I'm loving the atmosphere in here. Casual Fine Dining, I think they call it. We need more restaurants like this.... that serve more than just Italian Food.
OsteriaCT is in the heart of downtown, just a few steps away from the Core. It's neighbour, La Bettola De Terroni (also own by Terroni et al.) is a bar/loungey feel, with a very similar daily menu and the added bonus of pizzas.
Thursday night at OsteriaCT was bustling. The menu has variety and well priced (except some tricky math...), except a bit confusing (as was the bill later).
It says (per person):
5 Antipasti ($15)
5 Antipasti + Primo ($23)
5 Antipasti + Secondi ($28)
5 Antipasti + Primo + Secondi ($35)
In the menu, you will see:
- the Antipasti for the day. There are no prices. You get all or you get none.
- Primos (Pastas) for ($15, except one for $12)
- Secondis (Main Dishes, meats and such) for ($15)
There are also specials for $22/$28 on the wall, that include the 5 Antipasti
If you break this all down, essentially your best deal is the last Full combo, getting the Antipasti + a Beet Salad for free.
If you're getting Primo, you're paying an extra $8 (instead of $15)
If you're getting Secondi, you're paying and extra $9
If you're getting both, you're paying an extra $5
At first I was annoyed by the math in all this, and we decided to be cheap and order only 3 combos for the table, and share the Antipastis.
I take this back after they came, because they were quite yummy. I might even say better than my Primo. Well worth the extra $8. And you won't want to share.
I also feared the portions will be tiny, especially since I"ve been to other restaurants and they take the Primo part of it seriously. I was pleasantly surprised when it was somewhere in between, and because it was pasta, quite filling.
I would recommend getting a Secondi, only if you're planning on sharing with one or two other people. You want room for dessert!
Our server was okay. She wasn't super friendly, and I felt she was a little cold and condescending, but it wasn't anything either way. She spoke fast, explaining to us how the menu worked, and when taking our order, assumed everyone will get getting the Antipasti.
I got the Orecchiette with Rapini, Anchovies, Chilli + Garlic. Since on the menu they had a Spelt Orecchiette for another dish, I asked if I can substitute. I was given a blunt "No" and an annoyed look. I gave an equally annoyed look back when I realized that these dishes are either premixed (unlikely) or made in huge batches (more likely, but why not just do another pasta? I'd pay extra). It was an instant minus-one-star moment for me.
My pasta was yummy, but some of the pieces slightly too al dente. My boyfriend's Gnocchi in Lamb Ragu was over powered in Cheese flavour, less of the Lamb. Good, but disappointing. Maybe it was the Bread Gnocchi instead of the potato.
My cousin ordered the full deal and we got to try the Mung Fish... or wait, was it Munk Fish? (probably) Sitting on top of fennel and olives, and hidden under a pile of shave onion that looks like bonito flakes, were 2 small pieces. Flavourful for sure, but a small ratio between fish and the rest..
For dessert we shared the decadent flourless chocolate cake $9) covered with zabaione (which I learnt is egg yolk+sugar). It's made "especially for you", says the menu - as opposed to everything else....
The olive oil sponge cake was something different ($8) with white chocolate butter cream. We found the butter cream a bit too artificial tasting, but the cake itself was moist and sweet.
Perhaps I haven't had Italian food in a long time, and although it used to be my favourite, I've come to realize that ingredients are really basic, but methods and techniques are something to appreciate.
The pastas shouldn't cost more than $15 a person, and that's what they do here.
With no wine, and dessert it came to about $30-35 per person including taxes and tip.
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Overall, 4 stars for food taste, prices and quality. Minus one star for the bumps along the way.
I recommend the place for groups or a casual meal after work.
note: they change their menu everyday, however, I'm looking at it now at the menu dated for March 17th and it does look really similar to last night (March 24th)with a few exceptions. I'm just saying.