Awhile back, Mijune and I were invited to try out a new Italian restaurant on 4th Ave. The BiBo is the brainchild of Carlo Lorenzo Bottazzi and Andrea Bini who traveled to Vancouver from Italy attempting to extol the virtues of an authentic Italian gastronomical experience. We never made it out to their initial invite due to the Foodie Feast. Finally, with a break in our schedules, Mijune and I shoehorned this dinner between Bake for the Quake and blogging. In fact, we were late for our reservation since there was a 45 minute wait to get into Bake for the Quake. Kudos to Melody and Joy for organizing such
a successful fundraiser. On a side note, it appears that Mijune has replaced Kim as my partner in eating. Seems like a good trade for me, Mijune is a whole lot better looking!
When we finally did arrive at The BiBo, Andrea spent some time chatting with us. Boy, he is Italian alright. From his passion about food to his wonderful Italian accent. In fact, he chose this location for its existing wood-burning brick oven. Ah yes, no wonder the place seemed familiar to me. Originally, this location was Portobello back in the 80's and early 90's. Then it became an
Indian restaurant and now it has become The BiBo. As Mijune and I settled in with some beverages, we were presented with an
Antipasto Platter to start. The platter consisted of 3 cheeses (Fontina, Tallegio and Pecorino) as well as 3 meats (Prosciutto Cotto, Prosciutto Crudo and Ham(?)). Completing the platter was olives, pickled pearl onions and house-made focaccia. With any meat and cheese platter, the quality of the ingredients are what make or break it. So, not to sound uninteresting, the platter was good. However, the one variable was the focaccia. Essentially the same as the pizza crust except with nothing more than rosemary
and olive oil, the focaccia was pretty good. I thought the dough was seasoned properly while Mijune thought it need a bit more salt. The bread itself was chewy and slightly crisp. It made us feel excited to try the pizzas later.
Next, we were presented with a plate consisting of 3 pastas. We started with the
Rigatoni Alla Norma. Hands down this was the best of the 3. The combination of grilled eggplant, tomato, basil and salt ricotta cheese was truly a flavour explosion as the menu states. At first, there was a hit of tang and slight sweetness ending off with a
salty kick. With this flavourful sauce caressing the really al dente pasta, we would order this again.
Onto the
Pesto Gnocchi, it had a pleasing green hue that screamed out fresh. One bite into the soft gnocchi and it wasn't as flavourful as it appeared. At first I thought the gnocchi was too soft; but as I waited for it to cool down a bit, it was the texture I personally liked, which is soft while maintaining some form resistance. It was explained to us that the basil is specifically imported from Italy. Hence, I am not sure if it is supposed to be more mild or not. I did get a sense
of the herbiness at the end; yet it was still very understated. Lastly, we tried the
Bibo Matteo which is apparently a close family friend's recipe. It consists of wide pasta bathed in a creamy porcini sauce. Okay, I have to admit the back story gives the pasta an almost mythical quality, however, we both agreed that this was the least favourite of the three. I'm not saying this was bad by any means, it just didn't have the impact we were hoping for. The pasta was past al dente and the mushroom sauce was indeed creamy; yet not particularly Earthy. It has the potential of being a great dish. It just needs a bit more punch.
So we could try as many different types of pizza as possible, they made 2 pizzas divided into quarters. We started with the
Margherita Formula One made with San Marzano tomatoes DOP, buffalo mozzarella and basil. As evidenced in the description, this pizza is serious. From the certified San Marzano tomatoes to the buffalo mozzarella, this is authentic as it gets. In terms of flavour, it was pretty good. Well-balanced and very similar to the one served at
Nicli Antica, down to the charred crust.. However, the one big difference was the centre
of the pizza. It was very soft and limp. We brought this up with Andrea and he acknowledged that and assured us that the pizza is authentic. On the opposite side was the
Pancetta & Gorgonzola. This one was a flavour explosion due to the sharp gorgonzola. That in itself made the pizza sing and was my one of my favourites.
I didn't have the same sentiment for the
Eggplant and Tomato though. Nothing wrong with the eggplant since they do prepare it very well here. It was the tomatoes. They were very bla
nd and didn't provide the tang we were looking for. Not a bad pizza per se, it just didn't interest us much. The last quarter of this pizza was the
Red Onion and Mushroom. Despite the obvious lack of meat that might make me biased towards it from the outset, Mijune echoed the same sentiments about this slice. It was alright; but did not elicit much excitement. This would be okay for someone who likes onions and mushrooms. Now onto the next pizza, the first bite was my favourite. The
Baccone absolutely rocked. The combination of prosciutto, eggplant, spicy salami, provola, tomato and mozzarella was
both well-balanced while providing a multitude of different flavours. I felt the the spicy salami had just enough kick without overwhelming the other components while the marinated eggplant gave a nice tang at the end.
Now, Mijune and I agreed on both the Quatrro Formaggi and Baccone as 2 of the top 3 of the night; however, when it came to the third, we did not agree. I though the
Bresaola was pretty good. A white pie (or without sauce), this consisted of mozzarella, bresaola, arugula and parmasan flakes. I really liked the combination of
flavours with the saltiness of the bresaola, bitterness of the arugula and nuttiness of the parmesan. I guess it also helped that the pizza crust was not as soft since there was no sauce. While this one was not in Mijune's top 3, the
Boscaiola was. A relatively simple pizza consisting of house-made sausage, tomato, mozzarella and mushrooms, it was indeed a good pizza. If we had ranked all the pizzas, I would've put this 4th, so we were
almost on the same wavelength. The star of this pizza was the house-made sausage. I found it not too fatty and very meaty. It was not overseasoned and that in
itself did not overwhelm the other subtle
ingredients.
