Enzo's on 76 - Edmonton, AB

Having resided in the University area for over two years now, I have come to appreciate all the little conveniences of living in one of the most centrally-located and hip neighbourhoods in Edmonton. You can find all sorts of things along Whyte Avenue, whether you're looking for little trinkets, musical instruments, new fad fashions, or just a casual bite to eat (Dadeo's, Kyoto, and Steel Wheels being some of my favourites just around the corner). The one thing that's missing in the area are nice restaurants or bistros that serve finer dining, where you can have a nice little date night in the middle of the week. After all, who really wants to drive down town during rush hour on a Wednesday night?

I was hard at work studying with good friend and our Editor in Chief, Shannon, when we both sank into a distracting state of hunger. After my companion got back from his meeting, we decided to head over to another new restaurant that opened up a short and easy walk from the University area - Enzo's on 76. As we turned the corner of 112th St., we were met with a depressing row of run down medical offices, pharmacies, and local pizzerias. Definitely not the most stylish strip to put a restaurant. As we walked in, however, we were greeted by simple wooden tables with a dark circular counter bar which made for a fairly cosy atmosphere. The walls were lined of pictures of delicious-looking food, pictures of Italy, and other miscellaneous art; while the pictures themselves were nice, the decor was just a tad too much on the busy side for my liking. The restaurant was packed and quite loud, which was only accentuated by how close you were to the next table. The proximity of fellow diners combined with Edmonton-summer sun made for a bit of a sweltering start to our evening.

Shannon and I had already perused the online menu and we settled on the Pescatore to share. My companion, after perusing the menu for a few minutes settled on the Amatriciana. Service was friendly enough, with our waitress always approaching our table with a friendly smile...that is, when she did actually approach. We all collectively agreed that service was a little slow and chaotic at Enzo's: our water took quite a while to come out and at one point, we were given bread with no balsamic/olive oil sauce (but at least with the promise that she would return with it on her next trip). The bread was warm, but nothing special. The balsamic vinegar, on the other had, was quite delightful; it had a nice, rich flavour and strong sweet-balsamic taste without being overly acidic. Definitely one of the better balsamic vinegars I have tasted to date.

Pescatore

The dishes were a little slow to come out and our dining experience was becoming slightly too drawn out for just pasta. The Pescatore ($26) which consisted of king crab, scallop, shrimp, baby clams and fresh mussels was served with your choice of a tomato sauce or a white wine sauce and tossed with linguine. As my companion had ordered the Amatriaciana, which came with a tomato sauce, we opted for the white wine sauce. The linguine was cooked perfectly as were the rest of the elements! The shrimp were large, succulent, and cooked to a perfect tenderness; unfortunately, neither Shannon nor I are shrimp fans so they were likely under appreciated in the dish. The mussels were plump, juicy and held the flavour of the wine sauce quite well. The scallops were a little hit and miss, at least for me; while Shannon had no problems with the scallop, I had one that was particularly dry, flaky, and overcooked (though one miss in ten plus scallops isn't too bad). The clams were small and were a little too shrivelled for my liking; I would have preferred the clams to be cooked and served in shell, though I understand that would make the dish a little on the shell-y side. The real star of the dish, as we collectively agreed, was easily the king crab! The crab was cooked exceptionally well - it was tender, flaky, and held the buttery white wine (it is quite buttery) sauce perfectly. It had to be one of the most well-cooked and tastiest king crabs I have had in a while. The Pescatore was an overall excellent dish and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light, seafood pasta (though be warned that the proportion is huge, and I definitely would not have finished it without Shannon's help).

Amatriciana

The Amatriciana ($15) was composed of spicy capicollo with mushroom and onions in a tomato sauce. The capicollo, which is an Italian cold cut made from dry-cured whole pork shoulder or neck, was sliced into small pieces and tossed into the pasta. While it went well with the pasta, the capicollo did not really have any distinct taste of its own, and definitely lacked any spiciness - at least as far as a I could tell. The mushrooms were tasty and added a nice, more substantial element to the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce was light, flavourful, and actually quite authentic as far as my memories of Italy go. Despite the massive proportion, my companion finished every last noodle with no problem. Overall, a solid - and very authentic - Italian pasta!

Tiramisu

Of course we couldn't leave Enzo's without trying their house made Tiramisu - a dessert we were all looking forward to last time we went to try authentic Italian food at Forza! The Tiramisu came in a small dessert glass and was surprisingly elegant with its simple presentation. (I should mention that we saw both the Affogato and Sobertto el Limone served at other tables and they both looked equally enticing)! The Tiramisu was light, fluffy, and had a strong espresso coffee overtone without being overly sweet or mushy. The strawberry added a nice tartness which complimented the espresso taste quite well as well.

Godfather

Enzo's on 76, like Belgravia, is a new restaurant worthy of a detour despite being in a rather odd and somewhat low key location. It serves true, amazingly authentic Italian pastas and desserts in a cosy environment. The proportions are enormous and the price is more than fair. The service, however, could have been much more attentive and the restaurant - especially when packed - can get quite hot and loud. Though it wouldn't be my first choice for a special date or occasion, such as anniversaries or birthdays, it is an excellent restaurant for casual dates or large food-and-drink get togethers with friends. I would definitely return, especially to try their Bruschetta, selection of paninis, their Vongole pasta, or their other desserts. (I should note that in an all-Italian fashion, we passed a rather Godfather-looking car on the walk home - perfect ending to an excellent meal!)

http://www.enzosedmonton.com/

Top Pick of the Night: Pescatore

Rating:

4/5 Erics