Sempre Uno is Good, but the Star is the Service, and the Location

Sempre Uno is an Italian restaurant located in North Vancouver, which in my opinion, lacks options in the higher end category of restaurants. This is true for the North Shore of Vancouver in general, which is surprising considering it is one of the highest income areas of Canada. Therefore, Sempre Uno was a welcome find in this area. The atmosphere is nice and people are well dressed which is rare to see on the North Shore where people are dressed more for the active lifestyle that draws many to the area (mountains, hiking etc).

Anyway, we started with a couple Caesar salads which were well balanced between umami, saltiness and acidity. The attention to detail was apparent early on with all the salad plates being placed CHILLED.

Next, some oysters which were fresh and meaty. Note that we also ordered some caviar but were later informed that their inventory had gone bad.

For our pasta courses, we had three. The first, and my favorite of the evening, was the gnocchi and chicken in a parm cream sauce. It was extremely delicious and well seasoned. The dish used a fair amount of garlic which added to the complexity of the sauce. Very very very good.

The lobster pasta was pretty good. The pasta needs to be more al dente.

…and finally, the pork sausage ragu. Was pretty good also, especially if you like the taste of fennel.

For our mains, we had the crispy sea bass. It was cooked well and pretty good.

However, the star was the Florentine porterhouse. It was cooked perfectly medium rare. The meat was tender and delicious.

Both dishes were served with a side of vegetables.

Throughout the evening, I was impressed by the friendly service. One of our group ordered some warm water, and he constantly came by to refill her cup with more warm water without having to ask. I have never seen this in a restaurant before as warm water is a labor cost for the restaurant without bringing in any revenue. He was also constantly cleaning up anything which fell on the table.

For dessert, a negroni ice cream sandwich. This sounded good on paper, but was probably the only disappointing dish of the night. It didn’t taste like a negroni.

There was a hazelnut pudding which anyone who is a fan of Nutella would love. I also liked the honeycomb on top.

Lastly, a chocolate cake which was just ok.

Overall, service was fantastic and the food was really good. This is a good choice, especially if you are on the North Shore. I would good back and recommend.