Today I was visiting Osteria al Centro in my judging capacity, as one of the three helping to decide the winner for this year’s Vancouver Foodster Best Pasta Challenge 2025. Each competitor has put up their best pasta to be judged based on presentation, taste, and originality. And Osteria al Centro was one of the four that made a pasta exclusively for this competition, and I love that.
I have lived in East Vancouver all my childhood, so was surprised to discover that there are not one, but two restaurants located on premises of the Italian Cultural Centre. A community centre that I have only been to for special occasions like the tequila festival.
From the roadside Osteria al Centro is not visible, an overhead sign does point the way, but you can’t see its exterior until you drive in, and even then most of it is obscured by a lot of parked cars. I don’t like using the term or deeming what is considered a “hidden gem”, but I can say that they are literally, physically hidden.
The common misconception is that only members are able to visit the cafe by day and restaurant by night. It has been a year since they reimagined their concept and they are now looking to invite more guests with the expansion of their patio, which will soon be over looking a man made lake in the works.
By the day the cafe gives you a look at their gym space that facilities indoor lawn bowling. In the evening they draw the blinds and build up some romance with candle and chandelier light. We were seated by the window to take advantage of the rarity of a hot sunny day in fall. Without blinds here it became unbearable hot for most.
Walking in I was immediately drawn in by their collection of freshly baked focaccia rounds resting on the counter of their open kitchen space.
By the time we ordered one and got it to our table it was still warm and incredibly fluffy. The texture somewhat reminded me of chinese donut with its folded, pocketed layers. Baked daily in house with fresh herbs and served with val di mazara sicillian extra virgin olive oil and giusti aged aceto balsamico. The dipping sauces really made it memorable.
Osteria al Centro only used DOP ingredients, imported from Italy. They feel that if you can get quality Italian cuisine anywhere, it should be at the Cultural Italian Centre.
When it comes to Italian ingredients, DOP stands for “Denominazione di Origine Protetta”, which translates to “Protected Designation of Origin”. This European certification guarantees that a product, such as a cheese, olive oil, or cured meat, is produced, processed, and packaged in a specific geographical area using traditional methods. This ensures its quality, authenticity, and connection to a particular region.
The restaurant’s slogan is “unapologetically Italian”, which they do so well. But is also ironic considering their Executive Chef is Scottish in decent. However, he has the training and experience to have won over the hearts of many of the regular Nonna’s frequenting the Osteria. And regularly goes to great lengths to educate his staff and customers on Italian cuisine, us included.
Not only do their loyal community come for the authentic Italian fare, but also for the more than affordable prices. I have never seen prices this good, for food this good.
Starting with their cocktails, their signature mixes are only $12 and their expansive collection of spritz only $11 a glass. I began with the Bottecchia which tasted like cherry coke. Dark rum, red wine, amaro averna, and chocolate bitters.
The Basil-ica is basil infused gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon, simple syrup, and orange bitters. It was refreshing like a spritz, but without the bubbles. More savoury that sweet, I got some heated spices with this and it did well to compliment our meal below.
The Burrata was not the freshest, but amazing at $18 a full round, accompanied by coloured cherry tomato and arugula. Creamy and spreadable on hard toasted baguette slices. The sweet tomatoes and peppery greens added additional flavour interest. They fly in their Burrata every two weeks, and it just so happened that during our visit we got the last shipment. This is due to supplies being stalled for the foreseeable future.
I normally don’t order meatballs as I find most dense and boring in the mouth. However, this was not the case with their Polpette Della Nonna. Beef, pork and pancetta meatballs, fresh oregano, and marinara. Chunks of onion embedded throughout added textural interest and the mix of meats added depth, avoiding the dreaded flavour fatigue. The addition of the sweet and herbaceous marinara offered moisture and made it more like a full plate.
As for their pastas, they don’t make their own noodles, but they do get it from Italy. Sourcing it from the region that first invented and dried their fresh made pastas. A practice done for over 600 years, doing so, slowly out under the Italian sun. They do however have plans to expand their operations into their own commissary kitchen, and one day make their own noodles fresh from scratch.
