Visiting a recently opened restaurant can be a hit or miss as you never know how prepared they will be. I can tell you up front that I was pleasantly surprised.
It was a friday night and we were looking for a place to have dinner before going to Lula Lounge. We had a few options but I really wanted to try this new Restaurant on Dundas West that I accidentally found a few weeks earlier while they were only opened during the afternoon as a coffee shop.
We had a reservation for 8:30PM and when we got there the place was not yet full. We were quickly greeted by their hostess and within no time we had our waitress explaining to us their menu and specials for that night. As the name says, they had several pasta dishes but don't expect the ordinary. Unusual pasta types and sauces are the norm even though you can find classics such as amatriciana. The menu is small (as it should). It has an appetizer session, a first and a second course sessions. They also had a dessert menu but we were so full by the end of the meal that we could not even try it.
We shared the trio of ceviches (salvadorian, peruvian, and mexican). We loved how fresh the fish was and our favourite was the mexican ceviche. We also shared the arancini with ricotta. The arancini was very good but I felt that it could take a bit more of salt. I really appreciated the size of the arancini as sometimes arancinis can be very big and challenging to eat.
For the main I had the ossobuco ravioli with a cauliflower and cheddar sauce. I was really happy with my main. Delicious!
The selection of the wine was done by one of the owners who is also a sommelier and I was pleased with my two options, the sauvignon blanc and the shiraz.
The service was friendly, attentive, and very knowledgeable of their menu and the wine options. That shows how good of a job the restaurateurs are doing. We told our waitress that we wanted to pace our meal and therefore we ordered one item at time. She was nice enough to bring us some fantastic bread from time to time with sicilian olive oil. We did not feel that we're being rushed at any time. Two thumbs up!
The ambiance is very modern. White walls, red art work, magazines hanged on the wall as a decoration piece. A majestic light fixture anchoring the communal table at the entrance of the restaurant made of silverware is probably the dream of any foodie. For the ones who enjoy working outside of the office, they have several electrical outlets that you can use to power your laptop while having a latte and a scone in the middle of the afternoon.
They had a chef's table that fits up to 16 people and a private dinning room in the basement. Great for hosting your next birthday party.
I recommend Cafe Bar Pasta. It has passed the test. Good food, ambiance, and service. I will come back!
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