Restaurant: Basilico Italian Express
Restaurant type: Italian, pizza, pasta, salads, sandwiches
Prices: $3.50-$11 everything
Date: Saturday September 14th 2019
Table of: 3
My favorite dishes: margherita pizza + Nutella cannoli
Last month, my parents and I had the pleasure of trying the new Basilico Italian Express as their guests! Basilico Italian Express is a nice mix between a “counter” style restaurant (to-go, quick bite, casual environment, limited seating) and a café, located on St-John’s Boulevard in the West Island (in between de Salaberry and Brunswick). On the menu, you’ll find Italian favorites like pizza (both round ones and rectangular ones), pasta(s) of the day, cannoli and more! Here are the dishes we had the pleasure of trying:
- Margherita pizza with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil
- Caprese salad: cherry tomatoes, fior di latte cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, fresh basil
- Pasta salad: cavatelli, pesto, cherry tomatoes, olives
- Lasagna
- Oven-baked carbonara bucatini
- Nutella and ricotta stuffed cannoli with crushed hazelnuts
- Chocolate chip and ricotta stuffed cannoli with crushed pistachios
- Lurisia: chinotto, gazzosa, aranciata rossa & aranciata (chinotto, lemon, blood orange, orange)
We had a really nice lunch at Basilico Italian Express, full of great dishes. I absolutely loved the pizza we had, as the dough was so tasty. I don’t know about you, but I’ve eaten a lot of pizzas in my 27 years and I can’t say that about many of them. The dough reminded me a lot of a fresh and tasty loaf of bread and it was so good, you’ll definitely be eating your crusts. The sauce was great too, as were the toppings. A very classic and simple, yet quality and taste focused pizza. I also really liked the Nutella cannoli and I’m not a big cannoli fan. The shell had that nice crunch to it and the Nutella flavoured ricotta filling was delicious.
We also really enjoyed the Caprese salad, which was as it should be (no lettuce) and nicely prepared and the classic tomato sauce used for the lasagna. I unfortunately don’t like olives so the pasta salad wasn’t for me, but my parents finished it up so they clearly enjoyed it (and I’ve personally never seen my dad eat a pesto pasta salad, so that’s a great sign right there). Unfortunately, the oven-baked carbonara pasta wasn’t for us; we much prefer a “fresh” carbonara that’s nice and saucy.
If you’re in the West Island and like good Italian food, I highly recommend giving Basilico Italian Express a visit! Their pizzas definitely won’t disappoint you! A great place to stop by and enjoy a quick and delicious lunch, or a nice coffee and cannoli mid-afternoon. Basilico Italian Express will also have their liquor license soon, so get ready for some excellent Italian cocktails and 5 à 7’s! I know I’ll be back 🙂
*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
