Artusi Restaurant: New Italian Restaurant in New West

Recently, a new Italian restaurant opened up in New Westminster called Artusi. Located on 6th Street (just steps away from Hon’s), I visited in mid-November for lunch.

The interior of the restaurant feels fairly large with a big open space that showcases their tables adorned with white linen table cloths and stark white walls accented with green trim.

I wound up ordering their Tagliatelle alla Papalina ($14) which is an egg noodle pasta with prosciutto crudo, free-range egg, cream, and 24-month aged Parmigiano cheese. This was a really good pasta dish with tender noodles and a nice creamy sauce. I especially liked the ample amounts of prosciutto crudo (dry-aged ham with a flavourful fat content). Despite devouring the entire dish, I’d say this was the perfect size for a lunch meal.

I returned the following week to try some lighter fare and ordered the Onion Soup with Crostini Topped with Mozzarella. To be clear, this isn’t French onion soup (which isn’t surprising since this is an Italian restaurant). That being said, I did quite enjoy this soup and it was perfect for warming me up on a cold November day. There were plenty of tender onion pieces in the soup.

I also had the Mortadella Focaccia ($12) with Provolone and Giardiniera (Italian relish) which wound up to be a bit carb heavy. The Italian relish contained chunky pickled veggies like cauliflower, beans, and peppers which made it a bit difficult to eat without falling out of the sandwich.

In the new year, I returned and tried their lunch special… Gnocchi allo Scoglio ($22). This has definitely got to be one of the best gnocchi dishes that I’ve had. The tender gnocchi was sublime and the meaty prawns and creamy tomato sauce just amped everything up a notch.

In late February, I returned during the Vanfoodster Lagana Challenge and tried their Passion of the Porcini ($18 during lunch). This is a really unique dish for me as I’m used to the lasagna that’s made with more of a tomato ragu. Instead, this dish relies on a creamy porcini mushroom sauce with nuts, rosemary, and cream. It really gives the dish an earthy aroma and the lasagna noodles were perfectly tender.

The pasta dishes here are really top-notch and I hope to be able to try out more dishes in the future.

412 6th St
New Westminster, BC

www.artusirestaurant.com