A good friend was here in Victoria last month and visited Il Terrazza and was thoroughly impressed, and recommended it to me the next time I was in town.
if you do come here it is a little tricky to find, the entrance being off of Waddington alleyway. If you’re on the main Street it’s behind the Friends of Dorothy bar. Which you cannot miss due to the “We are here and we are Queer” chant over what is already too loud dance music.
Upon entering I was immediately impressed.
It’s a warm, inviting, rustic space, with different rooms and different levels to provide lots of space but at the same time gives each diner the feel of a cozy, intimate, dining experience. We walked by at least four different fireplaces and even had one in our own little corner.
If I have any complaints about the interior it’s about the dividers between each table, a hold over from the covid days. Here they have used window panes with glass. To some extent it only furthers the illusion that you’re in a rustic farmhouse in Tuscany.
We started with a couple excellent cocktails.
The Amalfi Coast and a Negroni.
That Amalfi Coast coast goes down way too easy. It had rum, Galiano, orange juice, lemon and Orgeat. It was sweet and sour and very refreshing. I think we had four between us.
That Negroni was fantastic too. Made with Empress gin of course.
Next came a tomato soup..
This was a bit of a game changer for me.
I do make a very good tomato soup myself.
But look at that colour. Such a deep red. And the addition of bocconcini was fantastic. The flavor of the roasted tomatoes was so deep it blew my mind. I think I have found my next challenge.
After that soup I really wondered what was in store for our main.
While I will say that in the end I wasn’t disappointed, I did struggle choosing a dish. Which normally isn’t an issue for me.
One thing I picked up from GR a number of years ago in my own Journey as a home chef was simplicity. I remember as a teenager having a French cookbook that was ultra complicated and had recipes with 30 plus ingredients. Having a pantry that large becomes untenable.
And sure, if you’re a two or three-star Michelin restaurant you can get away with that.
But as nice as this place as this, it’s no L’Atelier or Guy Savoy.
Almost all the dishes on the menu here seem overly complex to me. Even the server said he thought the same. Really.
So I end up keeping it relatively simple.
Fusili con Sugo de Manzo.
Fusili baked in a slow cooked Bolognese sauce with mozzarella and spinach
It was fantastic. The sauce, rich and meaty, was only enhanced by baking it with all that gooey mozzarella. Fusilli is actually a really good choice for this too, all those ridges picking up all the meat and cheese perfectly. A truly fantastic pasta dish.
Merilynn’s on the other hand, not so much. Though I’m going with poor execution tonight. Not a bad idea.
Frutit di Mer Della Casa.
Seafood in a garlic cream sauce.
This should have been a knock your socks off dish. In fact it knocked the socks off one of my friends a month prior to our visit.
Loads of fresh seafood, all cooked perfectly.
It was the garlic cream sauce that was the let down. The garlic was burnt. Plain and simple. It was so bitter it made they pasta almost inedible.
I did check in with my friend who said his was nothing like that so I’m just going to chalk this one up to a one off as the quality of everything else has been excellent.
Regardless we still enjoyed all the seafood. And we got our fix of pasta from my dish.
After a couple more cocktails it was time for dessert.
Oh look, there’s creme brulee on the menu. Twist my arm…
As a (self proclaimed) expert on creme brulee I will say this is one of the best I’ve ever had.
They Pastry Chef got that sugar caramelized perfectly without turning the custard into soup underneath. Amazing job.
Oh look, another drink showed up. How convenient.
It was actually more than one…
Regardless of a slight misstep with the seafood pasta the meal was excellent.
Top notch service in a wonderful atmosphere.
This should be a must stop for everyone who likes Italian food when you’re in the Victoria area.
8/10