Originally, Coffee and I had plans to eat dinner in the West End. But on the day of, it was pouring rain, I didn’t get enough sleep the night before, and overall did not want to make the extra trek to downtown anymore.
Luckily, she was accommodating about the last minute change and so I quickly looked up some places on Google and came across Assembli, a new DIY pizza place which had good reviews!
Assembli is located by Broadway and Cambie, an easy walk from the Canada Line. It seemed to be pretty new and it was comfortable in there, with super high ceilings and spacious seats. It seemed like a restaurant that would be really busy at lunch with office workers, but it was quiet when we came in the evening.
The best part about this place is that for only for $14, you can get a decent sized pizza with unlimited toppings! Yes, you read that right… unlimited! Even the meat! I definitely took advantage of this deal.
Custom pizza, $14: To create your own pizza, it is like Subway, where you tell the staff what kind of toppings you would like. You pick your own: sauce, cheese, meats, and toppings. Afterwards, they bake it for you fresh and bring it to your table.
I got the: spicy tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, chicken breast, shrimp, salami, mushrooms, pineapples, and red pepper.
I absolutely loved my custom pizza and thought it was such a good deal for $14! It was really cheesy and they did not skimp out on the meat. Every bite had a different meat. You really can’t go wrong with a custom pizza since you’re picking the ingredients that you like!
All Greek To Me pizza, $14: Coffee went with one of the pre-determined pizzas. It came with goat feta, mozzarella, red peppers, olives, artichokes, kale, and balsamic drizzle. She was a bit disappointed with her pizza because the melted goat feta had an odd texture that made her pizza very wet.
I had a slice and I agreed with her that the melted goat feta did not go well. If she came back, she would also order a custom pizza.
Overall, I would definitely come to Assembli again and recommend checking it out. For $14, it is quite a good deal and they have a generous portion.
Yay!
Smoked Salmon Radiatori, $18.95: Originally, I had my mind set on their pizza… but after reading this on the menu, I changed my mind. It was absolutely delicious. If you love smoked salmon and dill, this is the dish for you. It was very creamy and came with a good amount of smoked salmon.
Cheesy bread, $5.95: This was ordered as a side dish, and omg it was amazing. It was a garlic bread with lots of melted cheese on top. You seriously can’t go wrong with melted cheese.
Fried vegetables, $10.95: My friend ordered this and immediately regretted it after a few bites. It was definitely not worth $10.95 for a few pieces of vegetables. As well, they did not have any seasoning so it was quite plain.
Risotto of the day, market price: The risotto of that night was lobster. It looked really good and my friend said it was delicious!
Pasta platter, $23.95/person: Two of my friends split this, which was a really good idea. If you’re indecisive, you get to try four different types of their pastas! It comes with the truffled spaghetti & signature meatballs, gnocchi, garganelli pollo, and the linguine gamberi.
Zefferelli’s is located on Robson Street, on the second floor. Immediately walking in, I loved the cozy and classy atmosphere. It reminded me of having a fancy dining party at a rich person’s mansion.
Penne con salsicce, $19: Although our very friendly server told me that all the pastas were able to be modified with a non-dairy sauce, I decided to not make any custom requests. Since I don’t eat Italian food often, I wasn’t sure if changing a sauce would complement the flavours.
Spaghetti carbonnara, $19: The boyfriend’s spaghetti carbonnara came with bacon, egg yolk, black pepper, and cream topped with a copious amount of parmesan. Since I would have died a dairy death from this, I didn’t try it.
Linguini al salmone, $19.50: Sangria’s dish looked very tasty, although I might be bias because I love salmon! This came with BC smoked salmon and spinach in a pernod cream sauce. I learned from writing this post that pernod is a type of French liqueur.
Penne Michelangelo, $19: Lager’s pasta came with chicken, sundried tomatoes, peas, and cream. Again, I didn’t try it but it looked really good, and he had no complaints!
Virtuous Pie is a new vegan pizza/ice cream parlour that opened up in Chinatown. One thing I’ve really missed is pizza, so I knew I had to come here!
After placing your order and paying, you can see the pizza being assembled in front of you. Each pizza is made fresh to order, and baked in the oven.
Fennel & sausage, $12: I really wanted to try this because of the faux sausage! I am a big meat lover, and other meat alternatives like seitan just do not cut it for me. With that said, the sausage tasted really legit and I was really impressed!
Stranger Wings, $12: Stranger Wings was the most raved about on Yelp, so we had to try it. It is a vegan take on buffalo chicken, where they use cauliflower as a substitute.
Superfunghi, $12: I really liked this pizza! It was a bit different than I was used to because they use a mashed potato sauce in place of your standard tomato sauce. The potato was nice and garlicky, and so delicious!