Dinner & A Movie

Seeing as it was the long weekend and that my girlfriend and I finally had a day off together, we figured we'd go out. Considering that we're new to town, every restaurant is a new discovery. For this reason, we started our mapping of Moncton's food route at Pastalli's Italian Cuccina which I'd seen reviewed by The Two Fat Guys in the newspaper recently. Though I also found the "grill your own garlic bread" station fun, the prices very reasonable and the decor to rival any first class restaurant, my review isn't as raving as theirs.

For an antipasti I chose to go with the Boconcchini & Tomato Salad which was what you would expect if to be. The slices of tomatoes and boconcchini were very lightly drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette and drenched in tasteless olive oil as were the few greens which accompanied the salad. Though the boconcchini was creamy and fresh, I think it should have been left alone with the tomato, alot less olive oil (or at least better olive oil) and more balsamic vinaigrette. I give this dish a 7.

For a main course, I eventually opted for the Stuffed Chicken Marsala. The menu announced the following: charbroiled chicken breast filled with Italian cheese and sun dried tomatoes, topped with grilled mushroom (1/2 a button mushroom to be precise) and creamy Marsala sauce served with wild mushroom risotto. Also on my plate was a small sweet salad of greens, shredded carrots and tomatoes. The Marsala sauce was very delicious with the chicken but the whole serving couldn’t be eaten by anyone over the age of 8 without finding the chicken way too sweet. The risotto and salad did help to cut a bit of the sweetness but by the end of the plate I was left slightly above the level of moderately impressed. For a dish a bit too sweet for my taste, I also give the stuffed chicken marsala a 7.

Finally, the desert course. We ordered the Irish cheese cake and Nutcraker square. To make the cheese cake Irish, they simply added Bailey's Irish Cream. Though the taste was alright, the cheese cake was more of a butter cake as far as texture goes. The nutcraker on the other hand was a delicious stack of hazlenut crispy crust and chocolate/nut mousse...very good.

Though I've been harsh on Pastalli's, it's only because they're my future competition. It's nice to know that the competition isn't that intimidating. And Pastalli's is everything you would expect an Itialian restaurant to be. It's decor says high end, it's prices say reasonable, it's food says midway. I might return but I was definitely not blown away. Pastalli gets a 6.

After Pastalli's we went to see the ever so popular Ratatouille. What I especially enjoyed about the film were the details. For example you'll see scratch marks on the copper pots...and that's just one of the amazing details.

The story was also fun. Though I'm not sure if the movie was made for adults or children, Ratatouille is definitely worth seeing especially if you enjoy everything food. And just one last thing, I'd love to have Remy's sense of palette and senses. I guess that also means I wish I was a rat...