The slice right next to the Boscaiola was somewhat similar consisting of
Porcini Mushrooms and Sausage. No tomato sauce in this one gave it a slightly different flavour. I found the mushrooms to have a more prominent role, partly due to the type of mushroom as well. Hence, there was an obvious woodsy taste that was slightly bitter as well. Again, the wonderful house-made sausage gave this pizza some body. Without the tomato sauce, it wasn't as good as the
Boscaiola; but it did also mean the pizza wasn't as soft either. As you can plainly guess, I liked the pizzas, especially my top 4; however, the softness of the pizza crust at the centre bothered me a bit. In that respect, I personally like the crust at
Nicli Antica more while I like the topping combinations here at Bibo. Too bad I can't combine the two...
After this carb-fest, I was already throwing in the towel. Mijune, on the other hand, was just revving up for dessert. Predictable. And luck would have it, more carbs for dessert! On the dessert platter, there was the Chocolate Pizza on the outside and the
Sweet Pizzacotto at the
centre. I have to be honest here, I was not a big fan of the pizzacotto. Maybe I was on carb overload? I'm not sure, but I found the layers of pizza dough to be heavy and the layers of sweet custard did not stand up to it. If it were up to me, I would've preferred thinner layers of pizza dough with more custard in between. On the other hand, I liked the
Chocolate Pizza. It reminded me somewhat of a Chinese dessert which has red bean paste encased in dough and pan fried. However, this one was much better since it was sweet chocolate. The dough wasn't too t
hick and the chocolate was silky. Despite being full, I managed to eat a whole slice.
Now you'd think we'd all had enough food right? No, not Mijune. She's an eating machine! She requested to try the
Tiramisu and in the end, it was a great idea. Although not teeming with espresso, the tiramisu was delicious without being too sweet. The custard was creamy while the lady fingers were soaked enough to melt in our mouths. I personally liked the fresh fruit in both desserts since it was refreshing and visually appealing. Okay, lemme put this out there. Ever since The BiB
o opened, there has been plenty of hype. After all, they invited many of Vancouver's food bloggers for a tasting including myself and Mijune. Therefore, the majority of the write-ups you see on Urbanspoon are a result of this. So what's the deal on The BiBo? Exactly what I just wrote. There are some really good ideas and the owners are serious about the ingredients. They go as far as importing specific items from Italy to preserve the authenticity of the food. Now with that being said, there were some things that were better than others. The pastas we did try exhibit potential with the rigatoni impressing while the Matteo being only okay. The pizzas as a whole
have some pretty nice flavour combinations; but the crust itself was a bit soft for me. We thought the Tiramisu was really good as with the Chocolate Pizza. The jury is still out on the Sweet Pizzacotto. Of course we really can't comment about the service since they knew we were there. They were friendly naturally; but they could've checked on us a bit more often. I loved the vibe and decor of the place, it really is lively and the Italian movies playing on the back wall is a neat trick. The bottom line? A decent place that takes its food seriously. Give it some time, there are still some growing pains.
*Note: This was an invited dinner where all food was comped*
The Good:
- Stylish decor with movies playing on the back wall
- Some good flavour combinations for the pizzas
- Lots of choice
The Bad:
- Pizza crust is mostly good except for the soft centre
- Service could be more attentive
Posts
Seeing how we've done almost all the local sushi restaurants near our house, we were reserved to the fact that we'd need to re-visit a place. Originally, we threw around some ideas such as Akira and Sushi Town; however, both did not elicit any enthusiasm from Viv and the kids. Well, the kids don't really care, so I guess that is a moot point. Then I suddenly remembered that there was a fairly new small sushi joint at the Holdom Skytrain station. I did an immediate left turn down Holdem and voila - a new restaurant to visit! Now, if you are familiar with this location, there is actually pay meters! Being Chinese, it is in my M
O to find the free parking spots. It was pretty cold and Viv remarked that we should just pay for parking; but I remained stubborn and parked a block away in the dark. Hey, it's only one block!
biggest of pieces; but nothing was amiss with the fish. We thought the Tai was a bit chewy; however, it is usually like that, so a pretty good start. Next was the Beef Tataki. Thinly sliced and resting on a bed of spring mix, the only flavour that truly stood out was the onion. In fact, there was too much pungency from the onions. On a positive note, the beef was very tender and easy to eat. It was sliced thin and still rare in the middle.
orders of rolls starting with the Sunshine Roll. Consisting of 2 prawn tempura, cucumber, mayo and masago on the inside with smoked salmon and mango on the outside, it was a visually appealing roll. A slight drizzle of mango sauce finished the presentation. This was not bad. The prawn tempura was still crispy and it went well with the sweet mango and savouriness of the smoked salmon. I thought the sushi rice was acceptable while it could've had some more flavour. However, with a price tag of $12.00, I'm not really sure the portion size warranted the cost.
salmon? You be the judge of that. Near the end of the meal, our server presented us with a complimentary small dish of Tako Wasa. For me, I like tako. And it is especially interesting when it is not in the cooked form we usually find it in sashimi and nigiri. Slimy like Ika, while infinitely more crunchy and chewy, I liked this, especially with the heat from the wasabi and tang of the pickles. The food that we had here was generally quite decent and the service was very friendly. However, I could not get over the prices. They are quite high in relation to the portion sizes. But then again, it is in a convenient location at the skytrain station with a high rise attached to it.
