There is nothing like figthing the Forces of Evil in a by-election. So I’m told anyway.
And of course, you are then forced to eat out, or order in. At any rate, not much time (or available equipment) for cooking.
The four of us ended up in a lovely Italian establishment in the heart of Old St-Lambert, Trattoria La Terrazza & Casa da Carlo.
It was a very nice day, so we decided to eat at the nice terrazza. Mind you, it is equipped with heaters, so that might not have mattered. It was also very quiet – only another table was occupied, but we thought that it was because it was Monday and a bit early for lunch. But it basicaly remained very quiet all the way through, which made for great service from out two italian waiters.
Three of us decided to go for a table d’hôte – and we chose the meat ravioli with black olives and capres. Patrick decided to be disting that day, and opted for the lasagna.
Nice bread rolls were served while we were waiting for our appetizers. Nicely warm, with a few different variety, they went quickly. We also enjoyed a fresh Birra Moretti, – which is now apparently owned by Heineken – a light and bubbly italian beer, with a light hoppy taste, with some malt in there too. It also has a very nice aroma and is a very refreshing beer, and usually works well with italian food – especially if you go with spicy tomato-based dishes, not so much with creamed-based ones.
ND and Pierre went for the italian salad, I chose the zuppa. It was a cream of carrots, which was not bad but not really surprising or creative.
Our ravioli came: a generous portion of meat stuffed ravioli, topped with a generous arrabiata-type sauce, enhanced with black olives and capres. Our waiter offered some fresh parmesan and generously sprinkled my dish, a little too much even though I asked him to stop. “That is the way to eat the pasta,” he said. Fair enough. The ravioli were well cooked, tender and meaty enough to give the dish some depth – which was needed. The saltiness from the olives and capres was not out of control, but borderline. If the ravioli had been weak in flavour, it would have crossed the line. Which means that either the chef knows what he is doing, or that he was lucky. Somehow, I don’t think it was luck.
We ended the meal with a tiramisu, a fairly solid one too. A nice discovery on the South Shore – and more people should enjoy it at lunch time – I can tell you that much.
