Sunday, May 6, 2007

Cafe Cinquecento - 791 King Street West

Graham: Just east of the intersection of King and Niagara, two doors down from the The Foggy Dew Irish Pub, there lies a small, easy to miss restaurant named Cafe Cinquecento.


Liz and I drive past this restaurant every day on our way in to work, and we've been looking forward to trying it for some time now. Yesterday we finally got our chance to dine at Cinquecento with some of our friends. We invited our two favourite couples to join us: Mira & Djula, and Ana & Milan.


We arrived around 2:30pm, and the place was pretty deserted. The patio out front looked very inviting, but unfortunately it was a bit too cold to sit outside in the shade.

Inside, the atmosphere is very warm and comforting. There is a bar in the main room with a very large cappuccino machine, and only has one beer on tab (Stella).


At the back of the restaurant there is a large chalkboard displaying the day's specials above a window to the open kitchen.


After ordering, the waitress brought out sliced Italian bread with oil and balsamic vinegar dip, which we promptly devoured. She brought a second round, which disappeared just as quickly.

Some excited talking and waiving arms caused a bit of an accident. No problem, waitress helped clean it up in seconds.


Ana ordered the Calamari Alla Positano, which is squid in a jalapeno tomato sauce.


We all sampled the squid, which was good, but possibly a bit overcooked (it was a bit rubbery). The sauce was very tasty. Mira favored this meal.

Liz: I found it a bit too spicy for me. The squid was a bit rubbery. If you're in a mood for a spicy seafood meal that's light, this might be good choice.

In my opinion the best squid we had so far was at The Bungalow Cafe.


For my meal, I chose the Saltimbocca Di Vitello: Veal Scaloppini with prosciutto and sage. It was served with a side of vegetables, carrots, potatoes, and some unidentified green vegetable that was not spinach, but not entirely unlike spinach.


This dish tasted pretty good, but was not great. The layer of prosciutto added a nice bit of saltiness to the veal, and the vegetables were tasty, although I didn't care much for the mysterious green thing. Overall, the dish was nothing special, and yet it was the most expensive of all the meals ordered.

Elizabeth chose the special: Spaghetti with fresh clams in white wine sauce.


Liz: Out of all the meals we ordered at Cinquecento, this one was my favorite. I've been trying to find a pasta dish that's not covered in a creamy sauce but has a bit of cheesy flavour to it. I had a dish like this at Mike Ditka's Restaurant in Chicago and have been craving it since. This meal came pretty close to what I was expecting. The spaghetti were al dente and tossed in olive oil. There was white wine sauce at the bottom of the plate and i was able to dip pasta into it. This was much better than to have the pasta soaked with oily sauce. I enjoyed my meal and would order it again.

Milan chose the Funghi Pizza.


The thin crust was topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and mushrooms. The waitress also provided a hot-pepper oil for us to put on the pizza. I sampled this pizza, and really liked it, despite the fact that I am not the biggest fan of mushrooms. I thought the oil was a perfect compliment to the flavour of the sauce.

Mira ordered one of the lunch specials on the menu, the Cinquecento Panini with minestrone soup.


The panini contained prosciutto, provolone cheese, arugola, and tomato. Mira said she enjoyed the meal. I has a small piece of the sandwich, which like my meal, was good but nothing special.

Djula ordered the Tortellini.


The tortellini was cheese filled, and served in a tomato cream sauce with mushrooms and pancetta. Everyone tried a bit of his meal, and it was the clear favourite of all the dishes. The tomato cream sauce had a very delicious rich flavour. The next time I return to Cafe Cinquento, I will definitely be ordering this as my meal.


Considering the quality of the food, the prices are fairly reasonable. The food total came to eighty dollars, but with drinks, tax, and tip the total was one hundred and twenty dollars, about twenty dollars per person.

Overall, I really enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I pass this restaurant often, and it never seems to be very busy, especially compared to its neighboring restaurant The Foggy Dew. I'm hoping that this place does not close down due to lack of business, because I'm looking forward to returning here.


Summary

Cafe Cinquecento
791 King Street West
(416) 203-9390
Price: 120$ for 6 people
Rating: 4/5