Barberian's Steakhouse- 7 Elm St (www.barberians.com)
Ever felt like wanting to go back in time...like waaaaay back? I'm talking times of our fore fathers, pioneer times. Well Barberian's is a place where you can definately do that. "Abringitback" was the theme here, and I swear I felt like I was back in grade 3, on a class trip to Pioneer Village.
Our quest for Toronto's greatest steakhouse found us on the doorstep of one Barberian's Steakhouse, located on the famous Elm Street. Since our dining partners live right next door, this place has been mentioned to us in many a thullard conversation. We wanted to explore a place with no frills, just good steak. And we got it alright.
Firstly, this place is old school. A small, dim-lit place, takes you back in time. It's got that musty, dingy, creaky wooden floor-type atmosphere. Which is fine, since we're here for steaks and not much else. But the place is a bit outdated. But maybe that's the kind of feeling they are trying to portray. Who knows. Let's eat first then talk.
So this place is so small, even though they have 3 rooms, the acoustics were killing us. I felt like I was on 'shrooms, hearing 18 different conversations going on at once. The people dining beside became our new friends, since we were literally right up in their grill, and vice versa. Not to mention our table was angled right in the path that connected the two rooms...which made for multiple entrances by all the waiters and staff. Oh well, if you like an intimate dinner, Barberian's is for you. However when I say intimate, I mean with everyone else in the restaurant, not the person(s) you're with. We found ourselves literally yelling at each other, which kinda sucked.
Now as I mentioned earlier, this place is stuck in the 1800's. Just as a side-nugget: Barberian's Steakhouse was founded in 1959, and the owner, Harry Barberian, decided to use his restaurant to pay homage to Canada's heritage, thus an extensive collection of paintings, artifacts and memorabilia house the restaurant. This would explain the mass amount of muskets and rifles found on the walls, not to mention the large stuffed animal heads placed conveniently beside the muskets. Not exactly what I want to be staring at as I cut through my steak. The tables and chairs are old and creaky, with table cloths and polished silverware dating back to the olden days. Again, this may be the feel they want their customers to experience, and thus I can't really complain about it.
Okay enough with the renassaince-chic decor, let's talk about the food. Their wine list was quite extensive, and quite expensive. We chose a random bottle, and some of it ended up on the table and on the floor...Not too sure why, as I'm sure our waiter had opened millions of bottles in his day. I think some of it even spilled on one of us. Not cool. So all 4 of us decided to go with the moderate-priced 10oz New York Sirloin, priced at $38.50. Barberian's has many options when it comes to steak including the Chateaubriand for 2 @ $86.00, 24oz Porterhouse @ $53.00, and 9oz Centre Cut Sirloin @ $28.75, to mention a few. At these prices, we didn't realize we were only getting a piece of meat on a plate, nothing else. Sides- $6.00. Peppercorn Sauce- $5.00. Everyone ordered one veg, and we all sampled each one. Spinach, Asparagus, Mushrooms and Mashed Potato, were pretty basic, nothing fancy about them, just steamed maybe with a little butter. I was the only one who didn't feel for the pepper steak, thinking I would at least get some sort of demi or sauce. Well I was wrong, I got sauce alright, in the form of blood. Bl-oooooo-ood? Well mostly just the 'juices' of my steak, that clearly had not been rested enough. Proper resting time for steaks, depending on thickness and size should be approximately 5-10 minutes. Mine looked like it was straight from the grill.
So now I have a huge thicket of steak swimming in a pool of blood sauce, staring me in the face. Is it insulting to ask for Ketchups? How about Tabasco? I think I would have been frowned upon if I did, so I just stole some of my lovely girlfriend's peppercorn sauce.
The steak, I must admit, was a great piece of meat, cooked to perfection. I personally, like mine a little crispy on the outside, so I opt for Medium, almost Medium-well. Their chef grilled this bad boy to perfection, definately on-point.
After gnawing through 3/4 of my steak I needed a serious breather. I'm kind of glad it didn't come with fries or pillowy mounds of mashed po-ta-to (a la Unlce Phil), otherwise I definately wouldn't have made it past the half way mark.
We all decided to 'D' dessert, as we were thoroughly full. A glance at their dessert menu didn't give me much hankering for anything in particular, but I'm sure the traditional New York Cheesecake or Creme Brulee would have been above par.
The Rundown:
Decor: 3/5- Definately traditional, but really outdated in my mind. But if you're going for an experience, this is truely a restau-seum, where you can dine and shoot the shit about random artifacts at the same time. Not to keen about the gats strapped to the wall or the animal heads right next to them. Felt like Ace in Part II, after entering that room...Oh the humanity.
Service: 3.5/5- Nothing to complain about, aside from the spillage of the wine. Knowledgable and friendly staff is always a plus. Still Very Traffic between dining rooms.
Food: 4.5/5- Great, steaks were cooked to perfection, but still wish I got some free gravy/jus/sauce. Although, many would argue a real steak should be eaten plain...I still would have like to see some horseradish or something. Their meat selection was impecable, and are choosing the right cuts of meat for their customers. Excellent marbling within the Sirloin, could have easily passed for a Striploin, to the untrained eye.
Price: 3.5/5- Meal for 4, including one bottle of wine, tax and tip, no dessert: $380. Prices were decent, you can't really get a good steak for less than $40, but as for value, meh. I should get a side of vegetables when I'm ordering a $40 piece of meat. Come on I can get a bunch of asparagus at No Frills for $1.99, and you want to charge me $5.00 for 10 pieces...That's toite. And I would have liked an option of sauce too...because the reality is meat is just meat. I'm not saying douse it with HP or A1, but some pan gravy costs nothing, it comes from the meat! You win-sum, you lose-sum, I guess.
Overall: 4 STARS out of 5
Barberian's Steakhouse has a lot of character. They know how to do steaks. And they do it proper. This place is old-school, which kinda gives it it's charm. Maybe we are all too caught up with the nuances of Kelsey's and (ugh) Moxies or (barf) Milestones, and we need more places that just take you back. It's good to know a place like this exists, for that once-in-a-while back to the past experience. I don't agree with some of the themes or tidbits of decor they have up on their wall, but that's just me...I'm a tough guy to please. But I don't really know anyone who'd like to stare at moosehead (not the beer) while they devour their cow, unless your name is Willy or Cletis and you live in a trailer park, or anytown, USA, for that matter.
Still, it's good to be a barberian once in a while, or Barbeera, as we like to call it. Sorry Jason. (reference: Jason LaBarbera, LA Kings)
Definately bring your appetite...And you wallet...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Makkah, Makkah, Makkah...Well Worth the Pilgramage
Makkah Restaurant- Danforth & Donlands (Greektown)
I don't frequent Indian restaurants too often...not only because I can eat this food at home, but for the most part most Indian places kill it with the oil/grease, and it does numbers on my system. After spending a weekend in Washington with buddy Kien, I realized he is quite the connoisseur of culinary delights. His background is Asian, Vietnamese to be exact...And he recommended this place called Makkah for some serious Indian/Pakistani food. At first I thought, how would an Asian know an Indian spot? (Sorry Kiener), but really after conversing with him over random eats over the weekend (Dennys', Baja Fresh, IHOP, Phillip's Crabshack, etc...blogs to follow) I realized he knows his stuff when it comes to eats. So we entrusted him with exploring this spot, and boy did he live up to his word.
This place is not your run of the mill, take-your-family-to-meet-your-fiance's-family type sit down fancy restaurant. And I'm glad it isn't. I would call this a serious hole in the wall, yet my rule of thumb is always- 'holes in the walls' serve the best food, bar-none.
Upon first impression, before we even got inside, I knew this place was ill. An open window reveals the front of Makkah's kitchen, with two huge Tandoori ovens right up in front, and the uncle, also known as Chef, or Boss, rolling out the naan and slapping it into the inside of the huge oven. I'm sold. There's nothing like fresh naan, and when I say fresh, I mean Frooosh. No butter, oil or grease needed to keep it moist. The naan itself is worth the drive to Acton (Greekton, to be exact).
So we let Kien do the ordering, since he knew best. Of course Winse had to have his samosa, and since they were out of the masala shrimp we fancied, we opted for masala fish. We also (over)ordered:
Chicken Biryani
Beef Biryani
Butter Chicken X 2
Naan Kababs
Tandoori Chicken Wings
Raita, chutney and ambli
and ample Naan
Okay so we are chilling in the back area, posted up beside a huuuuuge picture of, well, Mecca. The setting is very cafeteria-ish, but its cool because that's just how it is. There are no expectations at Makkah, just good food. Soon we hear the Boss call out that our food is ready from the front. We all took turns passing the trays to our table, and someone brought out our basket of froosh naan. As we placed everything onto our table, it was a great spread. Ithinkweoverbought! was the general consensus. So we just went nuts, leaving no naan unripped, no chicken butther-less, and nothing to take home, aside for some extra biryani. Between 5 of us, we went through it all, and it was amazing.
