La Frasca Cibi & Vini

My best friend was in town from Ireland last month and we needed a nice restaurant to start her intimate bachelorette. We chose La Frasca for a host of reasons. They took our reservations of 8 on a Saturday night. They have amazing pasta dishes (bride-to-be’s favourite). They have an upscale but still casual atmosphere where our matching tank tops wouldn’t feel out of place. We arrived 5 minutes before our reserved time and were seated immediately. The services was great. Our waiter was excited to have us and wished the best to the bride. The other patrons were also beyond friendly with several tables stopping to congratulate her on their way out. And of course, the food was perfect. Appetizers and mains came out in a timely manner and were shared around for all to sample. We left full in belly and spirit. This was the perfect start to a great evening. Thanks to all the staff at La Frasca!

Might not be a fair review… So I’ll have to redo this when I actually go and sit. My dad brought me an order of calamari. Don’t know what he paid for it hopefully jot a lot. Didn’t get very much. Maybe a cups worth. The dipping sauce was great. I know it’s a different experience between take out and table service… But it should still have a little crisp and not have the batter falling off and swimming in grease.

I revisited this place after they changed it from Estia Restaurant and I must say it did NOT impress me the least…
I had the spaghettini [without the veal meatballs] and just a glass of cola. and as such I wasn’t too thrilled at the noodles, and sauce, i’ve had much better and same with the focaccia bread [which only had 2 slices…]
Now my reason for the rating are as followed
1. The front doors don’t look like doors/​inviting and that it looks like the entrance is inside the building beside it [but it’s nothing but stairways]
2. The lighting is crap, I was fortunate enough to come in daylight but still. I’m hard of seeing and after a certain amount of time It’s hard to steer out of there
3. When I finally got my meal I was nibbling on the bread slices and nearly shocked to several glasses shattering in the kitchen. I know it was an accident but I was able to spit the bread out before I started to choke [also someone from another table asked if I was alright]
4. The Waiter has scared me not once but twice from coming from behind instead of coming up and facing me at the table, he comes from behind and asks me without warning that he’s there scaring the crap out of me. and when deciding if I even want dessert at this point he gives me the menu to look and spouts that his favorite was the Hazel nut Caramel Tort. and I held it back but wanted to bark out «If I wanted your opnion I’d ask.» but told him politely to give me a moment…10 minutes later… still waiting so I got fed up and even asked one of the waitresses to get my bill… and after 5 minutes he comes back and tends to me. I paid but no tip.
Final conclusion? This place has gotten worse and it can’t hold a candle to the marvelous Sister Restaurant that’s in Bedford. I’ll go there instead of here because I feel like much more at home with it’s staff and much more of a valuable person there

Awesome service and amazing entrees, family of five all loved our meals! Great atmosphere and décor.
Good wine list!

Think I give here a 4.5 actually. Ate here twice in the last year, and will start going more often for sure. The atmosphere is very modern and trendy. Unless you sit in the front by the windows, it’s the lower lighting that I prefer in a restaurant. In fact, last night we sat in a cozy corner in the back, and when we left, we were blinded by the light outside at 6:30, forgetting it would still be daylight out. LOL Lots of interesting décor items around, at least for Halifax standards. A couple dozen tables I would say, with room for groups, as they will push tables together. Reservations I would definitely recommend on the weekend. On a Tuesday we had no trouble getting in whatsoever, but it was busier by the time we left.
The food is great. The free bread comes with a flavored whipped butter, with last night’s being a lemon chive or something, the server said? Very friendly service as well.
The Caesar salad is made in the standard method, but one of my favorites in the city for having just the right (10) amount of dressing, and a nice flavor, with crunchy homemade croutons and fresh parm. I have mine without the bacon, but it is still very satisfying. Really enjoyed the Gnocchi (handmade pasta, San Marzano tomato, cream, spinach, basil pesto, gratinéed with montasio cheese $ 17) as well. Lots of flavor, and a mid-​sized portion where I was full without being too full. Sometimes I appreciate giant portions at restaurants, to get a doggie-​bag/​next day free lunch out of it, and this wasn’t that, but it was still adequate. I’m anxious to try the risotto and a couple of their pizzas. I had a bottle of the Tidal Bay (possibly the cheapest on their menu at $ 36, but it’s one of my favorites to begin with, so that worked in my favor). My partner really liked the Negroni cocktail and a dessert coffee.

I love the food here, and the ambiance is fun. I always get the cannelloni or the gnocchi, both are delicious. The service is always great and they have a great wine selection. The only complaint I have is small portions, I’m always a little sad when I’m done!

Nice day, accidentally walk in for a sample brunch, but we ate not that sample, cost out over 100 bucks for the lunch.
Standard service nothing more and nothing less, but gooooood food, and not busy at all when we came in, we were really relaxing .
I ordered the dishes with pork, so good totally my style, big size and juicy hahha

Lets be honest. the ambiance is nice but the portions are too small for the price. I was still hungry after finishing my meal.

I recently had dinner here for the first time. The lighting was beautiful, warm and romantic, although it was a little too busy and noisy on a Friday night for this gal! I had the mushroom risotto which was incredible — perfectly cooked, rich and creamy. The addition of the tempura battered mushroom kebab was a doozy! I’d have a hard time choosing something different in my next visit, this was about as perfect as Italian food gets.

Fantastic service, beautiful atmosphere, the best food I’ve had in forever! I’m still thinking about the risotto and scallops! So so SO good!
Only thing that wasn’t ideal was that it was so crazy busy, but despite this, we still got amazing, fast, efficient and friendly service!
And the foooooood!!!

It’s like Italy threw up inside the restaurant!
Signs labels flags, too much for my eyes!
If you’ve ever been to Italy you know that you have to choose kitchen, Roma? Napolitano? Florence? You can’t have them all!
Also if you’ve ever been to Italy you realize that the food even though it seems Italian, it doesn’t taste Italian!
Now, the taste is pretty decent, you’ll hit the spot but completely overpriced!

We’ve been big fans of The Bicycle Thief and were initially disappointed to find it booked solid this weekend.
But not too worry: the Bertossis (Maurizio and Stephanie Bertossi) have yet created another gem of a restaurant at La Frasca!
We were a largish group of 14, always testing for a restaurant, but no problem: food was great, wine was great, service was great, ambience is great.
Terrific place; highly recommended.
(Music may have been a tiny bit too loud. Maybe a generational thing :)

Come here for the food. It’s seriously delicious. I was excited to come here for a bachelorette party because I was a huge fan of Il Mercato and was hoping for a similar experience. I didn’t receive it, but what I did get was good enough to me.
I see a lot of reviews talk about the décor, which is nice, but also a little odd. I see they’re going for a rustic look with the brick and wood, though the large branches in the lighting fixtures were a bit unnerving to me.
Service was what you’d expect for a busy, large restaurant. Food came within a reasonable time and the waiter was pleasant and checked in when necessary. Nothing less, but no flair either.
What I came here to write about, though, is the food. Before I talk about how delicious my meal was, let me mention that I am HORRIBLE with big menus. They overwhelm me. I always want to try something new but looking at menus of 4+ pages always drive me towards what I know and love. Here, if I remember correctly it was two pages and to the point. Starters, salads soups, mains and not-​italian mains. Also, I can’t remember a time in recent history that I saw so many items on the menu that I wanted to try. I love creative food and there was a lot of that on the menu; from Mac & Cheese to pesto Gnocchi (which I arrived craving) to squash ravioli. Seriously, yum.
My sister and I shared the mussels to start, which were in a delicious tomato sauce that was great to dip bread in, and I had the Orechiette for my main. It came in a piping hot cast iron skillet and smelled amazing. It was so hot and took a bit to cool down, but it was worth it (and helped me eat a bit slower). I was pleasantly surprised to find crumbled bacon on top of the dish which was large shells filled with the mozzarella mixture and covered with a creamy tomato sauce.
Everyone at the table was pleased with their meals (and wine!) and it was certainly an enjoyable restaurant to be in. Definitely recommended if you enjoy good Italian and run-​of-​the-​mill service.

The ambience is nice. They’ve done a good job with the interior renovations. I used to come to Il Mercato a lot because it was my mother’s favourite restaurant in town when she came to visit. She was here for her birthday in November so I decided to take her to try out the new restaurant.
She had the duck breast and I had the duck confit ravioli. Her duck was absolutely superb — such good flavours. The duck confit ravioli, well, it tasted good but it didn’t blow me away. I found the pasta dough to be a bit chewy. And the thing is, no matter how much I hate saying this, I found this place to be a bit overpriced… My mother’s duck breast was in the mid-​20s and though it was delicious, it wasn’t an overly filling plate. We both left feeling a bit hungry, though maybe we should have gotten an appetizer.
But really, this is good food and the location is excellent for a night out. The waiter we had was awesome.

Many a person in Halifax were surprised when the Bertossis decided to completely re-​brand one of the city’s restaurant staples, il Mercato, and I was certainly included in that group. But after being to La Frasca, I can definitely appreciate the upgrades.
To start, the atmosphere is much warmer and more intimate. More softly lit, and with lots of dark woods, it’s more inviting than I found il Mercato to be and I didn’t find it overly cramped as some people have said. It lends itself to a bustling, lively vibe in the place which I can appreciate.
Needing seating for just two, my girlfriend and I didn’t have to wait long before getting a table. Starting off with some bread and a wonderful garlic butter, I also enjoyed this switch from the olive oil and balsamic that il Mercato had. Call me unrefined, but I’ll take a good butter over those any day.
Although we’d planned on coming out anyway, good news turned the evening into a bit of a celebration so I ordered a bottle of Sangeovese, which is like the younger, more accessible Chianti. It was a little less potent than the Chianti, but it was still good, especially at half the price of its elder brother.
To start, we split the frico, a wafer of fried Montasio cheese, potato, onion and pancetta. While a little on the tough and greasy side, it had some great flavours. It’s pretty hard to go wrong with cheese, onion and fancy bacon, really.
For my main, I was torn between one of my favourite fowls to eat, the duck breast, and the quail dish. Being the somewhat adventurous sort, I readily jumped at the chance to try the quail, a meat I’ve never had before. Polenta fries on the side also helped the quail’s case. I was apparently quite focused just on the fact that it was quail and was surprised to see it breaded and fried when it arrived, having expected a more rustic roasting or the like. A buttermilk soaking gave it a nice tang on the back end, the coating was nice and crispy and the fig gravy added a well-​balanced mix of sweetness and richness to round out the dish. Now I knew that quails were small, but nothing prepared me for the smallest, cutest wings I’ve ever eaten. I would have felt guilty if they weren’t so delicious and for the fact I’m an unrepentant omnivore.
The Jenga-​esque stack of polenta fries were enjoyably plentiful and crisp, with a really good, garlicky sauce. Polenta fries are seriously becoming one of my favourite sides, with their more prominent flavour and more textures than regular potato fries. Buttery beans and turnip wedges were the mandatory vegetable components of the plate, but took a backseat to the quail and polenta fries.
With pro service that was knowledgeable and never let our wine glasses go empty, and a more diverse and modern menu than its predecessor, I’m giving La Frasca the thumbs up and look forward to coming back and conquering some new animals on my plate.

This place certainly takes the cake for the worst high end dining experience I’ve had unfortunately. I hate to be the one to write a bad review amongst really great reviews but I really didn’t have a great experience!
I came here with my friend’s family for a birthday supper. His family consists of mostly vegans so we realized the amount of stuff on the menu they would be able to order was fairly limited. However the server informed us that the chef could vegan-​ize almost anything. That was nice but honestly it was really where the good ended.
My first complaint would be the lighting, it was to the point that my friend with poor vision was completely unable to read the menu and I had to read it to him. I realize a restaurant like this wants to achieve «mood lighting», but I don’t think that means turning all the lights off. The second was the cocktails we ordered. They both sounded unique and tasty but were extremely disappointing. My friend ordered the ruby red one which had grapefruit juice in it and tequila, I ordered one that had grapefruit and pink pepper as a few of the ingredients. His was salty and so was mine. I kind of expected a drink that wasn’t going to be sweet but we were both surprised that his was salty seeing as all the ingredients in his cocktail were fruit juices. He ended up sending it back and it was at that point I realized the server was really smug and rude.
To finally get to the food I ordered the mushroom ravioli, my vegan friend ordered a primavera pasta and his family both ordered a pasta with oil and mushrooms in it. My ravioli was pretty good although the serving size was amazingly small, 2 pieces of ravioli is not enough for $ 16. My friend that ordered the primavera was extremely disappointed as it was bland and plain. He said he could very easily make it at home and hes completely right, I bet you could get some canned sauce for $ 5 that would taste as good. I didn’t try the mushroom pasta but his family seemed to enjoy it.
After finishing my ridiculously small ravioli plate I ordered a hazelnut chocolate torte that was AWFUL. It was very obviously frozen and defrosted and was still frozen in some places. It also lacked flavor and was extremely mushy, and overpriced.
I apologize for my long winded review but I was so disappointed I spent so much money here for something I could easily get elsewhere for half the price.

As a big fan of the former Il Mercato at this location, I was wary of the new resto. Fortunately my fears were allayed as soon as we walked in.
The interior has definitely changed, and for the better. Warm and cozy are good words to describe the new look. Wooden beams have been added to the ceiling, and some walls are brick and some have collages of Italian posters to peruse as you wait for your food. I recognized some of the old staff but saw many new faces as well.
The menu is perfect, with something for everyone. I tried the spaghettini with smoked bacon and Mike had the daily lunch express, which consisted that day of a small pizza, spinach salad and a strawberry tart for dessert. Everything was really good. I do miss the olive oil and balsamic vinegar provided with bread in the past (the bread now comes with butter), but I can always head to the Bedford Il Mercato if I’m desperate. :-)
Service was lovely and our food came very quickly. The wine list is EXTENSIVE, as is the beer list. We were unable to partake on this occasion but on future visits? Absolutely!