Working in the downtown core, you have a lot of dining choices on just about every corner. I’ve been eyeing Cucina for quite some time and finally decided to make a visit here. Learning that they had the bistro part and a grab & go part, R and I decided grab & go would be the better option due to time restraints. I do want to dine at the restaurant one of these days though!
Even though we were buying “take-out”, the attention to detail to packaging our food was great. They actually remember to include a spoon for my tiramisu! Just look at this:
Some say you eat with your eyes first. I didn’t even unwrap my sandwich yet and I already like it!
Here’s what we tried today:
Tuna Nicoise Sandwich - $12.50
Tuna, chopped capers, peppernotta, pitted nicoise olives & a sliced hard boiled egg, house made baguette
This was more like a fancy version of a tuna salad sandwich. All the components worked well together – I especially enjoyed the strong flavors of the capers and olives here and there (even if I don’t like olives!). I do find this sandwich a bit too big (that was a lot of bread I ate!) – I think they can make it smaller and charge less :p
Tiramisu – $4.50
Definitely one of the better ones I’ve ever had, at a very low price. The thick layer of mascarpone mixture is ultra creamy and rich. Dusted with a generous amount of cocoa powder helps balance the sweetness of the entire dessert. I just gained a whole pound thinking about it (not including the whole pound I probably gained eating it).
Italian Salami Pretzel Sandwich - $9.50
Proscuitto, genoa salami, soppresetta, and calagrese, butter lettuce, house made pretzel bun
R picked this as it was a smaller sandwich in size but also b/c she was very intrigued by the pretzel bun. She said this was a very flavorful sandwich and loved every single bite of it – especially the pretzel bun. I saw the layer of mini pickles and pickled onions and couldn’t resist trying some. They were so good and I could seriously eat a jar of it, to which R asked me – am I preggers? Nope! Funny she said that… I never once had morning sickness during my pregnancy and did not crave for anything sour. If anything all I craved for was sushi (surprise surprise)!
White Chocolate Eclair – $3.25
R’s eyes glistened as she saw this but thought $3.25 for an eclair is quite pricey. Nonetheless she decided to try it out and I had a taste of the cream – that’s where the white chocolate comes into play. I personally don’t have a thing for eclairs, profiteroles and the likes as I find the abundance of cream quite a turn off but she seemed to have enjoyed it.
We had a fabulous lunch at Cucina’s grab and go today and I can’t wait to try their other offerings (roast sirloin sandwich, do I hear you calling my name?), plus dine at the restaurant one of these days!
