It was a cold and rainy Valentine's and my husband had hinted at plans. He'd also hinted we might take a walk around town and see where we could squeeze in so I didn't have my hopes up. Even when he'd asked me to dress up I was not convinced and despite the shirt and tie he changed into there was still a small part of me that expected to be taken to Pita Pit, in all our finery. So imagine my surprise as we wandered down Johnson St and a look of confusion appeared across his face. Part of me was thinking he was walking me round in circles to distract me, but then, when almost defeated he asked me if I knew Il Terrazo I knew. Somehow this crazy husband of mine had wrangled a Valentine's reservation at Il Terrazo, one of Victoria's best Italian restaurants.
Inside it was cozy and candlelit and after taking our coats we were escorted through to the patio area and we took our seats at a corner table, right beside the fire. The wine menu was more than a little daunting - 37 pages in all - so I started with some bubbly and then moved onto still, guided by our server's recommendation. Wil chose the Slipstream lager of course (no Blue Buck here). The menu itself was super impressive and we really could barely decide where to start. I chose the Capesante e Tonno Affumicato - tuna and scallops on a bed of wakame and cucumber. It was good - the scallops were perfect and the tuna melt-in-the-mouth delicious, but sliced super fine so not the chunks of deliciousness that you'd find in a Japanese restaurant. Wil branched out and chose the Zuppa di Pesce, a fragrant seafood soup containing his first mussels ever. He pronounced this to be amazing, and that he would return to have this for lunch every day if he could. The small spoonful of broth I tasted was superb.
For mains I went against my Dad's usual advice and ordered the venison. It was served with sour cherries on roasted squash cannelloni that were fantastic. It may not have been Dad's backsteaks, but it was the first venison I'd had since leaving NZ and it was awesome. It was tender, the cannelloni super creamy and the balsamic and peppercorns gave it that nice tang. I'd choose it again. Wil had the lamb chops which, based on my tiny mouthful, were awesome. He said contentedly munching in the corner for quite a while so I think he enjoyed the meal. He was huge fan of the scalloped potatoes also, but that's not suprising.
Having seen the dessert menu we couldn't say no, even though we almost fit to burst. We decided to share the creme brulee, since it is usually one of my fave desserts and this version did not disappoint. It was perfectly creamy with a nice crunchy top and reignited my desire my get back to making them again.
Apart from a small incident with a slippery floor and a certain inexperienced person in heels this was a lovely evening and the food was pretty damn good. Il Terrazo is by no means the most easy on the pocket, but it is certainly reasonable for what it offers and is a wonderful choice for a special occasion dinner.
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