Assaggio Ristorante

Friday Night @8:30p.m., 10 persons, male/female ratio of 50/50, came to this place for our first Winterlicious dinner of this year. Assaggio was very easy to spot. If you are from the north, drive south on Yonge, go pass Lawrence and before you reach Eglinton, it will be on your left side. We parked on the street before we saw “Complimentary Parking Available” board outside the restaurant.

Assaggio Ristorante 1
Our table is a big round one, which I find quite unusal for a western restaurant… maybe they just had to do a special set-up for us. (That also explains why you can only get very early or very late time slot if you try to reserve a Winterlicious for a huge group) Once everyone settled, each of us was given a larger-than-letter-size Winterlicious Menu. Nothing fancy. The menu items were as expected, same as the ones posted online. Here comes the breads, nothing special… but we all enjoyed it since we were so hungry by that time… some of us got off work at 5 and had to wait over 3 hours for this dinner.

One of the reasons why we chose this restaurants was its menu… 6 appetizers, 6 entrees, plus 4 types of dessert to choose from. I think it’s among one of the few restaurants that offer such a wide selection, which is really good for a big group like us. The appetizer selections of the night were very diversed.

Assaggio Ristorante 5Assaggio Salad
red & yellow peppers, sliced egg, mini white potato & romaine hearts,tossed in a Champagne & Dijon vinaigrette – didn’t get to taste it, but it looks just like any other salad to me…

Assaggio Ristorante 4Daily Soup – looks like minestrone

Assaggio Ristorante 2
Marinated Seafood Salad
Shrimp, Calamari & Octopus marinated in a lemon olive oil, served over fresh greens – I was gonna order this, but I ended up ordering the Crab Cake. Had a bit of this seafood salad, it was so-so.

Assaggio Ristorante 6Eggplant Involtini
stuffed with Asiago cheese, spinach & Portobello mushrooms, finished with tomato bechamel sauce

Assaggio Ristorante 7Duck Blini
Fluffy pancake topped with Duck Confit & a spicy mango salsa

Assaggio Ristorante 3
Here’s my Crab Cake
Snow Crab Cakes served with Rhubarb Compote – it was COLD!!! but my friend said the one he had was warm. Taste pretty good though.

Here’re the entrees we ordered… obviously our picks weren’t as diversed as the appetizers. (Coz no one wanted to take the risk :P) The waiter recommended the beef and the lamb, but I ordered my fish anywayz.
Assaggio Ristorante 8
Alaskan Rock Sole Fillet
stuffed with Scallops finished with roasted red pepper cream sauce – the first bite was delicious. The taste was very rich… but after I finished the first piece, I kinda found it too rich

Assaggio Ristorante 9Alberta Beef Short Ribs
with Gorgonzola mash, finished with wild mushroom demi glaze – looks like the portion is quite big!

Assaggio Ristorante 10
Braised Ontario Lamb Shank
with Gorgonzola mash & rich lamb jus reduction – Had a bit of that and I like it. The portion is actually quite small after you take away the bone. It was quite tender.

So far, the appetizers and entrees haven’t made a strong impression. Let’s take a look at the desserts.
Assaggio Ristorante 11French Vanilla Ice Cream Crepe with a raspberry coulis – looks like two pieces of banana ^^. The ice cream melted quickly in the mouth, very soft. I like it.

Assaggio Ristorante 12
Rhubarb & Strawberry Crumble with French Vanilla Ice Cream – according to my friend, it tasted a bit too sour. Ice cream was good, but a bit too small of a scoop.

Assaggio Ristorante 13Cassata Siciliana
Raspberry & Pistachio ice cream with vanilla sponge cake & candied fruit

Assaggio Ristorante 14
Finally, my Molten Chocolate Cake. Nice and warm… but I think the one I had last time at Oliver Bonacini was better.

Assaggio Ristorante 15 CLOSE-UP
Look at the melted chocolate inside!!! YUMMMMM

The overall experience was ok. The food was so-so; nothing really stood out. Price: (no wine) after tax and 15% gratuity came to $47/person.

Winterlicious Menu

$35 Dinner
plus taxes and gratuity

Daily Soup
ask your server for today’s choice
or
Assaggio Salad
red & yellow peppers, sliced egg, mini white potato & romaine hearts,tossed in a Champagne & Dijon vinaigrette
or
Eggplant Involtini
stuffed with Asiago cheese, spinach & Portobello mushrooms, finished with tomato bechamel sauce
or
Marinated Seafood Salad
Shrimp, Calamari & Octopus marinated in a lemon olive oil, served over fresh greens
or
Crab Cakes
Snow Crab Cakes served with Rhubarb Compote
or
Duck Blini
Fluffy pancake topped with Duck Confit & a spicy mango salsa

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Braised Ontario Lamb Shank
with Gorgonzola mash & rich lamb jus reduction
or
Roasted Cornish Hen
stuffed with a wild rice pilaf, artichoke & Romano cheese, finished with Barolo wine reduction
or
Alaskan Rock Sole Fillet
stuffed with Scallops finished with roasted red pepper cream sauce
or
Alberta Beef Short Ribs
with Gorgonzola mash, finished with wild mushroom demi glaze
or
Linguine alla Marinara
Tiger Shrimps, Sea Scallops, & Calamari tossed fresh tomato basil sauce
or
Spinach Gnocchi
tossed in a Gorgonzola cream sauce, with butternut squash, sweet peas & red peppers

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Rhubarb & Strawberry Crumble with French Vanilla Ice Cream
or
Cassata Siciliana
Raspberry & Pistachio ice cream with vanilla sponge cake & candied fruit
or
Molten Chocolate Cake with Creme Anglaise
or
French Vanilla Ice Cream Crepe with a raspberry coulis

FYI: Assaggio Ristorante
2711 Yonge Street
416-484-1717

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