Grotto is an Italian restaurant near English Bay in Vancouver. It’s a bit easy to miss when on Davie Street since it’s not on ground level. It’s a bit under ground level kinda like a basement.
I bought their Groupon deal months ago and like usual, I wait till the last day to redeem it. It was $59 for $100 value for four people. I made reservations ahead of time and same with a few of our friends.
Walking into the space, it was dark and has an intimate feel. They have pretty good daily specials. It was Sunday, so a lot of people were here later in the evening for their beer and pizza special.
Antipasti
Pork Belly has white balsamic, orange syrup, frisee, pickled mustard seed and crispy artichoke. Nice, fatty and crisp on the outside.
Humboldt squid also has housemade sausage, roasted eggplant, olives, tomatoes, lemon and parsley. I found that the grilling method made the squid a bit bitter.
Pizza
Funghi Pizza has a white sauce, mushrooms, roasted garlic and topped with arugula. The texture of the pizza was quite interesting. It is thin crust but very crisp and delicate. The crust reminded me of pita chips. Definitely unique as I’ve haven’t encountered another pizza place with such a crisp pizza base.
Prosciutto Pizza has mozzarella and figs with the similar crisp pizza base. It was good as well, but the funghi had a lot more flavours that I enjoyed.
Mains
Pappardelle has braised beef, red wine jus, confit cipolli onion, green peas, bone marrow, and focaccia. I love the large piece of bone marrow on top. A nice touch.
Gnocchi has smoked chicken, pork belly, mushroom ragout, and crispy celery root. The pork belly was the same as the pork belly antipasti. The gnocchi was nice and fluffy.
Overall, the food here was good and filling.
We Rate Grotto: 
Address: 1725 Davie St., Vancouver, BC
Website: http://grottoitalian.ca/
