This blog post will be all about our valentine's day date. It started off with a reservation at Mercato Mission at 11:45 AM. The weather was lovely warm, sun was out without much traffic in getting to the restaurant. When we came in, we were the first ones to be seated which we get to pick where to sit. We then sat right beside the window for more natural light. When we came inside, we noticed that it is a market and a restaurant. This is all to be appreciated better to come and see it in person. As we sat down, we were greeted by the waitress along with slices of bread and gave us the run down on how this restaurant goes as it was our first visit. The waitress explained that the food portions are larger than average thus it is meant to be shared like family.
We made up our mind and ordered the following:
Pappardelle, Slow cooked lamb bolognese with sweet peas and preserved Meyer lemon ricotta
Risotto, Riso vialone nano with homemade Calabrese sausage, kale and roasted fennel with a twist of red wine reduction to give a rose color in accordance to valentine's day
Bistecca, Fiorentina style rib steak with rucola, lemon and olio verdone (half-size portion)
The food didn't take long as we expected, as these food items are to be cooked to order. We first got the Pappardelle, and Risotto ... my god it is heaven on earth goodness. They were both rich in taste, flavourful, no salt required. The texture was superb, the pasta from the pappardelle was cooked perfectly, so does the risotto rice was sticky and soft, similar to porridge but not quite mushy. The risotto had healthy vegetables included like kale to give a nice bitter taste to go for a full circle of taste. Pappardelle was very rich in meat flavor, but I find the sweat peas to be a little off on this dish. I'm sure it's just my preference for not liking sweet peas. I would highly recommend both of these and eat again.
After we had those 2 dishes, we were given ample amounts of time to rest and recover for the next big meal. I'm glad the meat took long while to cook as I was almost full from those 2 dishes we ate. Then it came, Bistecca. Ultra rich in flavor of meat, adequate amounts of fat and gave a nice lemon zest to offset the extra bitterness from the grill marks. For a half-size portion, it was too much for us, perhaps next time we would just stick to 1 dish and 1 bistecca or 2 dishes only. But we were both left full and satisfied.
Afterwards, we went to the Chinook Mall Centre to shop around for clothes to be spoiled. Overall, we went and bought:
A dress, and a light quilted sweater jacket from Hudson's Bay
We were not done yet, we decided to go for another new restaurant to try out called The Cheesecake Cafe. To our surprise, as we went inside, it was packed full of customers waiting to be either seated or their number to be called out for the Cheesecake order. We decided to stay and jumped on the waiting list as we were both eager to give this a try. In just 15 minutes, our names were called out and seated at a semi private, cozy space for 2. We didn't really know what to order other than the cheesecake itself, but decided to go for familiar dishes like the blackened calamari and Jambalaya (rice or pasta).
As the food arrived, we were both surprised with the Jambalaya was in a pasta which to our assumption was usually in rice. It was both our fault and the waiter as none of us mentioned what type to choose from. The jambalaya was quite a disappointment as it wasn't authentic jambalaya taste (I kinda expected that), it was only spicy due to increase amounts of fresh ground pepper into the dish. The meat portions were generous but out of balance as shrimps had the most quantity than chicken and chorizo sausage (2 slices only). I wouldn't recommend this unless you prefer the "mild" version. The blackened calamari on the other hand was surprisingly good, the sauce that was drizzled on top was sweet and tasty at the same time and believe it or not, more spicy than the jambalaya dish. It probably had more ground pepper (lol). We didn't complain about it as the dish was just average at best.
But of course the main course we've been waiting for was the cheesecake itself. We ordered the marbled cheesecake flavor as it seems to be a popular item. I'm going to be honest here, the price they charge for a generous slice of cheesecake is hefty ($8.50+) CAD. Luckily, we both had small stomachs so we were able to share and fully satisfy the both of us. The cheesecake was well worth the taste, rich taste, not too sweet unlike in other stores you buy. You can tell that the cheesecake was freshly made, and the decadent chocolate had a complex taste to it rather than just being "sweet". Overall, we will only come back for the cheesecake next time.
I hope you enjoyed this rather long blog post for valentine's day. We also made a video regarding this day as well. Please check it out, like and subscribe to show your support and if you would like to see more of these contents. See you again next time~!
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