One of the most popular Italian chain restaurants in Toronto, Scaddabush Italian Kitchen + Bar opened in Scarborough on July 2016.
On August 3rd, I was invited to the media dinner, a family-style meal prepared by Executive Chef Steve Silvestro, at this brand new Scarbrough location of Scaddabush located across from Scarborough Town Centre (580 Progress Ave) right beside Jack Astor’s.
The interior of Scaddabush Scarborough is quite charming and cozy. It reminds me of a huge rustic cottage with its dimly lit chandeliers, family-style tables and fancy candlelight holders.
Seated at the long family-style table, we were a small group of five food bloggers in total, along with volunteers from the Bluffs Food Bank, the charity that’s supported by sales of the home-made “Charity Bread” at Scaddabush Scarborough.
One thing to love about Scaddabush Italian Kitchen + Bar at this location is it has a Mozzarella Bar for people who want to watch and learn how fresh mozzarella is made, or just want to see some #cheeseporn.
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Dinner at Scaddabush Scarborough
For our first round of appetizers, we shared the following items:
- 3-Cheese Charity Bread – Topped with asiago, provolone and mozzarella
- Spicy Charity Bread – With fresh red chillies and hot banana peppers
- Naked Fresh Mozzarella – With extra-virgin olive oil, focaccia crostini, San Marzano tomato jam, sea salt
- Bomba Burrata – Infused with cream, spicy roasted tomato and chili ragu, fresh basil, double-smoked bacon, extra virgin olive oil, chili flakes, foccaccia crostini
- Regular Burrata – Infused with honey and truffle cream, focaccia crostini
For the Charity Bread, my favorite was the 3-Cheese Charity Bread since I’m a big lover of cheese.
It came on a sizzling pan and the warm cheese was just so good with the bread.
Of course, we had to try their super popular Fresh Mozzarella! Between the Burrata and Mozzarella, I still stick to the Naked Mozzarella as my favorite.
For me, nothing beats the simple fresh mozzarella with sea salt and jam. It’s just perfect! On a side note, their fresh mozzarella is made-to-order between 5pm and 11pm.
Round 2 of appetizers:
- Regular Meatball – 1/2 lb meatballs are made with fresh Certified Angus Beef ® ground chuck, ricotta cheese and parsley, marinated with garlic, black pepper, and porcini mushrooms.
- Stuffed Meatball – Regular Meatball stuffed with Mozzarella and Pepperoni
- Caprese Salad – Fresh mozzarella, Campari tomatoes, baby arugula, herb oil, basil
One of Scaddabush’s most popular items is their Signature Meatballs. They are huge – the same size as a baseball!
I prefer the stuffed meatball over the regular one since I really love cheese so the addition of the mozzarella, which is melted inside, was just amazing!
Round 3 calls for some pizzas:
- Smoked Bacon & Egg Pizza – Double-smoked bacon, mushrooms, freshly cracked egg, stracciatella, chilli oil, mozzarella, caramelized onions, chilies
- Sophia Pizza – Marinated chicken, goat cheese, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh basil
I really loved the Smoked Bacon & Egg as I enjoy all the toppings they have on it!
There is also an added playfulness of breaking the egg and spreading it around the pizza. Always enjoyed that!
Pastas for Round 4:
- Pesto Pollo Fettuccine – Sautéed chicken, baby spinach, semi sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto cream sauce
- Lobster Spaghetti – Lobster spicy tomato cream sauce, roasted tomatoes, roasted peppers, arugula, poor man’s Parmesan
- Zucca Ravioli – Butternut squash ravioli, grated Grana Padano cheese, hazelnut butter cream sauce, fried sage, poor man’s Parmesan
Pasta at Scaddabush is made in-house daily. There was something I really liked on each of them.
Overall, my favorite was the Zucca Ravioli. The Butternut squash was just amazing with the al dente ravioli
I really liked the huge meaty chunks of lobster in the Lobster Spaghetti, but prefer the basil pesto cream sauce fettuccine than the tomato cream sauce spaghetti.
Last round were desserts:
- Zeppole – Deep fried sweet dough, dusted with citrus sugar, served with chocolate hazelnut sauce for dipping
- Tiramisu – Lady fingers, sweet marsala, espresso, mascarpone cream, cocoa
- Cheesecake – Mascarpone, Amaretto, hazelnut crust, mixed berry compote
I really liked the Tiramisu and I believe it was a consensus among the food bloggers.
However, the Cheesecake had an interesting twist. Initially, I wondered why they would serve that as there’s nothing Italian about Cheesecake. But what I found is they added Amaretto to it which really gave a nice and unique taste!
For drinks, I tried their non-alcoholic beverage Lemon Rosemary Soda, which I really enjoyed. It was highly refreshing!
During the night, there was a social media contest going on: whoever posted on social media (Twitter, Instagram or Facebook) during the event and got the most engagement/visibility wins.
Guess who won? Me! 🙂 I didn’t know the prize when it started, but it ended up to be a $50 Scaddabush Giftcard. Yay!
When dinner ended, everyone got a gift bag which included: a pizza scissor, a beer mug, and a 25% off coupon for your next visit to Scaddabush Scarborough, which will be great to use in conjunction with the gift card.
I’ve been to Scaddabush in downtown Toronto before. Though I wouldn’t say it’s completely traditional Italian, I still enjoyed it overall for what it tries to accomplish.
They do have their merits and they have things that you won’t normally find in Italian Restaurants like the fresh mozzarella and baseball-sized meatballs.
So I actually recommend trying those dishes you normally won’t find in traditional restaurants. You’ll be surprised.
Scaddabush Italian Kitchen + Bar
Website / 580 Progress Ave, Scarborough, ON
Disclaimer: Although the food was complimentary, the opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the company’s.