Carmelina

My friend, Cynthia, and her fiancé invited Edward and me for dinner this evening at Carmelina. Coincidentally, they're one of the restaurants participating in Savour York Region, which is York Region's version of Summerlicious and/or Winterlicious (except I think Savour is in the Spring and Fall, so basically Torontonians can get delightful prix fixe deals all year round!). Carmelina is offering a $35 three-course prix fixe dinner menu for this event, so we obviously had to take advantage:
Bruschetta
For the first course, they offer a choice of soup of the day, mixed green salad, or bruschetta. Obviously, as an extreme carb-lover (they give the table a basket of sesame focaccia flat bread before the meal and I had already plowed through three of those), I had to go with the bruschetta. As previously mentioned, I don't order bruschetta often because it's usually so over-priced. But hot damn, is it ever worth getting with their Savour prix fixe menu! You get not one, not two, but four pieces of bruschetta. For one person! They use thinner slices of focaccia instead of classic crusty Italian bread so the toppings don't hold up quite as well, but I'm not gonna complain here because their bruschetta typically goes for $10, so it's an insanely good deal with this prix fixe. In terms of flavour, I didn't think it was as good as Rossini's version, but it's still fresh, well-seasoned, and satisfying.
Risotto Funghi
Carmelina offers five choices for your main course in the Savour prix fixe, and after debating between risotto and steak, the risotto surprisingly won (as I said, I'm an extreme carb-lover and I was feeling extra carb-y today... plus, Edward ordered steak and gave me some, so it was a win-win). This version is made with arborio rice simmered with a ton of mixed mushrooms, onions, garlic, and porcini broth, served with slices of grana padana parmigiano cheese and grilled portobello mushrooms. The rice had the perfect texture that is still firm and holds its shape but with a beautifully creamy consistency. The earthiness of the mushrooms contrasts really well with the almost-pungent sharpness of the cheese and also adds a nice crunchy texture to the creamy rice. This is a super-rich and indulgent dish, so it's not for the faint of heart (literally — this is totally an artery-clogger). And the portion is incredibly generous; I think this is one of the very few times when I haven't been able to finish my main dish, and I can chow down.
Tiramisu
Raspberry chocolate tartufo
For dessert, they offer two options, so Edward and I got one of each and shared. The first one is the tiramisu, and it was actually, surprisingly, really, really good. I say 'surprisingly' because desserts made for prix fixe events like these are usually mediocre. But this was definitely one of the more authentic tiramisus I've had; it was actually made with ladyfingers, for one, and was soft and plush with a nice coffee flavour. They also use real whipped mascarpone cheese rather than whipped cream (rookie mistake, really), and I'm glad that they didn't add a lot of liquor to it — I could taste a touch of it, but nothing obvious or overwhelming. The second dessert option is raspberry chocolate tartufo. I'm not sure if they make it in-house or if they buy it from a third party, but either way, it's positively delightful. I especially love the combination of tart raspberry with sweet milk chocolate and bittersweet cocoa powder. I have a particular soft spot for tartufo because it reminds me of my childhood; my mom used to surprise my brother and I with tartufo if we'd been good. Basically, I'm glad Edward was with me so I didn't have to decide between the two desserts.
This wasn't my first time at Carmelina, actually — I'd been there once before a couple years ago with Wynnie. I've always enjoyed the ambience there, which is on the romantic side with soft lighting, and the Italian-inspired decor complete with stone statues and pillars (in a non-garish way). Our server tonight was polite enough but seemed annoyed when we didn't order any wine, and then a little impatient when we were ordering our food, and then was really slow when we asked for the bill (so slow, in fact, that we waited a good ten minutes to pay with credit card and when she still hadn't come, we ended up giving cash instead). I'm not going to hold it against her, though, because I've found service to be like this during these restaurant week events. Plus, I distinctly remember having awesome service the last time I went there. Either way, it is entirely worth it to check this place out, especially during this Savour York Region event. They don't skimp on portion or quality, so the prix fixe price is even more of a deal (entrées typically run for $20 to $40 on their own!). If you can't make it for Savour, it's still worth a visit, especially on date night or special occasions.

Carmelina 7501 Woodbine Avenue Markham, ON L3R 2W1 (905) 477-7744