortunately use a microwave! This was more like a chocolate souffle than a basic lava cake. It was light and fluffy with a crispy exterior. Inside, the molten centre was silky and purposefully sweet. It was gave even more souffle vibes as it had the sauce built into it (rather than poured into it).
Lastly, we had the Caramel Macchiato Pot de Crème with pecan graham crumble and fresh whipped cream. It was rich and creamy with smoky caramel notes intermittently interrupted by coffee. The crumble on top added a nice crunch. I quite enjoyed this dessert. In fact, I enjoyed the meal as a whole. Lots of highlights including the lamb, scallop, durian pizza and pasta. Portions were large and proteins were mostly on point. Flavours were textbook and although the prices are necessarily cheap, the value is there due to the generous size of the proteins and the general execution.
*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*
The Good: