Il Capriccio on Vermont

Posted by Edmund in Italian, Los Angeles, Restaurants | 0 comments

Italian Food.
$10 to $20 for entrées.
1757 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027-4305.

Italian is perhaps my favorite of all cuisines. Unfortunately, my favorite go-to, cheap Italian place closed down a couple years ago. Ever since then, I’ve been looking for something to really take its spot, and I think I may have found it in Il Capriccio.

I went to Il Capriccio with my family the other day on a recommendation from my brother. Driving through the neighborhood, I can’t say I was too impressed. Los Feliz isn’t my favorite neighborhood, after all. Nor is the interior of the restaurant much to note. I can’t say that it’s located in one of my favorite neighborhoods, nor is the interior of the restaurant much to note. It’s a little small and cramped, without much space among tables, and it has very little decoration to it. To be fair, though, you don’t come to this restaurant, and especially to Los Feliz, for the ambience. Moreover, the service more than makes up for the ambience. Our waitress was prompt, amiable, funny, and just very welcoming, putting us at ease.

As for the food, I really can’t complain at all. Most everything was at least good and there were a variety of options, including both the classic American favorites as well as more unique Italian dishes you won’t typically find at other places. And it really wasn’t that expensive. In fact, we got a decent bottle of wine, 3 entrees, an appetizer, and dessert for about $100, and the portions were rather large, too. That’s a value, especially in LA.

Overall, it was a great experience, and Il Capriccio is quite the find. It serves very simple, high quality Italian food at a low price. It’s not the best food you’ll eat, but at the price point, it would be hard to find better food.

What I had (recommendations in bold):

1. Fried Calamari: The calamari was fried on the lighter side, which was nice, but it had a feeling of greasiness to it. It wasn’t too crunchy, but the meat was tender and delicious nonetheless, and the saltiness was just right. The sauce provided was also very good—a spicy, somewhat sweet marinara that really added a nice kick. 8.0/10
2. Pollo Vesuvio (chicken breast oven roasted with white wine, garlic, and rosemary), served with (plain) capellini—This is the health food dish that my brother ordered. For what it was, it was quite good. Just a nice moist chicken breast drizzled in a very, very light, herby sauce. If you’re looking to keep a diet, it’s an extremely good choice. In comparison to the other dishes, it’s really monotonous, since it lacks almost any saucy flavor. The capellini, on the other hand, was delicious beyond belief for something that was literally just pasta drenched in olive oil and cooked with some garlic and pepper. The pasta was perfectly cooked and incredibly light but with a very fresh flavor to it. 9.0 for health food. 7.5 otherwise.
3. Tagliolini Neri con Gamberi (black squid ink pasta sautéed with shrimp and caramelized onions in an ocean pink sauce): This was my dish, and it was very good. The black ink pasta really stood out with a bold flavor to it—like a bitterness in the pasta. And it was complemented really with the pink sauce, a light, cream and tomato-based sauce, as well as the sweetness of the onions, which was rather subtle. The shrimp was also very well cooked and great with the pasta. 8.5/10-8.8/10
4. Chicken Parmesan: This is a light chicken parmesan, with little batter, sauce, and cheese. It really doesn’t lose much in flavor, though, and it doesn’t leave you feeling as greasy as others. The chicken really comes through, too, since so little sauce is used. Personally, I prefer a richer, stronger tomato and cheese flavor, but this wasn’t bad. 8.0/10-8.5/10
5. Cannoli (filled with chocolate and vanilla Ricotta cream with orange zest): This was the one mistake of the night. I thought, “Hey, Italians love cannolis. This must be good.” Unfortunately, the restaurant decided to change the traditional recipe to make it a bit more flavorful, I guess, adding in an orange zest flavor. The zest was not only so overpowering that it overshadowed the flavor of the vanilla and chocolate, but it added such an unsatisfying bitterness that my brother couldn’t even swallow his piece of cannoli. Moreover, the cream, specifically the chocolate, wasn’t really flavorful. The chocolate didn’t taste much like chocolate, nor did it have much sweetness to it. To be fair, though, the dough on the cannoli was very good—fried to a crisp, and with a nice sweetness from the sugar. 5.0/10