Dining in Vancouver – Tramonto

River Rock Casino
We have been to the River Rock Casino numerous times. We stayed in the hotel when it was newly built and we still lived in Whistler – the rooms are terrific. We have also attended several meetings, events and trade shows since the PGA of BC has started calling the River Rock home to its events. We have spent hours in the Curve Lounge, dined at the buffet once, spent some time in Lulu’s lounge in the casino and of course played Roulette a few times too. But this was the first time we had eaten at Tramonto.

Menu and Service
Tramonto is located on the second floor of the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, BC. It has views over-looking the Fraser River from many tables. The decor is upscale – white linen, dark wood, banquettes and great lighting – but not stuffy. The menu includes a mix of southern Italian classics and local fresh ingredients. We were with a group of 6 and Steven our waiter did a terrific job of figuring out right away that we were going to be a handful and dealt with us perfectly the whole night. He was funny and attentive but not hovering, and he gave us terrific service.

Food and Wine
Tramonto has a fairly extensive wine list with offerings by the glass. half bottle and bottle. They were out of my favorite Blue Mountain Pinot Noir so we started with a Kettle Valley Merlot. It was enjoyed by the table but I found it a bit on the spicy side. Our terrific server Steven managed to find two half bottles of Blue Mountain Pinot Noir which I proceeded to enjoy at least one of myself. The wine list has a good selection from Canada, US, Italy, Australia and France as expected. There was also a really good choice of wines from Spain and Portugal.

I was too busy talking and forgot to take pictures of everyone’s starters but the feedback was great. Jeff and I shared the Dungeness Crab Cakes. Being in season the crab was fresh and flavourful without too much filler. The coating had a bit of spice to it and was not too thick. Overall a pretty good start. Other appetizer choices included the Escargot with grilled artichokes and seared Qualicum Bay Scallops. No one at the table tried the gnocchi with poached lobster meat – hopefully it is still on the menu next time. Out of the six of us we ended up ordering 4 different entrees and one starter as an entree. I decided to take pictures of all of them because even before they were tasted we could all tell we would enjoy the meal. And we did indeed. Steven then managed to convince the kitchen to let organize dessert plates for us so we could all share. My favourite was the Pecan Tart while a few others chose the Creme Brûlée. The food was great. The service was great. We like the location – an easy Canada Line ride from downtown. We will definitely be back to Tramonto again.