La Bettola Di Terroni

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Nov 8, 2013

Company: Date night with +Will

Will and I decided to go a bit fancy one Friday and have dinner at La Bettola, a nice Italian place just up the street from his. We passed by many times before seeing classy people with their fancy wines and dishes through the windows. I was excited to check it out as Will had gone before and said it had excellent authentic Italian food. We didn't think to make a reservation that night which was probably a poor choice. The hostess that greeted people at the door asked if we wanted to sit at La Bettola or Osteria, which is apparently a different restaurant but they share the same kitchen (and apparently staff). It was a bit confusing when she asked us that but Osteria to the right would have been a 20 minute wait and Bettola to the left only had bar seats open as they had a large reservation at 8PM. We just decided to sit at the bar as we were quite hungry. There were other couples seated at the bar as well but there were also many free tables we could have sat at and been out by 8PM for.  

We were given water by the bartender from jars they have stacks of in the back. Taking a look at the menu, it was very different from what I had seen online. I can understand if the menu items may change but the pricing was very off. After some compromise and figuring out what things were, we decided on 2 starters and 2 mains. We also got some bread to start but I wasn't a fan, it was hard and the outside tasted burnt. The oil they gave for dipping also tasted odd. 

+Will first got the Prosciutto Platter (can't recall the real name) which was very large and consisted of Prosciutto on a bed of arugula with pretzel and bara-like tortilla. I had had prosciutto a few weeks earlier and was turned off of it from the smell so I thought I would only have a bit of his starter, but I actually ate about half of it. The prosciutto was the best I've had, it wasn't too salty and had great texture and freshness. The arugula added a nice flavour to it also. I didn't really enjoy the pretzel things because they were too hard and had strong seed in them I didn't like. The round, soft and fluffy bread thing on the other hand, was great and paired very well with the meat. I got the Leek & Potato Soup to start and that was very delicious as well. It was quite thick and heavy but had good flavour. It maintained a hot temperature through my eating also. 

For my main, I got the Ravioli con Ricotta e Scamorza which consisted of 4 pieces of ravioli stuff with cheese with some tomatoes on the plate. It was a very small portion but at this point I wasn't too upset as I was quite stuffed from the starters. Despite the size of the dish, the ravioli itself was delicious and stuff with lots of cheese. The dough was fresh and had good proportion to the filling. This was the first time I had a dish like this but I'm glad I got to try it. Will got the Pizza topping with Arugala, Mozzarella and Sun-Dried Tomatoes which was a chef special that day. The portion of his pizza was large, even though it was thin crust, it was like the size of a medium pizza. Pizza was definitely the way to go by looking at what others were also ordering. Some people were ordering just a few dishes to share but most ordered a pizza to themselves. The pizza was delicious, it was crispy and had great combination of flavours. The tomato sauce was minimal but was sweet and tangy. The crust was great and a bit over-cooked but I still enjoyed it. We took most of the home and enjoyed it for breakfast the next day.

Overall, I think La Bettola Di Terroni is a nice classy restaurant if you want to splurge for the night. I noticed every woman I saw there was wearing a bold statement necklace and men also were well-dressed. It caters to that type of crowd and I think you should be prepared to spend. I would suggest getting the pizza for sure though, completely worth the money.

Food: 4/5 - Some average dishes but most were spectacular.

Decor: 3.5/5 - Lively atmosphere with modern chic decor and wooden accents, wasn't a fan of the bar seat though.

Service: 3/5 - Not bad at all, pretty quick with dishes.

Willingness to come back: 2/5 - Wouldn't go out of my way to return for a full meal... until I start making a bit more money.

Overall: 3/5

Website: http://labettola.ca/