Il Postino Ristorante

To celebrate Ronsee's birthday, we took him for dinner at Il Postino on Main Street Unionville:

Mozzarella di bufala with rainbow heirloom tomatoes, balsamic, and basil
Steamed mussels in white wine sauce
Steph and I decided to share two appetizers to start. The first one was the mozzarella di bufala; the cheese was soft, fresh, and plush, and the tomatoes were perfectly tart and crisp, but I thought there could've been more balsamic and basil to contrast with the flavours of the cheese and the tomatoes. It's a classic combination, a play on Caprese salad, but Il Postino's version seemed almost too mild for my taste. Points for presentation, though. The second appetizer was the mussels, which were tasty in the way that steamed mussels in white wine are usually tasty. Nothing special, but you can't really go wrong with these if you want a good stand-by appetizer. The broth was rich and perfectly garlicky, the kind you end up sopping up with crusty bread because it's too addictive to leave behind. Between the two, the mussels were definitely more worth the price (both appetizers are $14).
Braised rabbit pappardelle with local Unionville mushrooms
Tiramisu with light mascarpone sabayon
After a good ten minutes of deciding what I wanted for my main course, I ended up ordering the rabbit pappardelle. Fresh ribbons of homemade pappardelle pasta, tossed in a stew of braised rabbit meat and mushrooms. The meat was soft and tender and flavourful but not too gamey, and the mushrooms added a great earthy flavour and a crisp textural contrast, but I thought the pappardelle could've been cooked a touch longer (it was on the firmer side of al dente, and I prefer it to be a bit softer) and the sauce could have been a bit richer. As I mentioned, it was more akin to a stew than to a true pasta sauce. Still a solid choice, though, and I don't regret picking it — we all agreed that it was really tasty. I think the rabbit pappardelle I had at Campagnolo was just so perfect that I think anything else will seem inferior, you know? Finally, for dessert, Edward and I decided to share the tiramisu. I actually really liked the version here, if only because I couldn't taste any rum in it (I know tiramisu is supposed to have rum and you can usually taste it, but I don't like liquor, so this worked out for me). The ladyfingers had a great spongy texture and just enough espresso flavour, and I liked that the mascarpone cream was whipped into a sabayon to keep it light and fluffy.
The place itself is very quaint — small, comfortable, clean, and cozy, perfect for romantic dates and special occasions. The service was polite and attentive, but our server kept forgetting our orders. After serving our appetizers, she had to ask Ronsee what he had ordered for his entrée again, and then after setting down two of our main courses, she had to ask Edward what he had ordered for his entrée. Like, seriously? First off, how can you forget not one, but two of your customers' orders? And secondly, a proper restaurant should always serve everybody's entrées at the same time, not serve half of them and then ask another patron what he had ordered in the first place because she forgot to place it.  It baffles me as to why she couldn't have just written our orders down. We weren't angry at her for it, but it just seemed really unprofessional considering how much they charge for their food. She apologized profusely and even gave Edward another beer on the house for the mistake, but... if you're going to charge fine dining prices, you should have fine dining standards, no? I mean, we picked this place because of the location, and we still had a good time and enjoyed the food... but for the price, I would definitely make the trek to Campagnolo instead.

Il Postino Ristorante 186 Main Street Unionville, ON L3R 2G9 (905) 940-1555