A friend coincidentally recommended The Big Ragu on the same night I was headed there to have dinner with the Rabbit-mother and sister. I thought this was a pretty good sign. The Big Ragu is a charming neighbourhood hideout at St. Clair and Lansdowne, with eclectic décor, a very friendly and knowledgeable staff, and all-around great ambience.

BR had several interesting cocktails on offer, including the classic Negroni, but we opted for a bottle of Chilean Malbec ($49). I liked this more than the others, who preferred the primativo we also sampled later, but both were very quaffable.

The everyday menu has a number of apps, pasta, and pizzas, but BR also has a number of daily specials. The day of our visit, there were about eight options, half meat and half fish, including chicken, veal, a beef stew, salt cod and a whole grilled snapper. While we deliberated, we worked on some warm bread — the pizza-bread was particularly delicious.

Rabbit-mother started with the sardine appetizer, a very generous cold salad presentation with raisins and pine-nuts, served in a pretty bowl of radicchio. Mom said she was expecting a different dish (something hot) — but once she re-engineered her expectations she warmed to the cold salad and found it quite tasty. Rabbit-sister and I split an antipasti, with generous slices of ham, and salami, olives, spicy eggplant and roasted red peppers, along with tomatoes and bocconcini, and a very light crumbly, “dusty” cheese that we speculate might have been a baked ricotta. A great plate.

For our mains, Rabbit-mother went with the gnocchi. She has recently started making her own pasta, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually “research.” Ragu’s housemade gnocchi is superb. The dumplings were soft and fat, served in a red sauce with cheese — worth a second visit. I had the tuna special, a thick and generous steak prepared with tomato sauce, olives, and capers. This was well executed and satisfying. Rabbit-sister had the tilapia with a bruschetta sauce. She found her fish a little bland, and didn’t care for the flour dredging, which she thought weighted down the light fish. We both opted for side salads in lieu of vegetables, leafy greens with an excellent vinaigrette dressing.

For dessert, we split Ragu’s house specialty, Nutella cake. This was a chocolate layer cake with a distinctive Nutella hit in the frosting and glaze. Good, but missing a certain je ne said quoi.

The damage… 2 apps, 3 mains, 1 dessert and wine (1 bottle plus a half litre)… $200 after tax and tip. We had a very pleasant evening at The Big Ragu — delightful setting, exceptionally accommodating staff (we also appreciated a visit from the chef toward the end of the meal), and good food. And yet we all left feeling that it had lacked that “wow” moment. I would recommend for a casual evening with friends, but I wouldn’t make this a destination.

www.thebigragu.com

Posted on October 28th, 2007 by rabbit
Filed under: Toronto, Restaurant Reviews