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| - I was heading to Terroni, but having spotted this place and having eaten at the one on Toronto Street for lunch a few days ago, i thought "why not"? It was about 9.15pm on a Friday night and the place was more than half full. I was "greeted" almost begrudgingly. The waitress seated me, commenting that they would serve me as long as I didn't take hours.
I was not offered any specials, nor could they decide who would serve me as I was asked by 3 separate wait staff what I wanted, twice after one had just taken my order.
I really wanted a glass of white wine but they have a very limited selection with many more reds by the glass so I had an excellent glass of Sicilian Shiraz.
First course I had griddled squid with a smoked paprika chic pea (garbanzo bean) stew, with a shaved salad and coriander. With those flavours I expected fireworks, but the squid was overcooked (or had been over chilled), the stew dull and lacking in flavour and the salad a cold nondescript nonentity. Dull, dull, dull. The addition of "fresh black pepper" made it no better and without salt on the table to season it, it was woefully under seasoned
The bread was the worst. This is an Italian restaurant, yet it serves limp, damp, cold bread. GET A NEW BAKER or bake it yourself, or griddle the bread, or do SOMETHING, it is awful. I even commented on this politely to one of the waiters who shrugged and said "yes, it's awful, isn't it?".
I rarely have pizza but tonight I did. It arrived when I was eating my starter. Great, what am I supposed to do, cram both in my mouth at once? Was this a hint that the staff that were gyrating behind the bar to the mind-numbing music wanted rid of me?
The pizza was flabby. The crust just a little too thick. The spicy sausage had been all placed in lumps, so it was dull in places and unseasoned and then you got a mouthful of salt and chilli from too much of the sausage. Not good, not good at all. The toppings on a pizza are not art, they are flavouring.
So, all in all, I wish I had not bothered.
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