This review pertains to the lunch menu.\n\nThe Skinny: so-so appys, well-prepared fresh pasta but heavy-handed sauces make this a (3), service: friendly, attentive service but nothing beyond the ordinary (3), value: ordinarily the meal would have been $50 (which would have given it a value of 2) but instead cost us $25 with a special Station Casino coupon (3).\n\nOkay - so the hubs decided to take advantage of a coupon from Station Casinos that gives you $25 off of a $50 order from any of their italian restaurants at any of their casinos. In order for us to make the most of the coupon, we hit the place for lunch as the prices for the same dishes can be up to 50% less than dinner. Yes - you don't get the lovely complimentary plate of antipasti (the fried zucchini chips are great) but it's a small price to pay.\n\nTo be honest, we hadn't been to Terra Rosa since Heather West (winner of the Hell Kitchen Season 1) left the scene. At that time, the dinner service was superb so we were interested to see how it is now.\n\nFor starters we ordered a plate of calamari fritti ($9) and split of mista salad ($8). The fried calamari was too lightly battered to stand up to the generous serving of the rather robust marinara it was served with. It really lacked the nice crispiness that one would expect with a great place of calamari. The mista salad was pretty much your standard mixed green salad except the tomatoes were a little on the overripe side of things. I would not order this again given the price.\n\nFor pastas, we tried the gnocchi, spinach ravioli, and tortiglioni sausages (each $9). The tortiglioni was the favourite - a nice al dente pasta served with an italian sausage with a mild kick. It is definitely on the heavier side and could have used a little more peas to even the flavours out. The gnocchi was a nice consistency: fluffy little potato pillows that melted in my mouth. Unfortunately, the delicate pasta was overwhelmed by the rather copious amounts of hearty marinara (it was better when they served it with a pesto). Finally, the spinach ravioli was also swimming in the brown butter sage. Again, a heavy hand with sauces make this dish only so-so.\n\nTo top off our rather large lunch (we took some of the pasta home), we tried their tiramisu ($6). Their tiramisu had the right flavours but unfortunately did not have enough of the espresso-soaked sponge/lady fingers to lighten the texture. \n\nUltimately, it was a good meal for a great price but definitely overpriced on a regular basis given the level of cuisine.
places reviews