The Express impresses
Never mind the name — you’ll want to make some time to sit down and enjoy eating at The Express.
The Westdale restaurant is related to the Grays Road eatery of the same name. This newer location is much smaller than its massive east end sister, but there were plenty of free tables the night my partner and I visited.
As soon as we walked in the door we were hit with the delicious smell of the wood-fired oven Express uses to cook their thin-crust pizzas.
Our server, who was efficient but a bit aloof, immediately took drink orders. Express has wine on tap (a dream for my own kitchen) as well as a handful of beers.
We started by splitting a large arugula salad. Garnished with dried cranberries and Parmesan (plus black pepper and additional parm), it was light and tasty. The white balsamic dressing was perfect— not too wet and not too dry.
My partner pored over the pizza menu for a while. All pies had interesting toppings including buffalo- spiced chicken and Asiago, potatoes and rosemary, and rapini with in-house pepperoncino.
In the end, he went with the quattro stagioni — tomato sauce, mozzarella, prosciutto, artichokes, black olives and mushrooms. The prosciutto was sliced wafer-thin and lightly crisped. All pizza options can also be served as a calzone for an additional fee.
I had the salmon steak with a side of penne with tomato sauce. The pesto-topped steak was large and nicely seared — fresh and flaky with a crisp crust. The pasta side was also impressive, both in terms of size (roughly over a cup of pasta)