Trattoria

After trying the Spaghetti and Meatballs at Italian Kitchen, we decided to go to the other Italian restaurant owned by the Glowbal group, Trattoria, to compare.  We went on a Tuesday, as all of their pastas are $10 on Tuesday with the exception of the lobster one.  Like all Glowbal groups, the noise level is fairly excessive, but the open kitchen makes up for it.

We started with our usual free teasers:

Kobe Beef Meatballs

These were actually a lot better than the meatballs at both Glowbal and at Italian Kitchen.  The meatballs were really soft and full of flavour.

For our appetizers, we went with:

Panzanella Salad - Tuscan bread, tomatoes, grapes, arugula, burrata, chianti vinaigrette




The Panzanella Salad is one of my favourite things on any Glowbal menu.  The tuscan bread is amazingly good, and the burrata cheese is fresh and delicious.

They were also featuring a polenta poutine, so we decided to try that as well:

Polenta Poutine

I thought this was pretty good.  The burrata cheese and bolognese sauce went really well together and the polenta was crispy.  My girlfriend doesn't like polenta much, so she wasn't as into this dish as I was.

For our mains, she had:

Orecchiette -  fennel sausage, rapini, peperoncino, olive oil





This was awesomely tasty with the lamb sausage and the sauce adding a really nice flavour to the whole thing.

As mentioned before, we wanted to compare the spaghetti and meatballs, so I had:

Spaghetti & Kobe Meatballs - spicy tomato basil sauce, herbed ricotta




While more traditional than Italian Kitchen's version, without the truffle cream sauce this just wasn't as good or unique.  However it was still delicious, and the meatballs were still better than Italian Kitchen's.  Overall, given the price difference (especially on Tuesdays) Trattoria's Spaghetti is a fine replacement for Italian Kitchen's.  It'll save you $14 on Tuesdays, and is nearly as good.

We opted for some dessert, and I really wanted to try their Tiramisu, so:

Tiramisu - chocolate biscotti, fresh berries
coffee bean crème anglaise




This was an excellent Tiramisu.  It reminded me a lot of the one that used to be served at the now defunct DeSalvio's Ristorante on Davie St.  Chocolatey and creamy, it was the perfect end to the meal.

Overall Impressions:  Trattoria is a great alternative to the more expensive Italian Kitchen.  Their pastas and pizzas are nearly as good (and sometimes better), and the price is a bit cheaper.  We have also typically received better service at Trattoria, and generally prefer the look and feel of it.

Trattoria

1850 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver, BC

604.732.1441