| rev:text
| - A group of us recently came here on a Friday night to give this place a try in hopes that our dining experience would simply be different from what the customers. After reading the number of dismaying 3 star rated reviews for Via Vai I was really debating on whether to join our dining group and had to make ample research of their menu to see if the offerings could get my curiosity going. In the end it was actually the pictures of the interior which looked like a wing of the AGO had been converted into a restaurant, that got me sold and I went for a meal here.
Even walking up Bay St around 6:30pm when it is starting to get dim outside, that huge mural looming over the bar is not hard to miss.
The ambiance is rather cozy and relaxing that whether you're here for an intimate (date) night out, just dining with friends or needing to unwind briefly after full day at work, you will probably feel re-energized while having just a drink or sharing some appetizers with your companions.
However, the positive experience at Via Vai seems to just halt after the overwhelming absorption this artfully swished-up ambiance.
The group of us learnt this the hard way when our food came to the table. Each of our meals were brought over in a timely fashion, however, the presentation and quality of workmanship of each dish varied, which was noticeable when more than one order of the same dish was brought. The very best example of this inconsistency was the Nudja which is composed of Tomato, Rapini, Spicy Sausage and Caciacovallo. Three of us ordered this pizza and the difference in doneness between all three plates would leave people who seem them speechless with irritation, such as my pizza...
So the first pizza Nudja that was brought to the table looks so well-presented and appetizing, and so did the second one that was brought over. Then the third pizza came looking so unrecognizable that I thought it was a different pizza from the menu. After a a few seconds of denial about this actually being my Nudja pizza I came to the acceptance that the top had been so over-cooked that it looked like the final stages of a solar flare on the sun. I decided not to make a complaint about it and because the pizza was thin enough that I folded each slice like a New York-style Pizza, starting with the most charred part (depicted in the pic) and just devored it as quickly as I could. And have you ever seen a pizza pie base that has been cooked to perfection ever flake up and fall onto your plate with each bite???? I have, and that's just what kept happening with my pizza.
And just when I thought I was the only one who was having this "slight" mishap did a few other members including the hostess for our dinner face similar issues with their pizzas. A Margarita pizza that was brought looked picture perfect on top; the tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese looked balanced in color with the basil leaves holding their raw form. But when the person tried it, he felt the dough was undercooked and had it returned. The person beside him also had her Margarita pizza brought over only find that it was just more baked than the first Margarita pizza. All around the edge of the pizza were splotches of charred spots that one would find on a naan or flat bread and the basil leaves on top were also cooked that they seemed to have shrunk from their original size.
The discord over the varying differences in which the pizzas were cooked spread through-out our table to the point where I could notice the people who had the well-made pizzas looking uncomfortable and embarrassed over the complaints made by those who had the fluke-out pizzas. I felt quite bad for the embarrassed members of the table because I also usually don't want to make a huge fuss over a dish if it doesn't look reasonably prepared. However, what occurred at our table the food was such an unnecessary mishap that could have been carefully prevented by the staff in the kitchen that it was unavoidable to hold one's disappointment in the quality of the meals.
Our server was really apologetic and tried her best to compensate by offering to ask the cooks to make something different that might positively change the appetites of the disappointed members of our table. I could really hear the sincerity in her voice when she was trying her best to lift the already settled discord among our group, and even when we made our way to the door after paying our bills she delivered the same sincere tone about the mishap over our dining experience.
The concept and formula at Via Vai makes for a very soothing fine-dining ambiance and I would not like to see that eye catching restaurant front disappear so suddenly if the reviews continue to be negative. Yes, 2.5 stars for the appealing interior design but I can't eat the walls or the wine bottle tower. Please get the quality of your dishes resolved and hopefully the current group of Yelpers will have a change of heart and give Via Vai favorable chance
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)