Italian Kitchen

1037 Alberni Street

Vancouver, BC V6E 1A1

Tel: (604) 687-2858‎

Map | Website

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A bustling contemporary Italian restaurant located just a block from Burrard Station has excellent staff and atmosphere. Glasses were always filled, and the hostess offered our group some complimentary bruschetta while we were waiting for a table. This place is packed during dinner times and its highly recommended that you make reservations. The lighting inside was quite dim, so it wasn't easy to take photos of the food.

Bruschetta Sampler $12

chick pea, pesto burrata, tomato basil

This was interesting, to have so many different flavours on the same bread. Personally I liked the tomato basil flavour, but others liked the pesto burrata more. This was pretty yummy, and a very good appetizer to share with others .

Crispy Fried Calamari $11

spicy sicilian tomato sauce

I was not impressed with this, the photo makes the bowl looks smaller than it actually is because the portion size was quite generous. The texture of the squid was quite soft and easy to chew, but the taste was very normal (peppered batter) resembling the deep-fried squid you can order at dimsum. In fact, they tasted so similar that I wouldn't have noticed if they replaced each other, but the price certainly is not the same. The sauce is the only thing that makes them different. (It even looks the same...)

Kobe Meatballs $1 !

We had a coupon that entitled our table to these complimentary kobe meatballs. These were quite tasty, and spicy, but didn't really taste spectacular or anything. The tomato sauce gave it a kick but other than that I did not find these memorable except for their size since each of them were around 2" in diameter.

Hand-Rolled Gnocchi $16

roasted tomato, basil cream

The photo makes the bowl look small when in reality it was quite large. Overall good gnocchi.

Pepperoni Pizza $14

oven dried tomatoes, mozzarella, oregano

This hearty pizza packs a punch in taste. Crust was good and the yellow tomatoes were a nice touch.

Quattro Formaggio "Bianco" Pizza $14

caciocavallo, fontina, asiago, buffalo mozzarella

Yummy yummy yummy! They did not skimp out on the four cheeses as you can see this pizza is loaded! It totally melts in your mouth at each bite and if you like cheese, especially mozzarella, then this pizza is for you! It's just delicious! You must try this!!

Papperdelle Lamb Sausage $16

cabbage, potatoes, peperoncino, olive oil

Pretty good pasta where the lamb doesn't taste too gamey. The potatoes were a surprise since they're not usually found in pasta like this.

Caprese Salad $13

buffalo mozzarella, amorosa tomatoes, basil

I totally did not expect their caprese salad to look like this, with barely any basil. In Italy, all the caprese salads/panini have ample basil with the buffalo mozzarella (bocconcini) in thick circular slices. Here as you can see, the cheese is all mushy and there's barely any greens. With that said, this salad still tasted good but could have been perfect if it had more basil (at the very least have 3 or 4 leaves..) The red and yellow tomatoes were especially yummy, fresh and juicy. The olive oil they used was also exceptionally good too. Overall, I enjoyed eating this but the lack of basil really disappointed me. Otherwise I the taste was good enough to bring me back to my days eating in Italy.

Vanilla Gelato $7

amarena cherries, chocolate biscotti

Doesn't it look pretty? Reasonable portions for delicious gelato! The biscotti was pretty good too.

Tiramisu $7

mascarpone mousse, espresso soaked lady fingers, mocha crème anglaise

Light, fluffy, and soft, this was probably the softest tiramisu I've ever had. The texture is in between that of whipped-cream and mousse. The taste was not too sweet or bitter, making this cake effortless to devour. Yummy yummy!! It's probably one of the best tiramisu I've had in Vancouver.

Others' Input:

Bon Crepe

1238 - 1240 Robson St (Part of Konbiniya, Downtown)

Vancouver, BC V6E 1C1

Map | Website

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This store specializes in Japanese-style crepes with mochi texture. It used to be located inside Parker Place in Richmond, and then moved to downtown Robson street in recent years. It's probably accessible to a wider variety of customers since moving. There is this nice Japanese man who prepares the crepes everyday since each is made-to-order. They recently started selling soft-serve ice cream at about $2 or something per cone. The ice cream tastes different than say Dairy Queen or McDonald's in that it reminds me of marshmallows.

Banana & Chocolate Crepe $3.77

This is safe bet for a crepe, you can't go wrong with banana and chocolate.

Strawberry Shortcake Crepe ~$4

Very light and yummy. There's an actual cake in there with real fresh strawberries! I like their whipped cream, it doesn't melt as easily. Perfect dessert after a meal :) This flavour is actually only available for a limited time.

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Chicco Coffee & Dessert Bar

1504 Robson St (Downtown)

Tel: (604) 633-1286

Map | Website

I like the atmosphere and decor, feels very quaint and homey. All their desserts are around $4 to $7. They also have gelato, coffee, and cake. The cups they use to put the desserts in are handmade and it appears you can buy them here too. I order the Cream Anmitsu the most often. You can get stamp card in which they'll give you stamp every time you order drinks.

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Black Sesame Anmitsu ~ $5

Black Sesame Ice Cream w/ Red Bean Paste Anmitsu

Very yummy! The waffle piece at the top is a nice touch. Black Sesame ice cream is not very common so its nice that they've got it here :) I like the combination of the grass jelly, anmitsu (not very sweet themselves) with the red bean, and ice cream.

Cream Anmitsu ~$6

Delicious mix of sweet flavours make this a yummy treat. The red bean paste with vanilla and green tea ice cream combined with a blob of anmitsu (white mochi) is simply irresistible! There's shortcake at the bottom layer and it adds a whole new dimension to this dessert.

Green Tea Parfait ~$6

This is quite similar to the Cream Anmitsu except for its addition of green tea mousse cake on the top. Yum yum yum!!

Others' Input:

The Cellar Jazz Club

3611 W. Broadway (Kitsilano)

Vancouver, BC V6R 2B8
(604) 738-1959
Website | Map

A small underground club that brings international jazz talent to the people of Vancouver. The door charge for tickets (added to the bill) is $10 per person with an additional minimum charge of $10 for food/drink. The stage inside takes up a whole wall of the place and small tables surround it. It's a very cozy atmosphere! There's a assortment of things on the menu all priced between $7 to $25 for appetizers, entrées, and desserts. We also tried the Yam Frite (fries), which were $11 I think, they tasted weird by themselves, but surprisingly good when dipped into its sauce (mixture of tzatziki sauce with some dill) inside a cucumber yum! Prepare to enjoy some great jazz music and food!

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Chocolate Mousse Cake $11

This is a bit too big for one person to finish but its taste is not over powering. The mousse part is very light, and goes well with the chocolate cake, pomegranate seeds and sauce. Definitely one of the better tasting western cakes I've had because I usually find them too sweet or too rich.

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