Restaurant: Ottavio
Restaurant type: Italian, pasta, pizzeria, gluten-free
Prices: $3-$16 entrées, $10-$29 mains
Date: Wednesday August 15th 2018
Table of: 12
My favorite dishes: the lobster bisque papardelle + the salmon tartare + the Nutella crème brûlée
A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of testing out Ottavio’s new menu items, thanks to Eleven Waves. Ottavio actually has multiple locations across Montreal and the GMA, but we dined at their Greenfield Park location which was perfect for me, as I now live in Longueuil lol. Ottavio is also a bring your own wine restaurant, which, again, I had not realized until I got there. Surprisingly, they also have an entire section of their menu dedicated to gluten-free options, which I think is great, especially for an Italian restaurant. We even got to try some of their gluten-free bread, which was very good (especially considering gluten-free products like bread are often not the best). I found the menu to be quite vast and with a lot of creative offerings, like: baluchon with spicy shrimps, angel hair with brie and smoked duck, linguine with pears & capicollo and veal scallopini in a white wine, cream, goat cheese, nuts and pears sauce.
After browsing through the menu, Alex and I settled for 3 less “exotic” dishes to share:
- the salmon tartare with cream of sesame oil, avocado, cucumbers, coriander and tobiko, served with arugula, figs and a balsamic reduction
- the lobster bisque and shrimps pappardelle
- the veal scallopini with marsala, demi-glace and mushrooms sauce, served with asparagus rolled in prosciutto and linguine Napoletana
I enjoyed everything we ate and found that everything was very tasty. The salmon tartare was prepared with the seasoning I like best (Asian) and with a tad of sriracha added to it was just perfect. The pappardelle dish was delicious and you could really taste the lobster in the bisque. However I would have preferred larger shrimps than those the size of a toonie. The veal scallopini was also very good, but could use some work on the presentation. I know its not a big thing, but the prosciutto wrapped asparagus were excellent.
For dessert, we had the opportunity to try a delicious and decadent selection of Ottavio’s new and classic desserts:
- Ottavio beignets (homemade fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon) served with crème pâtissière
- Nutelle crème brûlée
- Crème brûlée
- Sinfully moist : moist buttery cake covered in a rich marsala caramel sauce and roasted nuts
My personal favorite was the Nutella crème brûlée, which I found was perfectly executed; sweet crust over a creamy and rich filling with a hint of chocolate. Everything else was also very good, depending on how sweet you like your desserts (I found the Sinfully moist a bit too sweet and heavy for my taste). The beignets were nice and light, but I would have preferred a chocolate dipping sauce.
Overall, we spent a great night at Ottavio, filled with good food, ok wine (I had to buy a bottle from the nearby dep lol) and great new people. Although I’m not usually a big fan of chain restaurants, I would go back to Ottavio with a large group of friends or family, as its a BYOW, they accommodate large reservations and they have some great meal choices. Definitely, the lobster bisque papardelle, the salmon tartare and the Nutella crème brûlée were my favorites and I would love to eat them again.
UP NEXT: mon billet sur 30 sous zéro (expérience de crème glacée unique au Quartier DIX30!)
*This restaurant post does not contain my usual restaurant review criteria of restaurants, as this is a sponsored post where I was invited to the restaurant as a guest.
*All photos and comments are mine
