Uccellino

Adding to Costa’s empire is Uccellino, conveniently located beside sister restaurants Corso 32 and Bar Bricco.

M and T met up with me on a Saturday evening to see if we could wrangle our way to an open table. Half the tables are for walk-ins and we decided 6:30pm wouln’t be that busy, right? Think again. Already full, we headed over to a nearby spot on 104 Street to grab some bites and drinks.

Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long. A text to our phone came 40 minutes later.

Bar area when you first walk in. I swear there’s a certain requirement to work here – hipster and tats. Uccellino is much more spacious compared to its counterparts. The mezzanine can be rented out for parties of 16 but it’s a $65.00 set menu for parties of 8 or more. That also doesn’t include GST or gratuity FYI.

Fancy wines on ice.

Bar sputini menu. Too tide you over if you’re waiting for awhile.

Here’s the regular menu. Fritti, crostini and antipasto to start things off. Looks like some prices have increased since my visit so check their website for that.

Primi and second for your mains.

Formaggi and dolci to finish things off.

Lambrusco
While we were at the bar, M ordered a glass of lambrusco. Think it was pretty normal price – $13.00 for a glass.

Aglianico
Full bodied red wine from Southern Italy. M and T wanted to ball out so we grabbed a fancy bottle of red to share between the three of us. I’m no expert but this was full bodied with musky berry undertones.

I should probably also mention that we got to watch our server struggle to open up the wine bottle. She somehow managed to get the cork jammed and lucky for her, one of her co-workers saved the day and bottle for that matter. When you’re paying $$$ for a bottle, you expect better service than that. Lucky we’re so nice and let it slide.

Green olives
Complimentary to start (you can also find these at Bar Bricco). These were a great snack. I got hints of orange. Crisp, delicious, satisfying bites.

Christopher’s moscardini ($17.00)
Red wine-braised baby octopus with char-grilled ciabatta. Not the most aesthetically pleasing plate but the octopus is nicely seasoned and tender.

Another shot with the ciabatta. That ciabatta is bomb.

Panzanella ($15.00)
Tuscan bread and tomato salad, cucumber, red onion, lemon and olive oil. This was one of the most delicious salad I’ve ever eaten! Seriously, if salads tasted like this, I’d be eating these every meal. Incredibly fresh, addictive and the tuscan bread added a great textural element to the dish. Superb.

Polpette ($17.00)
Tomato-braised pork meatballs with pangrattato and basil. So very tender and moist with a lighter tomato based sauce that didn’t overpower the meatballs.

Farotto ($22.00)
This was their special of the evening. Spelt risotto with morel mushrooms and other foraged goodies. The mushrooms were terrific. Think this might have been my first time having spelt but it had an enjoyable mouth texture, along the same lines as farrow.

Maccheroni ($22.00)
Pig head and prosciutto ragu bianco and parmigiano. Flavours were well balanced and pasta was perfectly cooked.

Gnudi verde ($23.00)
Sundog Farm spinach and ricotta dumplings, olive oil and parmigiano. These were delicate pillows but this was probably my least favourite dish of the night. The flavours were pretty subtle and didn’t do much for my palate.

Char-grilled leg of lamb ($31.00)
Roasted eggplant, swiss chard and salsa rossa. There was no swiss chard on our plate so they must have ran out. Instead, it was peperonata (sweet red bell peppers). The lamb was divine. Incredibly flavourful and tender, if you like lamb, it’s a must. Not to be outdone, the sides of pureed eggplant and salsa rossa were just as delicious.

Strawberry sorbetto ($7.00)
It might be worth coming to Uccellino just for their sorbetto. This was absolute heaven. You can tell it’s made with real strawberries. Intense, full on strawberry flavour. Maybe Costa should open up a gelato/sorbet place next? I have no doubts it would kill in Edmonton.

Overall, our meal was great. Yes, it’s more pricey than the average restaurant in town but that’s what you have to pay for when you want quality. It’s actually quite reasonable if you come with a group and share a couple dishes (and skip out on the drinks). Already looking forward to my next visit!

Uccellino
http://www.uccellino.ca/
10349 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, AB
(780) 426-0346

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