L’Altro Buca

In one simple word… delicious.
L’Altro Buca started their Dine Out menu a little early so we went to check it out.
Service — the service was fantastic. The staff were attentive, friendly and knowledgeable.
The nook we were in was very cozy and a perfect spot for us to catch up.
I had the pork belly rillette and it was rich and flavorful. Very similar to pâté but smoother. The bacon bread was delicious and not overpowering. The piccalilli was quite fresh, all together it made for a wonderful starter. My friends both had the tomato soup and said it was tasty.
For my entrée I had the cod cooked Basquaise style with mussels and chorizo. LOVED it — though the fish was a little overcooked. Well spiced and the bean, chorizo and tomato ragout was so comforting.
Dessert was awesome — coffee flavoured panna cotta (perfectly set, full of flavour and smooth as silk) with perfectly cooked zeppolinis (which had the balanced amount of cinnamon and sugar). I also got to try the blue cheese and sour cherry compote — also great especially if you’re a cheese fan.
All in all a great dinner and the $ 38 menu is a steal for this hidden gem in Vancouver.

i’ve been to la buca before in kits. this is pretty much the same thing. it actually says la buca outside the door (vs. l’altro buca) and they have the same menu
had an awesome experience at the original la buca last year. something wasn’t quite right at l’altro
the shrimp appy was pretty good. the osso buco which was amazing the first time i had it, was kind of dry and not as flavourful; it also came with a risotto which was the best part of the meal!.. my friend had the fish special of the day which was a lingcod with angel hair pasta (they tasted like chow mein noodles) and served with mussels and clams. had a couple of cocktails as well. the best one was the bourbon sour
the dessert was pretty good. warm flourless chocolate cake with a scoop of gelato!
something was just ‘off’. try out the original la buca instead if you can
valet is $ 7, i parked a couple blocks away on robson. the restaurant is a block west of denman

Parking problematic if you refuse to hand over your keys to the valet. ($ 7)
Food is Good. Go this week Nov 2 — 7, they have Dine Italia 4 courses for $ 40.
I had the Veal carparccio to start (chewy semi raw piece of meat, nice veggies on top… least favorite part of my meal) Seafood pasta amazing, pasta el dente with 4 huge mussels (best part of my meal), then Short Ribs with saffron rissoto (also very well done, ribs tender juicy)
If it was not for the Veal Carparccio I would have give 5 stars.

Finally made my way to their annual Wild Mushroom & Game menu. 3 courses for $ 45, 4 courses for $ 50. It’s on til Oct 22^nd if you’re planning to try it out.
I don’t mind the ambiance much, I like the booth settings — but the parking is a pain. $ 7 valet or spend your time circling the denman x robson corridor for 20 minutes.
Oh well, onto the food — started with an appetizer of seared Hokkaido scallops, crisp wild boar belly, cauliflower purée, warm balsamic vinaigrette. The cauliflower purée was awesome — creamy, like mashed potatoes but so much cauliflower flavour. The three small scallops were enh — nothing wrong with them, I just never get much of a wow factor unless I get huge, slightly undercooked sweet scallops. The crisp wild boar belly was like pure bacon — with a huge strip of fat that we left untouched.
Went on to the pasta appetizers, I quite enjoyed the Chestnut tagliatelle, mushroom purée, buttered cabbage, melted Taleggio cheese. The chestnuts were chopped up, the mushroom purée was quite rich but I didn’t detect any Taleggio cheese. Overall a success, but I would not be able to handle this as an entrée due to its richness.
The item I was most excited to order ended up being disappointing. Foie gras tortellini in wild mushroom brodo — the pasta was undercooked, the foie gras inside had the strangest consistency — not smooth at all, more like it had been minced up and boiled? The wild mushroom broth was also very salty. Not a successful dish.
For the entrée, Tuscan olive oil poached & roasted breast of pheasant, foie gras stuffed morels, Parma ham, vin santo sauce was decent. The pheasant was meaty and tastier than a regular chicken — I guess a bit of a cross between quail and chicken. The foie gras stuffed morels were again a disappointment, although the morels themselves were sweet and good quality.
Onto dessert, Zeppolini (doughtnuts) with soft caramel & poached apples was lovely. The apples were a bit too sweet but compensated for the not so sweet doughnuts. The soft caramel is exactly like a melted Kraft caramel square: P Fun to play with :)
Service was curt — a bit too busy fawning over the table of 5 beside us. I guess that’s what happens when we don’t order any wine and share a 4 course meal & one entrée between two people.

