Monday, October 4, 2010

La Terrazza

Sorry for the delay as I had to purchase a new computer since my old one died and unfortunately, a lot of photos were on there too... oh well, time to start again. So I'm in a diet pact with some friends and after three weeks of eating very healthy, we decided to treat ourselves to what we missed most... carbs! We decided to check out La Terrazza given its relatively good reviews and we were craving pasta that was not Anton's... There's parking along Cambie and Pacific and since it's not the main part of downtown, meters aren't bad.

We were greeted and taken through the lounge to their main dining area. It's a very nice and spacious room; they even have an outdoor area. It'd be a perfect place to take a date with the intimate setting, dim lights and the soft classical music playing in the background.

Lumacche ~ $14.88 - sauteed escargots with wild mushroom-filled pasta envelopes. Very good and you can really taste the escargot. The only other place where I've tried escargot was at Les Faux Bourgeois and if I had to recommend between the two, I'd say LT is more authentic although LFB is like $6 cheaper and tastier because of the salt.

Pizzeta de mare ~ $14.88 - flat bread crust with tuna, avocado, and a cilantro aioli. I really liked this dish and wished there was more. It was cut into 4 with each piece being about the size of a credit card and a half so while good, a tad pricey. Reminded me of the flat bread at Sciue but softer.

Risotte de mare ~ $21.88 - risotto with tiger prawns, sweet peas and a shellfish broth. It was ok... and I realized three things from this dish: 1) it comes with baby tiger prawns, 2) peas mixed in a pasta (or even a rice) doesn't mesh and 3) I don't like shellfish. This was the only risotto dish so you have to take what can but I think I'd try another dish next time.

Ravioli - ravioli with butternut squash, cheese and truffle oil. It was a dinner special and I can't remember the details but it was more pricier than the other pastas. Portion-wise, it was the smallest of the three but my friend really enjoyed it.

Penne a l'arrabiata ~ $17.88 - pancetta with mushrooms in a spicy tomato sauce. It was alright although the sauce had a much stronger kick than I had originally anticipated.

Torta d'amore - I forgot the dessert prices but I believe each was around $8 or so. This is essentially molten lava cake with vanilla bean gelato. It's good but you'd get better value at Joey's which I believe has the best lava cake dessert.

La creazione - white chocolate cheesecake wrapped in a pastry shell with sour cherries. I liked this one more than the other dessert.

Overall rating: 7/10 - the decor and atmosphere were incredible and that was probably the best part of the restaurant for me. For an Italian restaurant, their pasta selection was limited so that was a little disappointing. Personally, I enjoyed the appetizers more than the entrees but I would definitely be willing to go back and try out different dishes.




La Terrazza
1088 Cambie Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 6J5
Tel: 604-899-4449