Bistro Piccola Casa

My wife, toddler and I are visiting Montréal for the Jazz Festival. We are staying in what is referred to as the ‘little Italy’ of Montréal. There are many Italian restaurants on this street mostly in the upscale casual variety. We chose this place because it looked like we wouldn’t bother people with our baby.
Our waitress was really great. She was friendly and fast with water refills. She quickly bought a metal bowl of garlic, Parmesan and oil covered twist biscuits which were hot and quite tasty.
While some of the other patrons seemed nice, many were of the «rich, snotty, loud, rude, we’re-better-than-you» types. We sat outside in front of the Bentley and Porshe that were parked in front ready for valeting. You can’t choose who comes to your restaurant, but it was still a turn off.
We ordered bruschetta for 1 to share for $ 4. There were two slices of a baguette with chopped tomatoes. Portion was small but not ridiculously so. The tomatoes were not very good. They were of the pale, not-​yet-​ripe with no taste variety. This would have been OK if we hadn’t just walked through an amazing open-​air market with a dozen vendors selling some of the best tomatoes we’ve tasted. We tried several types and bought some. An Italian restaurant next to that kind of market has no excuse using crappy tomatoes.
I ordered spaghetti carbonara and my wife got gnocchi to share with my daughter. The gnocchi were good tasting and had a good soft texture. The tomato sauce on them however was under-​spiced and quite acidic tasting. Could have easily been fixed with a pinch of sugar. Not very good. The carbonara was OK, too much cream not enough egg in the sauce. The idea is that the egg is supposed to cook on the hot pasta and I am pretty sure this was not how the dish was prepared. The bacon in the sauce was very good though. I had hoped that there would be some fresh peas in the carbonara but no luck. The pasta portions were also on the small side.
The portions seemed like they were intended to be sized to encourage you to buy a pasta course and meat course as well as salad, appetizers and dessert. If you were to buy dinner this way you would easily pay $ 50/​person.
The carbonara was $ 15 and the gnocchi was $ 12.
To be fair, both my wife and I have Italian roots and have grown up with excellent cooks in the family. We live in Medford, MA where the Italians moved when they left the North End of Boston. We are spoiled. In Medford you can get much better pasta for less money and avoid the snotty rich people with the collars on their polos turned up!

This unassuming gem in the Little Italy neighborhood of Montréal is the perfect place to enjoy a meal en plein air when the weather permits. A girlfriend flew in from NYC for the week-​end and my husband and I had just taken her to the Jean-​Talon market with our 7-​month old daughter and dog in tow. Where can such a causally dressed crew dine on such a beautiful Saturday afternoon in the Petite Italie neighborhood you ask? Bistro Piccola Casa, to be sure!
Not only was our middle-​size mutt greeted with open arms, our waiter quickly brought us a basket of crusty bread and a bowl of fresh peaches and cream for the baby. But ’nuff about the lovely hospitality, the food was oh so good! We each started with a birra Moretti and shared an appetizer of calamari. The generous portion of calamari was just perfect; light and crisp and piping hot and served with a large helping of lemon wedges. Concerned I would not have room for my pizza, I tried not to eat so many calamari, but my efforts were in vain. I ordered the ‘Pizza Leggera’ and as soon as I bit into it I was transported to bella Italia! The crust was thin and delicious and the ingredients were fresh and plentiful. The attentive service and delicious food aside, the great value has definitely left us hoping we will have a few more beautiful week-​end days before winter arrives so we can go back and enjoy some more al fresco dining at Bistro Piccola Casa.