211-17th Avenue SE
www.ilgallonerocalgary.com
Went out for lunch with the work team on Thursday to bid farewell to Nick before he leaves to go back to school. Upon being seated, we were offered a very nice mineral water. After staring at the menu for 5 minutes, we opted to go with the chef's special. A 3 course surprise. We then proceeded to rattle off a list of allergies we had. Shellfish... sesame... peanuts... et cetera, et cetera.
While we waited for our food, I had a sip of my precious mineral water. It was carbonated. It was kind of like drinking a pop except after the initial fizzing, there was no flavour explosion. And you realize that it was just water. And you just dropped some mad cash for it. It was quite unfortunate.
The first course of the chef's surprise is a salad. A caesar salad. With prawns. I can't say I was super impressed when they first brought it out but it was pretty good! The dressing, likely made in house, was fairly light with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. The prawns were delicious. I wished I had more.
The main dish arrived shortly after we finished the salad. Veal and chicken were served with steamed vegetables and rigatoni. Decent portions. I was shocked that we received two types of meat. The veal was definitely better of the two. The chicken was perhaps overcooked and a little tougher (relative to other chicken meat). The veal was much more tender. The sauce served over the veal was very flavourful. The veggies were a little bland but the veal sauce certainly helped. They must of known I was a food reviewer as I received an extra slice of carrot. But I'm a man of principles and do not take bribes. Not carrot bribes anyway... The pasta, served with a tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, was very rich.
Dessert consisted of gelato, a piece of chocolate cake and half a strawberry. I thought the plate was a little big and despite having three items on it, felt very empty. The chocolate cake was warm and fresh with a chocolate sauce. The strawberry was little sour (because I ate the cake first. BIG mistake) but delicious nonetheless. Strawberry gelato was served over a slice of orange. It was very creamy and delicious. For those who don't know the difference between ice cream and gelato, check out this sweet article here.
The food was decent. It was extra delicious as I didn't have to pay! : ) 8 stars out of 10. To account for the price, I have determined the following equation to adjust the rating: actual rating = unadjusted rating - e^ln[cos(2*π)]. Therefore, the actual rating is 7 stars out of 10. As a side note, Il Gallo Nero is The Black Rooster in Italian. Hence the logo. It just doesn't have the same ring to it in English. But maybe that's because I don't speak Italian. And of course, best wishes to Nick in his studies.
Arvid and I went back (back for Arvid, first time for me) to The Black Rooster in November. He'd liked it the first time and wanted to try more. We brought our 18 month old toddler with us. They have no high chairs, but she did remarkably well in a chair with arms, and the staff welcomed her without any snobbery.
ReplyDeleteI had the seafood lasagna and it was fantastic! If you go there again, you should try it. Probably the best pasta I've had in years.
Went to Il Gallo a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it! Very friendly service and great food, I recommend the butter nut squash ravioli it was amazing! And the veal will never disappoint.
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