Bistecca Italian Steakhouse and Winebar

A large group of my friends went to Bistecca Italian Steakhouse and Wine Bar for a friend's birthday (Karen - she is a great baker!). I'd been there once before for another friend's birthday and really enjoyed myself so I was excited to go back for more.

It's part of the Sorrentino's Restaurant Group and definitely follows the aesthetics of the other restaurants in the group. The dining room is very large and dimly lit. The restaurant is lucky to have beautiful large windows and each table has classic white linens. We were lucky to get a spot in the back where they had a fireplace in the wall going, and with Edmonton weather being what it is a fireplace is always a great touch. Overall it has the fancy backbone of many steakhouses but has a comfy atmosphere to it at the same time.

The ladies of the group shared some Tenuta S.Anna Pinot Grigio, which was light, fruity and enjoyable (I love Pinot Grigio). I started off with the Arugula Salad which had toasted pine nuts, sopressata Abbruzzese (salami) and goat cheese. This was great! It was peppery and savoury, with a sharp acidic dressing, balanced with the creamy cheese and roasted flavour from the pine nuts.

For dinner I had the Marinated Flat Iron Steak. It was prepared to medium rare and had a great char on the edges. This was served with long stem broccoli and croquettes which were both well prepared. The meal was very good, though I felt the steak could have used a sauce to accompany it (which you can add for a price, but in my personal opinion think it should come included).

Full of wine and steak I didn't have room for a full dessert, but did snag a bite of Karen's chocolate cake. This was definitely made with very dark chocolate because it has the unmistakable bitterness to it.  It was dense but still felt light and was a great bite to finish off the meal.

The service was good - our waiter was pleasant and attentive when it came to refilling glasses. The only issue I had was that he opened up and served us a second bottle of wine when we didn't order it, so we ended up spending more on drinks then we had planned.

I really enjoy Bistecca. It's not a far stray away from most mainstream steakhouses but has a personal style to it that doesn't make me feel like I am eating a cookie cutter meal. I've yet to try their pastas but heard good things from those who ordered it that night and definitely plan to sample something from that section of the menu next time I go.