After the sketchiest streetcar ride (and getting off 2 stops too early because I misread the numbers on the storefronts), we arrived at Enoteca Sociale.
It's really nice inside - great use of the space because it feels warm and inviting.
The special appetizer of the day was a Charcuterie board ($20)
with mortadella with pistachio, red wine salami with fennel, ice wine chicken liver pate, garlic toast and poached apple with mustard seed.
The poached apple was gross - mustard seeds and apples are not a good combination. It was bitter and pungent and an awful way to eat apples. We weren't impressed at all.
On the other hand, the chicken liver pate was amazing! After a while I totally forgot it was pate because it didn't have the usual meaty taste. It almost felt like a mousse because the ice wine and the pate was really light and airy. The meat selections were also really well done - the mortadella and salami ribbons were fantastic!
Stinging Nettle Mezzaluna, wild leek and pancetta breadcrumbs
When we first read this item on the menu, we were puzzled - stinging nettle mezzaluna? what is that?
The waiter was super helpful in describing the dish as a half moon ravoli with some stinging nettle (wild herb) stuffed inside and topped with wild leeks and breadcrumbs cooked in pancetta fat.
The stinging nettle tasted like spinach when cooked and the whole dish was delicate and earthy. I loved the pancetta breadcrumbs with the pasta - it worked nicely together.
Trecce, pork sausage, charred broccoli & Tomato Peperonata
After eating a ton of Italian food last summer, we figured we would be able to puzzle out any Italian menu (we got really good at words for food in Italian), but we were totally stumped by this menu. We relied on the knowledgeable waiter to figure out this dish too - trecce is a braided pasta (almost similar to fusilli).
The dish was spicy which was definitely not what I expected when I ordered the dish (based on the ingredients in the menu). The trecce was fun and the pork sausage was good with a bit of a slow burn. Eventually, this dish got to spicy for me and I had to trade dishes with my friend.
Sticky toffee pudding, cardamom syrup & vanilla bean ice cream
Quite yummy! Although we could tell it came straight out of the microwave because the dessert was way too hot causing us to almost burn our tongues.
Lemon olive oil cake, rosemary ice cream
This was AMAZING! At first we thought the description wasn't very appealing and that the combination might be really strange - but they actually worked great together! I would totally recommend this dessert - it was unique, different and fresh.
Overall: For all the hype about this place, I guess our expectations were set really high because my friend and I were kind of disappointed with how the meal turned out. We were expecting authentic Italian food (i.e. big portions and simple ingredients), and we were quite surprised by the variety (and confusion) of the menu. Definitely an interesting experience with so many ingredients we never heard of before. The waiters were super knowledgeable and efficient (and we would have never made it through the meal without them).
Website: http://www.sociale.ca/
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