They say hunger is the best sauce, so take this in the spirit of the famished post-moving day spirit my family and I were in tonight.
We headed over to the Big Ragu because my brother-in-law just moved into the neighbourhood. I was skeptical, due to some previous reviews I read, but we were hungry after lugging boxes and our choices were limited. I have to say I was really impressed.
Cocktails of prosecco, Campari and soda provided a great combo of sweetness and bitterness while still being refreshing. Off to a good start...
The magic mushroom salad was terrific. Mushrooms and goat cheese are nothing new, but these were baked which gave them an intensity of flavour and texture that matched beautifully with the fresh arugula and sweet balsamic reduction/dressing. I also snuck a taste of the rapini starter and it was fantastically smokey and garlicky. Really delicious.
We all ordered pastas and to a one they were satisfying, yummy and certainly not over-cooked. I had a super-garlicked light lemon pasta with spinach and capers. The salty capers blended really well with generous shaves of slightly sweet grana padano cheese. Tomatoey penne and rich mushroom pappardelle were also hits.
Our server managed the packed restaurant on his own and he was efficient, confident and warm. Generally, things moved slowly (only 2 people staffing the kitchen as far as we could see) and it's a pretty small place, so don't come when you're in a rush.
Vegetarian score = 7/10 (lots of choices, didn't feel discriminated against)