TRATTORIA BURNABY

One of the three Trattoria restaurants under the Glowbal Restaurant Group is located in Burnaby on Kingsway street in the same building with Element Vancouver and GoodLife Fitness, across from Crystal Mall. Trattoria Burnaby is know for their in house pasta, pizza, and a more casual family friendly atmosphere compared to sister restaurant Italian Kitchen.

Walking in, you cannot miss the circular bar at the center of the restaurant. There are both tables and booth seats surrounding the bar, patio tables outside, and more seating arrangements on the second floor. Pro Tip: $13 Tuesday pastas and happy hour runs from 2:00pm to 5:00pm and 9:00pm to closing every day, including weekends! Happy hour menu consists of $5 feature drinks, antipasto for $9.95 and pizza at $12.95.

TRATTORIA SPRITZER $9.75 AND WHITE SANGRIA $9.75.
Beginning with a couple of drinks, the refreshing Trattoria Spritzer consisted of aperol, chamomile infused honey and pink grape fruit topped with prosecco. This appeared to be one of healthier choices with the whole honey and grape fruit, and was really boozey - I liked it! As for the white wine sangria, it was a lot milder (like bland) and consisted of peach snapps, honey, pineapple and apple juice.

BURRATA AND PROSCIUTTO $18.95.
Onto the food and starting with an antipasto, the plate included prosciutto di parma, pesto, marinated tomatoes and forno bread. The prosciutto was buttery and paired well with the tasty and garlicky pesto, which was great on the crispy and fluffy forno bread. As for the burrata, it was average in my opinion and I personally prefer an outer shell with it. 

ARANCINI $12.50.
The next appetizer we tried was arancini stuffed with wild mushroom, parmesan, smoked scamorza, roasted garlic and carrot puree. These balls were lightly battered, crunchy and perfectly fried. However the rice was soft rather than chewy and almost borderline mushy. The flavours were also on the lighter side and could have used some more mushroom in my opinion. I have to say Piva Italian serves one of the best arancini!

CRAB AND LOBSTER RAVIOLI $24.95.
The last of the appetizers is the crab and lobster ravioli. And honest to truth, the ravioli was one of the best I have ever had! The large pieces of ravioli were al dente and had a firm bite. In addition, the pasta was stuffed with plenty of crab and lobster.

And on top of that, the sundried tomato pesto with mint and basil gremolata was so rich and creamy. The pesto tasted delicious!

CARNE E PESCE PLATTER $30.95/PERSON.
Moving to the entree, we went for the platter that consisted of sweet pea risotto, tiger prawns, ahi tuna, New York striploin and chicken picatta. I always see some sort of entree platter at every GRG and this was my first time ordering one. Honestly I have always avoided the platters because I feel like it would not be worth the price, but I was wrong!

The portion was generous and a great way to sample a variety of items especially for two people. First up, the sweet pea risotto was light and creamy with chewy and firm arborio. Next, the sauteed tiger prawns were really garlicky (which I loved), bouncy and just cooked - perfectly done. As for the seared ahi tuna, it was well seared and medium rare, but very salty, we could not have more than a bite. Moving forward, the steak was a bit more medium than medium rare as requested, but still tender and tasted great with the chimichurri. In addition, the bed of cauliflower underneath the steak exhibited a nice crunch. Last on the platter was the chicken picatta, where the white meat tasted tender and exhibited a hint of tang that did not overwhelm.

ZEPPOLE AL CIOCCOLATO $8.95.
Wrapping up lunch with warm and fresh out of the fryer Italian style donuts, these were lightly fried and not too greasy. The donuts had hint of chocolate inside and were the perfect way to end our meal.

Overall Trattoria Burnaby has always been one of my preferred GRG restaurants. The prices are reasonable if you like the dishes you ordered and the lobster and crab ravioli is highly recommended. My quick go-to ravioli has always been Cactus Club's butternut squash + prawns, but now I am liking the lobster + crab more! Plus, it was the sundried tomato pesto that won me over.

POSITIVES
- Al dente pasta
- Tuesday $13 pastas
- Happy hour menu

NEGATIVES
- Very minor execution issues
- You have to know what to order here

*Beverages and food were compensated*

BURNABY TRATTORIA
4501 Kingsway Burnaby, BC V5H 2A9
Phone 604 424 8779
https://www.glowbalgroup.com/trattoria/trattoria-burnaby.html