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| - We choose La Veranda Osteria for a be-lated birthday get together. I had eyed this place a few times because of its lovely flower filled front patio. I had also eaten at this restaurant when it was called Cru but had not been back since it became La Veranda.
Came in around 7pm on a Monday night. Restaurant was pretty busy...a good sign. We had made reservations via Open Table but it probably wasn't necessary. We were assigned a table for two inside in the corner that backed onto a circular booth. It was fine but the table beside us remained empty throughout our entire meal so for the sake of personal space, I would have preferred to sit there than to be so close to the booth next to us. It's like being on the TTC, having empty seats all around and the next person who gets on needs to sit immediately right beside you. Grrr.
The menu at Le Veranda is thick...so thick in fact that it comes in a hardcover bound book. There are so many menu choices that I could literally hear Gordon Ramsey screaming on Kitchen Nightmares about the dangers of having of a massive menu. Nevertheless, a few pages of the menu book was dedicated to a gluten-free section, which was fantastic for my friend with a gluten allergy.
We ordered the grilled calamari to start ($12.95), mains - grilled salmon salad (gluten free - $21.95) and tagliatelle ala veranda ($18.95) and a half litre of white wine ($18.95).
The wine list had a few red/white choices with bottles priced between $29-$40 which I thought was quite fair but being that it was a school night, we decided to take it easy and go with the half litre. There was also a secondary wine list on the table that had many selections stroked off using a metallic marker so not sure if that list was the most recent.
Our server was an older gentleman...neither friendly or surly - just present. He brought us over a bread basket that contained 2 white rolls and a whole wheat one, but no gluten-free bread. You would think it would just make sense to bring gluten-free bread for someone that just ordered from the gluten-free menu.
The calamari came next...generous portion of grilled squid topped with rosemary and I think an exotic spice called salt.
Next came the mains. The salmon a top my friend's salad looked like it had been hacked to bits with a knife. It was not in a filet form...just hunks of salmon on top of a bed of spinach (dressing on the side but no other veggies in the salad). My pasta was quite good. The tagliatelle came with pieces of roasted red pepper, asparagus and cherry tomatoes tossed in olive oil and garlic.
We decided to skip on dessert since we were both pretty stuffed. When paying the bill, they put my credit card into one of those machines but the part for tipping was not clear. I hit okay and it processed the final amount and I didn't have a chance to type in the tip so I left cash.
Le Veranda is a decent pasta joint, would have liked service to be a little more lively.
Just a word of warning, the meal lasted close to 2 hrs. There is fine print in the menu that says the pastas can take up to 50 min. to prepare so not a place for those look for a quickie out-the-door meal.
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