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| - Late last week my boyfriend told me that Teatro's opened a new bistro - Cucina, which is accessible via the +15. Today we went there with a friend to have dinner.
Cucina is a quaint restaurant. When you first enter the area the decor is rustic, with a clean display of dried meats behind a glass cabinet and a sandwich menu board in front of the sandwich bar. Further inside the decor becomes more classy with antique looking lights that hang down from the ceiling; there is also a water, milk, and cream tap which served its purpose and was a cute addition. The dim lighting added a more stylish feel. A negative aspect to the restaurant was the disconnecting background music and the floor tiles, which did not fit in with the rest of the decor.
Most people who dined at Cucina wore business casual attire which made the restaurant feel more 'upscale'. Cucina could probably fit groups of 8 people, however I think it comfortably fits groups of 2-4. The seating space inside appears to be a bit tight, people were almost elbow to elbow. Unfortunately this place does not take reservations, so it is probably difficult to dine in larger groups.
The menu items are a bit more pricey than your average Earl's restaurant, but definitely cheaper than Teatro's - money was definitely well spent here. The food dishes may appear to be small, but the portions are more than enough. Our waitress Andrea was very attentive, polite and very helpful in giving us food suggestions. I would definitely say that I had a great experience at this restaurant and that I would recommend it to friends.
Food wise, we ordered the Alberta Rib Eye, the Saltimbocca Pasta Shells and the Manitoba Market Fish for dinner. And for dessert we ordered the Passionfruit Mousse and the Reverse Affogat.
The Alberta Rib Eye (12 ounces) came with crispy potato, pan-roasted brussel sprouts, smoked paprika aioli and topped with caramelized onion-grainy dijon jus. The rib eye was perfectly cooked to medium rare. The meat was tender and juicy. The flavouring was light, but still prominent enough to taste. Additionally, caramelized onions added a hint of sweetness to the flavour. Next, Saltimbocca Pasta Shells were filled with braised short rib, sage, and veal juice. The shells were not over cooked and were perfectly done. The shell kept the meat in place and once in your mouth the stuffed meat just melted. Finally, the Manitoba market fish was the feature fish. It was served with gnocchi and broccolini. The fish was tender and its crispy thin skin added a nice touch to the dish. The Manitoba market fish was lightly flavoured allowing one to taste the flavour of the fish. Overall, these dishes were phenomenal and I like all three of them!!!
Dinner was definitely filling, but of course there is always room for dessert!! The Passionfruit Mousse we ordered was topped with passionfruit jelly and fresh grapes (it said fresh raspberries on the menu...but I guess they didn't have any). The passionfruit flavour is very bold and tart making this a very refreshing dish. I thought this dessert would be too sweet, but the tartness of the passionfruit made it perfect. The Reverse Affogat that we ordered was a house made espresso gelato glazed with warm vanilla bean cream. The espresso was very bold in flavour that just explodes in your mouth. However, this was complemented by the vanilla bean cream which adds a creamy taste to the espresso and tones it down slightly.
Delicious!!
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