I am adapting to the new iteration of Parkside, which I miss profoundly. The evening was lovely on the Patio. Due to my lack of familiarity with Italian wine, we were guided expertly to excellent choices by our server.
The service from welcome to departure was excellent, from every person here. In Vancouver diners sometimes are frequently lost and forgotten when the chose the patio or deck, but this was not the case on this evening.
The appetizers were good and well prepared, Heirloom Tomato salad and the other items were all delicious.
However, the entres were overcooked. Both Salmon and veal picata had been cooked for too long. The pasta texture was way too mushy, again perhaps cooked too long. At this price point the food should be perfect and it was not. I shall l return, and try again, so will see if they can get it right.
Chocolate mousse for dessert was excellent, however one very small piece of cheese by no means constitutes a platter. Spend your money on dessert offerings other than the cheese platter.
P. S. the patio needs attention. Pull some weeds, water the plants pick up all the dead leaves and power wash it and trim the hedge. It looks more unkempt and run down than it ought to, and reflects badly on the restaurant.

What a lovely place. Fantastic service, excellent food, and all around great experience. We took our good friends visiting from the San Francisco Bay Area as part of a weeklong birthday celebration, and boy, L’Altro Buca sure set the bar high.
We had a reservation for the patio, but we still had to wait 10, 15 minutes, during which time we enjoyed lovely cocktails — I forget the name, but it was a citrus drink, similar to a mojito but even better. The appetizers, including heirloom tomato salad and stuffed mussels were fantastic, and the entrees were generous but not ridiculous in portion. I had Spaghetti Bolognese (comfort food!) and friends had tenderloin steak, veal, and lamb, which were all great.
We shared the dessert — flourless chocolate cake, I think — which the server later told were complimentary. What a way to finish off a lovely evening. I’d recommend it wholeheartedly.

So Parkside is no more. It was recently replaced by this more affordable Italian restaurant.
As expected the food was very good, with a perfect mix of complex flavours resulting in some pretty fantastical dishes. I had the Halibut cheeks, clams w/​capers, scallops, and pea risotto. No complaints here. The server selected two excellent glasses of wine for our meals that were easy on the wallet.
What gets me about this place, is the feeling when you walk through the front door. Either the ceiling is too low, or there are way to many small tables about. But I ended up feeling a major lack of «atmosphere». I don’t know if there is a way to fix this? I am certainly no expert in creating atmosphere, although I am sure there must be some out there for hire.
Great staff, great food, but no umph!

Finally! I get the craving for Italian so I can take L’Altro Buca for a test drive! And, whoa — I’m full!
This is one of those places where the food makes up for everything else that lacks (read atmosphere). My advanced apologies for the slowish and methodical review that follows — I’m still digesting all of the carb goodness!
So first the food:
The special came highly recommended, and so we started with a pasta –a little unconventional, but hey, when in Rome eat veal and porcini mushroom ravioli. I was a little hesitant, based on the veal factor — but wow! That stole the show. If you ask, they’ll give you a half order as an appetizer. Glad we did this, because the intense flavours would have been too rich as a main.
The pasta I had for my entrée was very rich, indeed. A full cream sauce with smoked speck, asparagus and walnuts — it was fantastically full of flavours. I loved the presentation: the pasta was twirled atop the smoked speck and laid out on a long, rectangular plate. The only challenge was actually getting a bite sized twirl out of it — it was all twisted together, and I may have splashed myself a couple of times, where’s a bib when you need one?
The value for the dishes was spot on. I was full with the entrée at $ 18.
Unfortunately — if I were writing a review strictly based on the atmosphere — I would have to give it 2 stars. (Gasp!). The staff (all 3 – 5 of them) were friendly and on top of almost everything, except refilling wine a couple of times.
The problem lies in the fact that this place doesn’t really have a hook. Or a reason enticing you to stay and mingle. There’s no lounge area, outside of some bar stools and it’s quiet (granted it was a Monday night) but still. With 3 filled tables spread out through the restaurant, we kept our voices low — as they definitely could travel in a space like this. We could hear voices coming from the kitchen. And we weren’t sitting near the door.
I would have liked to linger, enjoy some espresso, talk, eat dessert etc, but the space was just too vacant this evening to entice me.
I’ll definitely be trying again, perhaps a weekend night will be more lively — any Unilocalers want to come and liven up the joint?