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| - This place is the real deal. An eye-talian eatery with a NYC aesthetic in an old-school Toronto neighbourhood. I got to sample A LOT of their menu with some wide-eyed foodies last week. Had I eaten even one more bite, authorities would be scraping cheese, sauce and my exploded yelpy innards off their pizza ovens.
Bigabaldi's is walking distance from Glencairn subway station. Like a zebra that owes money to the casa nostra it was black and white and red all over. There are two round tables with tall crimson-topped stools and a street-facing counter with a bit more seating. The floor is a checkboard and white subway tiles covered any surface not painted teal. Very classic looking, but with limited seating you'll probably want your order to go.
Let's talk grub. The owner Rob, started us off with the 'bomba', a fist sized meatball ($4) made of beef and pork that was spiced nicely, wrapped in bread and drizzled with red sauce. Mouth-watering. Next they served up a hero coldcut sandwich the size of a dinner plate and the height of two big macs. It looks like it could feed at least two, which for a $7.50 price tag is a steal. Mortadella, sopressata, proscuitto, ham with mozzarella, sundried tomatoes and mushrooms. I enjoyed this a lot.
Cracking open a Brio, we moved on to the pizza. Their smallest is a twelve inch "medium" ($9.50-$14.50) and it scales up to a two-foot wide party size ($19.50-$28.95), whose box alone is intimidating. I tried two of their signature versions. The Bigga is a meat-lover's dream with pepperoni, bacon, mortadella and sausage. As a mortadella fan, I almost cheered when I saw this come out, but I actually preferred the Baldi. It's roasted garlic, rapini, sausage and goat cheese. I don't know what kind of goat cheese they were using here, but it was fantastic. Be warned, the crust here ISN'T thin; so it'll fill you up quickly.
I only had a few bites of their veal sandwich. It has a ways to go if it wants to best other contenders in Toronto, but it wasn't bad. The pepperoni-filled panzerotto ($6.95) was super cheesy, and goes well with their sauce. Not too oily either. The only thing I didn't care for was the arancini ($2.95) which was a bit gooey for my liking. We topped off the night (as if I needed more) with an experimental panzerotto: banana with nutella and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. I'm sure I don't have to explain how good this was.
It's hard not to like this place. Bigabaldi's does quality offerings at very reasonable prices with super generous portions. I can only complain about is how far it is from my house, but it's better for my waistline that I can't come here every day.
Obligatory Title Pun: BIGA is better!
Menu Readability: They didn't mess around on the graphic design here. It's fabulous.
Need to mention: This was a special event, so all the food and drink was provided for free.
What this place teaches me about myself: If I set my mind to it, I could double my weight in six months.
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