Green Salad Green Salad
Eataly

Eataly

25155 Bloor St WON M4W 1A6, Toronto, United States

Wine • Pizza • Cheese • Italian


"These two weeks, Eataly is doing a promotion that it costs about $26 for a 2 course meal. So my Italian girlfriend and I decided to try it out, however it was extremely disappointing…?One of the most iconic dish in Italy, Bruschetta, was served with half a toast and some ricotta cheese with a little of honey drizzle… completely different from what bruschetta is.We also order arancini, which is another iconic Italian food. It only came with two fried balls. Inside, it is not stuffed, it was simply just a fried risotto ball with some peas, which has minimal flavor and cheese. It comes with no sauce.Salad was very simple, anyone who knows how to chop can make it, nothing fancy, portion is small.Pizza was a bit better and authentic, not too bad, but it costed EXTRA $8The fettuccine pasta, costed extra $10. They were supposed to cook the pasta hot, place it in a wheel of parmigiano reggiano cheese, let the cheese melt and mix it with the pasta, and then serve on the plate in front of you. Initially the server did it with another customer by mistake, and then she just handed the pasta to us. It was already cold/warm by the time it was handed to us. We talked to the server about how the pasta wasn’t hot and we missed the show, they just use the same plate of pasta, which we had eaton and tried, into the same wheel of cheese and did it in front of us. By the time it was on the plate in front of us, it was cold, not even warm. The flavor was there but it’s a plate of cold pasta.Overall, I paid about $100 for 2 people. A lot of items require you to pay extra. The portion is small. Quality isn’t great. I could have a lot nicer Italian food somewhere else. Eataly gave me a fast food vibe, but just the environment is a bit nicer, pretend to be a fine dining restaurant.As a foodie who loves and knows Italian food, I will NOT come back and I advise people NOT to go there. There are a lot of other nicer Italian restaurants, including Piano Piano, Trattoria Neevosa, Tosto… that serve really good Italian food that worth the money you spent."

Ugo: An Italian Cafe

Ugo: An Italian Cafe

3865 Cardiff Ave, Culver City, United States

Soup • Steak • Pasta • Pizza


"One's first impression is this is not a dine-in restaurant. Inside, we were led to a small isle of about six tables along street facing windows. We were seated at one of those, a scarred wooden table and wooden chairs with cracked plastic seat cushions. While waiting for a fourth guest to arrive, we ordered a bottle of wine and an appetizer. The wine list was minimal, but I chose what appeared to be their best offering, a Brunello di Montalcino from an unfamiliar producer. Our server first brought a wrong bottle, not the Brunello, and went back for the correct one. When she inserted her waiter's corkscrew, the cork immediately began to crumble, not a sign of good storage. She left with the bottle, presumably to get a different one, but another employee returned with the same bottle, apparently having more expertise with opening wine bottles. I expressed concern about the dry cork and asked if the bottle had been stored upright instead of on its side? She said all their wines were stored upright! I said to go ahead and see if the cork could be removed without crumbling into the wine, and I would taste it to determine if it was still good. Fortunately, the rest of the cork was removed and appeared to have maintained a secure seal between the wine and air. There was no off taint on the nose and it tasted free of oxidation- OK to drink. Our calamari appetizer arrived and we were pleasantly surprised after our initial impressions. The calamari rings were lightly breaded, perfectly prepared and served with a very flavorful and nicely spiced dipping sauce. Our fourth guest arrived and we ordered our entrees. We had never received a bread basket, which was finally noticed by another employee. Three of us had different pasta dishes and the fourth chose salmon with vegetables. Those of us with pasta, all enjoyed our meals; but my other guest thought her salmon was too bland. Bottom line: Food was good, service was poor, and not for wine lovers."