Today I went to eat lunch at an Asian run, Italian homestyle cuisine restaurant in Richmond called Cucina Toscana. Hidden on Cambie Road, near Admiralty Centre and behind Aberdeen, is a little restaurant serving home-made Italian dishes.

Very subtle looking, isn’t it? I think I drove by several times and probably  never looked twice. When you open the door, you notice this little quaint and vintage setting. The ambiance is quite peaceful.

During lunch hours, they have a “light lunch menu” in addition to their normal menu.

I ordered the prawns in creamy sauce, and the other two parties at my table ordered the fettuccine with beef and mushroom in black peppercorn sauce and a chef’s special salad. We first requested the complimentary bread. My friends ordered a coffee.

Just a typical cup of coffee. On it’s own, it’s worth $3, but this is included in the lunch menu. You can ask for refills.

The bread was warm and chewy. It tastes like Turkish bread- I can taste herbs and olive oil. Very delicious! We also asked for more after we devoured this.

My choice on the menu came with a homemade cup of soup. The only soup that was available was Chickpea and Salami Soup. I didn’t have high expectations of this, mainly because I don’t eat chickpeas, and I never had salami in a soup before. However, when it arrived and I took a spoonful of it, it blew my mind.

The soup was hot and steamy. It was salty, but I couldn’t stop drinking it. The chickpeas tasted delicious, since it soaked up the soup. The salami bits were full of flavour as well. It was my first time trying soup like this, and I enjoyed it.

My prawns in creamy mushroom sauce has arrived! I liked the creamy sauce, and there was enough for the pasta to soak in the flavour. There was a right amount of blending between the herbs and cream sauce. I’m glad the sauce didn’t dry up, sometimes in restaurants when you get to the end of your meal, half the sauce is cold and dry. There was a fair number of prawns in here too – around 6-7. The prawns were juicy and it tasted delicious when covered with the sauce. There is also asparagus, corn, pepper, and a carrot on the side.

My friend ordered the fettuccine with the peppercorn sauce- she loved her dish as well. The dish is originally spicy, but she asked for less spicy.

The other party at our table ordered a salad with mushroom dressing ($9). It was quite big and I had a nibble- the taste was very decadent.

Although I was extremely stuffed, I ordered a dessert anyway! It’s been a while (not really) when I had dessert and I figured I should order one to share it with you guys!

Yes, I ordered crème brûlée! It is quite small for its price ($8). I gobbled it up because I had a gratifying satisfaction eating this. I didn’t think it was worth $8, because it tastes similar to other bakeries that sell crème brûlée for $3-$5. The hard caramel on top was sweet,but I think I tasted the tiniest hint of a burnt corner, but  when I cracked it with a spoon and ate it along the custard, it was a stellar combination. The cream underneath was smooth and had a nice vanilla flavour. There were little chunks of strawberry and a blueberry that garnished the dessert.

Overall, I thought the lunch menu was fairly priced for coffee/tea refills, bread refill, and the main course. (Their normal menu is more expensive, $12-$20 per entree.) Dessert was a bit on the expensive side, but definitely worth the try.

Good customer service is noted as well. There weren’t many people in the restaurant today, so we were served in a timely manner. Also, the chef came out and asked if everything was good. I guess that’s how homemade style cuisines operate!

The ambiance of the restaurant was nice, since it felt like we were sitting in a traditional Italian setting. Everything I ate was delicious and I would recommend this place to other people who is on the hunt for a good lunch!

Rating: 4.5/5