Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Lazia's Tiramisu

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Lazia Tiramisu
Location: North, Downtown
Website: http://www.lazia.ca/

I can’t say that I have ever much cared for tiramisu…that was until Carly made me try the tiramisu at Famoso! Ever since then I have been addicted to tiramisu. Completely forgetting my previous distaste for what I considered a foamy dessert and going out in search of other mouth watering versions to delight my palate.

The next stop on our tiramisu hunt took us to Lazia in the north end. First impressions of the restaurant were good. It was trendy but inviting. We decided to sit in the lounge as we were also there to catch the hockey game – our beloved Canucks were playing in the first round of the playoffs against the Blues…ahhh the good old days when they were winning! There’s always next year ‘nucks!

Lazia had lots of dessert options to choose from. Including crème brulé which is always a crowd pleaser. We were having a hard time deciding so the waitress suggested that we head over to the cooler on the restaurant side and take a look at the desserts. This was a nice touch and made the selection process easier. The dessert cooler was a dessert lover’s heaven. Lazia’s desserts, including the tiramisu, are all individually sized so you get an individual little cake instead of a slice from a large cake – delightful! We made our choices and headed back to our table where drinks had already been served.

Strike one against Lazia. The coffee came in glasses which always look nice but unfortunately let out the heat so the coffee gets cold quickly. I didn’t get a single hot sip of coffee all night. Then the main event – the tiramisu – arrived. It was adorable! A miniature version of a large cake; it was almost too cute to eat, but that didn’t hold us back for long. We each took a bite and as usual turned to look at each other. This tiramisu didn’t evoke the same reaction as the Sorrentino’s tiramisu so we were off to a good start. Unfortunately though my first bite was all mascarpone cheese so I couldn’t really tell much. I went back for a second bite and was pleasantly surprised. It was not the foamy whippy tasteless tiramisu of my past but I can’t say that it was comparable to the tiramisu of my dreams from Famoso. It was a solid attempt though. It was light and airy but there was something missing in the combination of coffee and liqueur. The cake was composed of a layer of chocolate cake on the bottom then a layer of mascarpone topped by a layer of ladies fingers all wrapped up in more mascarpone. I personally found the cake layer to be a bit heavy for the lightness that is required for tiramisu but since it was only one layer it was passable. A warning however, I made the mistake of trying the chocolate cake layer by itself and got a nasty surprise. It was drenched in really strong coffee and was not sweet at all. It was obviously not meant to be eaten by itself. If for whatever reason you find yourself with the bottom layer alone to eat do yourself a favour and grab some mascarpone from the side or something. Trust me on this one!

All in all Lazia ranks #2 on tiramisu hunt knocking Sorrentino’s into the third position. Famoso still ranks #1 for us based on both price and flavour.

NB – This is not related to our tiramisu research but a friend of ours ordered some sort of mango mousse concoction that turned out to be one of the worst desserts I have ever tried. Whoever decided to call that dense bit of creaminess mousse has obviously never tried real mousse. If anyone happens to go to Lazia because of this post I don’t want it to be my fault that they end up ordering this unfortunate attempt at dessert. So be warned.

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