Campagnolo, accidentally

So the inital thought was Phnom Penh but a wait for two people on a Sunday night was 40 minutes. No way could we wait that long without falling down in hunger. Through a rare but shockingly bright moment on my part, we rounded the corner and went to another favourite...Campagnolo!

Greeted warmly by the owner despite not having reservations, we were seated in the back and given yummy bread sticks to ward off our starvation.

I'm not the only one who likes to play with my food.

A nice comfort food on a cold and rainy night...BC mussel risotto ($15). Perfectly slow-cooked and loaded with mussels, the dish was rounded out with roasted peppers, saffron and fried capers...topped with deep fried parsley.

And I got my usual, Tagliatelle with Pork Ragu ($19). You can get the half portion for ($14). I always get the full portion, so I have some leftovers for lunch the next day. They switched from tagliarini to tagliatelle, but the pork ragu is as good as it always is.

The pecorino ramano cheese on top is a much better choice than the usual parmesan other restaurants pile on. This milder cheese doesn't overpower the ragu, and melts beautifully over the steamy pasta.

Because we didn't get any appies to start, we decided to get something to go along with our carbs. Both having a love for mushrooms, we ordered their mushroom contorni ($6). Slices of king oyster mushrooms, tossed with white beans and garlic and flavoured with oregano.

We also scored a free confection plate from them. From the left upper corner, we got a guava jelly, a florentine, chocolate and cocoa powdered covered hazelnuts, a caramel bite, nougatine and chocolate sablé.   
Did you know? Sablé is a classic French cookie originating in Normandy. French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie. A versatile dough that can be flavored with ground nuts or zests and although traditionally round with fluted edges, they can also be cut into other shapes and even sandwiched together with jam or preserves, chocolate or lemon curd.
It was a perfect ending to a delicious meal (and evening).