Was in the mood for some Italian food but was tired of the cheap pasta places. Have been to the Osteria Rialto near SYS Memorial Hall, which was plenty good enough food-wise, but really a bit too expensive for what you get and probably full on a Saturday night anyway. Remembered that Rialto had a sister restaurant nearby in the Neo19 complex at a lower price point to appeal to the younger crowd in the area. The Warner Village, Mitsukoshi, Neo19 area usually is even more crowded with people, but the movie dinner crowd had thinned a bit by the time we got there so we were able to get a table without waiting.
The ceiling was typical unadorned industrial piping and the furniture was sparely modern, but the room was shaped with curvy walls and warmly lit with a big chandelier in the middle to add a touch of class. The kitchen was visible behind the bar and allowed the smell of freshly baking pizza to waft out into the room.
The Evian-for-30-bucks they push in your face was a bit off-putting but not that big a deal in the greater scheme of things. The combo meal addition of bread, salad, drink, and dessert for an extra NTD220 didn't feel worthwhile when the mains were in the 300-450 range. Decided to split a bruschetta appetizer instead. Three slices of Italian bread with a creamy tuna-cheese sauce (like at Herbs), a creamy pesto, and a fresh tomato-olive. The bread should've been toasted a bit to officially count as a bruschetta per se, but it still managed to carry the toppings well. Tomatoes are good right now, so that was the favorite, although the sauce-toppings were tasty, too.
GF ordered the Spinach-Bacon Pizza. Since that's a good-sized medium pizza and a bit more food than one normal Chinese girl will eat, I just ordered a simple pasta with meat sauce to share as a change of pace. The pasta was thick strands of perfectly al dente hand-made noodles, taking advantage of the sourcing availability of a high-end restaurant group. Wasn't all that impressed with the ragu, though, as the taste bore a disconcerting resemblance to the lunch-line spaghetti from the old middle school cafeteria. Maybe I just don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but it's no Olivetto, that's for sure.
The pizza, on the other hand, was just about perfect. Italian-style thin crust with edges blistered from the hot oven, cooked just enough to wilt the baby spinach and cook the bacon. The bacon was lean enough to not make it greasy, although smokey pork fat was certainly an important flavor component. The spinach cancels the saturated fat in the nutritional self-justification calculus. I think it may be the best pizza I've had in Taiwan, not that there's been a whole lot of competition. Only downside was that it got a bit heavy once it cooled down and the fat congealed. Not that it stopped me from taking the leftover cold pizza to work as lunch the next day. I should really push to have a microwave put in.
Service was competent and quick enough. Only thing I noticed was that the pizza platter was unheated, which was too bad because the heavy ceramic would've held the heat and kept the pie warm for a long time. Still, a good choice for a good-casual meal with a date or friends. Now if they only did pizza delivery we'd be all set.
里朵義大利餐館
Osteria Lido
台北市信義區松壽路22號2樓
(Neo19 Building)
02-2758-7868