| rev:text
| - What shocks me most about Luci is not that it gets generally high marks from various online sites but that the fairly tough Toronto Star gave it a *** review only a couple of years ago. Amy Pataki is a very solid restaurant critic and three stars from her usually means that the place is money. But in this case I have to fairly strongly disagree with her pretty much across the board. Also please note that although I'm only posting my Yelp! review now, I actually ate there in February of 2012, the same time hers was published. So although it has been a couple of years, I really have no inclination to go back and give it a second chance.
The initial impressions walking in were quite positive, a decor that said upscale but not stuffy. My party was greeted warmly, promptly seated and offered water. Off to a good start. Sadly, the same level of service did not continue throughout the meal. While certainly polite, it would be a stretch to call our service attentive. Please note that it wasn't especially busy, simply a typical Saturday night. We were asked if we wanted wine (which of course we did), though only once. Our glasses were refilled but we were never asked if we wanted a second bottle...I can't remember the last time that's happened to me, especially for a party of four. We certainly would have sprung for it had they asked but they didn't bother so neither did we. Also there really was no "how is everything", other than perhaps once after our appetizers arrived and there certainly should have been considering how the food turned out.
Two of us ordered the Caesar Salad ($9.50) and it was an embarrassment. The salad itself was very small, which would have been fine had it not been so lacking in every way. The flavour was nonexistent, to the point where they actually included small bowls of extra salad dressing on the side for some reason, as if to say "we know this may be bland, so feel free to add more dressing". I've never come across that. Not to mention the fact that both plates had perhaps two croutons each and three very small strips of shaved parmesan. But the worst part? The salads were wet and it doesn't seem as though they had bothered to dry the lettuce at all.
The Insalata di Rape Rose ($8.50) was much better flavour wise, but correct me if I'm wrong: doesn't that translate into "Beet Salad"? Well, much like the parmesan on the Caesar, the amount of actual beets on the plate was miniscule. The crab cakes ($12.00) were good, but again a major problem: there was a fairly sizable shell found inside. Choking or chipping a tooth is not something one expects while eating crab cake.
As for the mains, the problems continued. The Spaghetti Dal Mare ($22.00) tasted a little like chow mein. A filet mignon ($28.00) which was ordered medium-well was quite clearly well-done. Not impressed. And the mashed potatoes that accompanied it were absolutely stone cold when they arrived. This was the one complaint we did actually voice at the time and at least they were replaced with ones that were actually hot, if somewhat pedestrian. Happily for me the dish I ordered, the Fettuccini di Nonna ($15.00), was delicious, a lovely blend of goat cheese, eggplant, tomato sauce and mint. It was the only real winner of the evening, so far as I was concerned.
The Crème Brulee ($9.00) was very tasty to be sure, but not for what you're paying. For example North 44's Crème Brulee is four dollars more but I'd have paid double. With it, you're in desert paradise. Luci's was just trip to Orlando by comparison.
Luci may not be a terrible place but it's also not three out of four. Not even remotely close. There were positives but there was also A LOT wrong here. If I could describe Luci Restaurant in one word it would probably be "careless". Wet lettuce, indifferent service, cold potatoes, overcooked steak and a stray crab shell? Simply put, it's not worth it. There's no shortage of similar places in the area and unless I'm getting a free meal, I'm going to try one of them instead.
|
![[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)