Pick the kind of pasta date
- Keep control of the sauce and additions: Café Diplomatico.
- Choose two distinct composed pastas: Contrada.
- Plan around a Monday package: Sotto Voce.
The price examples for two
All amounts are CAD, before tax and tip. Café Diplomatico and Contrada examples are food only, excluding drinks and dessert. Sotto Voce’s package includes a glass of wine per person; its total is not comparable to a food-only subtotal. Orders differ in quantity and are starting points, not promised complete meals.
| Restaurant | Example order for two | Posted subtotal | What changes the plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Café Diplomatico | Spaghetti with garlic, oil and hot peppers 16 + penne with pomodoro 17.25 + bruschetta 12 | 45.25 | Sauce and protein additions have their own charges |
| Contrada | Rabbit tagliatelle 31 + duck agnolotti 36 + bread 9 | 76 | Recheck the linked menu for your date |
| Sotto Voce | Two Monday salad, pasta and wine packages at 30 each | 60, including wine | Monday only, published 5–10 p.m. |
Café Diplomatico: make the pasta your own
594 College Street · Little Italy
Café Diplomatico is the practical choice when you know how you like your pasta and want to see what each decision adds. Its current linked main menu separates the pasta base from the sauce: spaghetti and penne are CAD16, garlic with olive oil and hot peppers carries no sauce surcharge, and pomodoro adds CAD1.25. A sauce choice is also a spending choice; the menu tells you what each adds.
That flexibility is the reason to choose it here. It also asks you to pay attention: a different sauce or a protein addition produces a different order and total. Two people can start from different shapes and still share bruschetta.
Use the official reservations page for the booking route. Confirm the intended dinner time; the restaurant’s published business closing hours are not a kitchen cutoff.
Contrada: let the pasta dishes do the choosing
537 College Street · Little Italy
At Contrada, the decision is between composed dishes rather than a build-your-own formula. The restaurant-linked menu lists tagliatelle with rabbit, mustard and tarragon, and agnolotti with duck confit, orange and pistachio. Those are two different preparations you can discuss before reserving; we have not tasted either.
Choose this when each diner wants a dish with a clearly stated direction and both are comfortable with the CAD76 example food subtotal. It asks for more food money than our Café Diplomatico example. Adding another course changes that budget again, so agree whether the starter is essential rather than treating it as automatic.
The official contact page lists dinner from 5:30 p.m. daily. Use its reservation instructions and recheck the menu: the available PDF is a posted selection, not a guarantee that every dish will appear on your night.
Sotto Voce: make Monday part of the agreement
595 College Street · Little Italy
Sotto Voce belongs because its Monday offer gives two people a different planning option: salad, pasta and a glass of wine at a published CAD30 per person. The restaurant links to an authorised OpenTable page that lists the experience for one to six guests, Monday 5–10 p.m.
This suits a couple who can choose the day around dinner and wants the package as offered. It is less useful if Friday is fixed or one person does not want the included drink. Ask about the actual pasta choices and any substitutions before booking; the public offer does not promise every item from the regular menu or a non-alcoholic exchange.
The regular menu includes garlic-and-oil spaghettini and rigatoni with mascarpone, lemon, pistachio and thyme. Those examples show the restaurant’s range, but they are not confirmed selections in the Monday package.
Keep the date’s budget readable
All three addresses are on College Street. Pick the restaurant that suits your order, not the one with the lowest number without reading what that number buys. Café Diplomatico’s figure includes chosen sauces; Contrada’s counts two specific pastas and bread; Sotto Voce’s includes wine.
If you are splitting the bill, agree whether starters, dessert and drinks will be shared purchases or separate choices. That small conversation is more useful than an assumed per-person allowance based on a menu’s cheapest pasta.
Then check the date, party size and terms at the restaurant’s actual booking route. A booking page establishes how to ask for a table; it does not show that your preferred time is available. If a dish matters to the date, confirm it rather than assuming a saved menu remains unchanged.
Choose the order you both want
Choose Café Diplomatico for customising a relatively small starting order, Contrada for two composed pastas, or Sotto Voce for the specific Monday package. The date does not need another course to count as a date. It does need both people to be happy with the plan.
Research-based recommendations, checked 13 October 2026 against official menus and restaurant-linked reservation information. Top Food Spots has not visited or sampled these meals.