We got a crash course in identifying quality pasta comparing it to others to discover its more pale colouring and its texture like fine sandpaper. This jagged surface area allows the pasta to capture and hold on to more of the sauce it is covered in.
This was the case for their Trofie al Pesto. This is a pesto that is made in house daily, and served over Trofie pasta. “Trofie” is a form of short irregularly twisted pieces with pointed ends, traditionally eaten with pesto. It is then topped with pecorino and toasted pine nuts. This was lovely, fresh, fragrant, and worth trying for any pesto fans. Here, we got a crash course in the simplicity of Italian cuisine and the practice of using minimal 4-5 ingredients to allow quality products to sing. Worth mentioning is that our portion was a taster and only 1/3 of a regular serving. To be honest I was happy for the smaller size. Delicious as a few bites, but I can foresee eventual flavour fatigue if this was an entree I was not sharing.
The pasta I was here to judge and try was a play on ossobuco and it came with a story. The Italian Cultural Centre has two Italian restaurants on premise and in order for this one to operate, nothing on their menu can compete with anything that La Piazza Dario next door has on theirs. So seeing as they have a traditional ossobuco on their menu, the Osteria cannot. Therefore this ossobuco pasta was Chef James’ work around. Ossobucco alla Milanese with Saffron Pappardelle and Tartufo Nero. Like the rest of the menu, their pasta entry is also the most affordable at $25.99, whereas the others range from $32-46 a plate. Even more amazing considering the use of premium ingredients like black truffle.
Veal Ossobucco smoked then slow braised in white wine to make a Ragu. To it they add Guancale and Fresh local Chantrelle Mushrooms served over Saffron stained Pappardelle noodles. This is finish with shavings of fresh Tartufo Nero (black Truffle) imported from Umbria. Like the Burrata, the truffle is also imported twice a week with a volatile shelf life. Using a mini mandolin we got to watch Chef James carve fresh sheets of truffle and top our plates with them. Little flavour on their own, where they shine is to add an umami richness to everything else around it. The pasta was liberally coated and the flavour is garnered from every other ingredient on the plate. An indulgent and well balanced pasta that was fully enjoyable from first bite to last. Here, we learned that cream is not used in Southern Italian cuisine. Instead, pasta water is used for its starch, the old fashioned way.
And considering how much we liked the focaccia, we had to try one of their 48 hour proof pizzas, baked in their pizza oven. The Diavola was recommended by the Chef as a zesty meat lovers. Salame calabrese, roasted red peppers, red onions, mozzarella fior di latte, and tomato sauce. The crust was wonderfully chewy, the salty meat, peppery onion, and sweet tomato harmonious. A solid thin crust pizza that you would eat with fork and knife. Everything on the pizza was imported from Italy, sans the cheese, which was carefully sourced from an Italian cheese maker out in Salmon Arm. Our Chef declared them at the same price as imported cheese, but better. I would agree.
And as full as we were, considering how amazing everything was before, we had to end on dessert.
The Tiramisu is a classic Italian dessert with coffee, lady finger cookies, light liquor, and mascarpone.
I liked the Budino al Caramello which is an Italian caramel pudding with whipped cream, pistachios and pecans. The roasted nuts gave the thick butter scotch flavoured cream some crunch. These were spoonfuls meant to be savoured as it slowly melted on the tongue.
And for those who love chocolate and are gluten-free the Torta Caprese is the one to go for. Dense chocolate cake with almond flour, chocolate mousse, and Amarena cherries. It ate like a mashed cake, given some brightness with tart cherry.
In summary, I cannot recommend Osteria al Centro more. Not only as a great option for unapologetically authentic Italian cuisine outside of downtown Vancouver, but for some of the most affordable prices I haven’t seen in years. And soon there will be even more reason to visit. Rumour has it that date night is in the works. This is $55 for two glasses of house wine, pizza and pasta, lady and the tramp style. There also may be be a family night option that will feed two adults and two kids for $60. And Happy Hour is a drink and your choice of a complimentary small bite from 4-6pm daily, as a way to open your appetite for dinner to come.
Osteria al Centro
3087 Slocan St, Vancouver, BC V5M 3E4
(604) 430-9696
italianculturalcentre.ca
