1020 Main Street, Vancouver (Chinatown-ish)
I seem to be going on an Italian streak recently! This time around, I went with my friend Elaine (the original foodie friend!) to Campagnolo on Main Street!I heard many great reviews of this place, as well as the full service cocktail lounge right next door called Campagnolo Upstairs, so I thought I would go give it a try! Elaine and I were pretty hungry so we got to Campagnolo pretty early, beating out the dinner rush entirely - as in, the restaurant wasn't busy at all, so we were free to sit pretty much wherever we liked. As we had our dinner, the restaurant started to fill up at about 6:30ish or so. We got there at about 5pm. After a lot of deliberation (the selection was incredible!), we decided to share the Funghi Bianco and the Dungeness Crab Risotto. Both of these dishes were excellent choices by Elaine, and Elaine said it best: "I will forever keep thinking of this pizza!" The Funghi Bianco pizza was a white pizza, with a very light cream sauce and olive oil and topped with very fresh mushrooms. The crust wasn't quite thin crust, but was not as thick as a regular crust, making it very tasty and just the perfect consistency and thickness. There was something about this pizza that was super incredible - the spices? The freshness of the mushrooms? The crust? In all it was one of the best pizzas I have ever had! Similarly, the risotto was a great choice. It tasted amazing - zesty lemon, grilled scallions and the dungeness crab made for an excellent combination. The portion size was okay, though I was hoping for a little more for what we paid ($25). I will have to go and check out the cocktail bar, as well as their other location (Campagnolo Roma) on Hastings Street!
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781 Denman Street, Vancouver (West End)
True to it's name, Nook on Vancouver's West End is a small little Italian restaurant that is cozy and filled with amazing scents. One of the few Italian places that are on my foodie bucket list, Nook offers share plates with authentic Italian flavours. With a brick oven sitting at the back of the restaurant, the drinks and the food at Nook were delicious! Eugenia and I had Bellinis (peach puree and Prosecco) to celebrate her birthday, and then shared a plate of gnocchi (first time for me!) and ricotta pizza, with baby spinach and olives. The dinner that we had was fantastic, and the flavours and service exceeded my expectations as well. I will definitely suggest showing up to dinner a little earlier, just because of how small the restaurant is. After a certain hour, it does get quite crowded and the lineups to get in are quite lengthy. There is a second location on Kitsilano as well, so if you are a fan of Italian food, give Nook a try and remember to get in early! 219 Union Street, Vancouver
As I was walking to The Union with my friend Marinelle, we figured that outside of the obvious reason as to why it was named what it is (The Union is on... Union Street, ironically enough), it could also be named The Union because of the fact that it was a union of many different Southeast Asian dishes. Upon entry into the little restaurant right on the corner of Union and Main, the familiar smells of spices and the minimalist furniture took me in, making me quite excited to try this new restaurant. After ordering (non-alcoholic) drinks, our dishes - Singaporean fried noodles (the daily special) for Marinelle, Indonesian Peanut noodles for me - came quickly after, which was quite impressive. Having never tried Indonesian food before, I had nothing to go by in terms of authenticity. However, the portion was huge - enough for lunch the day after - and quite delicious. I must say that the Singaporean fried noodles were nowhere near what they should be in terms of taste, but it was still a tasty and valiant effort. With quick and friendly service, The Union is definitely great choice for anyone who loves Southeast Asian cuisine and wants to try something new. 322-5300 No. 3 Road, Richmond Ever since my dad started cooking Singaporean food at home, we started to become more culturally aware of this new kind of Chinese food - so new that it needed it's own label for it. Singaporean mixes a fusion of Chinese and Malaysian food in it's cuisine, and in came a series of restaurants that we tried around the city. One of them was Tropika, in Lansdowne center. We tried a variety of ethnic dishes that my dad was a world expert on - different kinds of noodles like fried Hokkien Mee, curry, coconut rice, and satay skewers. There is a lot of vocabulary that even I am not familiar with, so I think I will leave it at the fact that this ethnic dinner was delicious. We also had a wonderful dessert that seems to be quite popular among these kinds of restaurants - friend banana with ice cream. Singaporean food has become one of my favorite cuisines, in part because of its expansive flavor palate as well as how unique everything is. If you are looking for something different from your usual Chinese take out, give Singaporean food a try! Clockwise from top left: coconut rice, beef curry, satay skewers, fried banana, Fried Hokkien Mee
1641 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Located in the Il Mercato mall, this Italian restaurant goes back to basics and creates traditional Italian dishes with a Commercial Drive-Little Italy flavor. The first thing I noticed walking into the restaurant was the stone oven that was behind the bar, where freshly tossed and topped pizzas are baked. The smells of spices and cheese fills the air and I know that I made a wise choice. After finding Lombardo's on a friend's Instagram page, I decided to give it a try. The awning over top of the "patio" of the restaurant and the simple decor made me feel like I was sitting in a pizzeria in the streets of Italy. The food was incredible - definitely any Italian foodie's dream! Elaine and I tried their hand tossed pizza Ai Due Formaggi (with two types of cheese, salami, ham and mushrooms) and the Shells Toscana specialty pasta (Pasta with pesto sauce, sun dried tomatoes and grilled artichokes), and everything was amazing. I don't think I have ever had "real" Italian food aside from frozen pizza from a supermarket, and maybe going to a fancy Italian restaurant here or there. But being a student, the price was not too bad and the food was definitely worth it - so worth it that Elaine and I returned with her family! The second time we tried their two pizzas The Drive and La Giulia, their lasagna and tiramisu. If you love Italian food like I do, then check out Lombardo's - you won't regret it!
If you're on a time limit but you still want to try out their awesome pizza, check out Lombardo's 2 Go, which is located at the front entrance of the Il Mercato mall to take out the same incredible pizza that you can eat while dining in. |
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