The naan kababs were a treat, not too big and not minner, the perfect size. Properly seasoned, although they looked like 'tuts' according to Winse. Still very good. The masala fish was exceptional, pan-fried perfectly with a nice crispiness on the outside, yet moist and flakey on the inside. The were like little Masala-Mcnuggets, with no 11-cent dipping sauce needed (screw you Bamburgh McDics). The biryani was flavourful, boasting nice even colour between rice and not overly saucy like the usual auntys' biryani. This was almost dry, and very tasty. Topped with some fresh cori, can't argue with that. The butter chicken was to die for...perfect balance of rich tomatoey goodness, not a lot of cream, but just enough, a little bit sweet....like they say in India, TOP NOTCH (head nodding from side to side). Tandoori chicken wings were nicely spicy, loaded with tandoori. Sippi would be proud. This is no run-of-the-mill Kelsey's chicken wing, that's fo sho. Did I mention how good the naan was? I think I did. We ordered 2 more baskets. Nuff said.
Whats the TOE-TAL?
So after a little game of RO-Lette, and Winson claiming that he was winning 649 this weekend, we got the bill. Actually there's no bill, you just pay on your way out. Our total was $78, including pops all around. Remember, they don't serve you so there;s no tip. Bonus. I was personally shocked at how cheap it was. All the more reason to Thank-You, Come Again.
An hour later I was still full, not running to the nearest facility, and felt in a good 'zone'. Pillowy mounds of butter chicken were all I could think about...
Overall scores:
Decor- 2/5 Nothing fancy, almost an Indo-chic if you will......with enough accents of "back home" to make you feel welcome.
Service- 4/5 Very friendly, almost a help-yourself attitude which is cool, and very inviting. Casual at best.
Food- 5/5 No need to say much more, first 5 on 5thstar
Price- 4.5/5 Cheap cheap cheap, but no shortcuts taken...
OVERALL- 4.5/5
Makkah exudes that feeling of 'our food is so good we don't need to have proper washrooms', or even 'we're not here to make billions, we just want to make good food'. Well Makkah, congrats on a job, well done... There may have been some terrorist meetings going on beside us while we ate, and I don't think we even noticed...
On a side-nugget: between the time we visited this place and the time I wrote this blog, I've already been back, and been even more satisfied. I ordered a few similar dishes, namely the butter chicken and the biryani, and needless to say, consistency is there. Now I know I can depend on Makkah to link the same great food, daily.
I don't frequent Indian restaurants too often...not only because I can eat this food at home, but for the most part most Indian places kill it with the oil/grease, and it does numbers on my system. After spending a weekend in Washington with buddy Kien, I realized he is quite the connoisseur of culinary delights. His background is Asian, Vietnamese to be exact...And he recommended this place called Makkah for some serious Indian/Pakistani food. At first I thought, how would an Asian know an Indian spot? (Sorry Kiener), but really after conversing with him over random eats over the weekend (Dennys', Baja Fresh, IHOP, Phillip's Crabshack, etc...blogs to follow) I realized he knows his stuff when it comes to eats. So we entrusted him with exploring this spot, and boy did he live up to his word.
This place is not your run of the mill, take-your-family-to-meet-your-fiance's-family type sit down fancy restaurant. And I'm glad it isn't. I would call this a serious hole in the wall, yet my rule of thumb is always- 'holes in the walls' serve the best food, bar-none.
Upon first impression, before we even got inside, I knew this place was ill. An open window reveals the front of Makkah's kitchen, with two huge Tandoori ovens right up in front, and the uncle, also known as Chef, or Boss, rolling out the naan and slapping it into the inside of the huge oven. I'm sold. There's nothing like fresh naan, and when I say fresh, I mean Frooosh. No butter, oil or grease needed to keep it moist. The naan itself is worth the drive to Acton (Greekton, to be exact).
So we let Kien do the ordering, since he knew best. Of course Winse had to have his samosa, and since they were out of the masala shrimp we fancied, we opted for masala fish. We also (over)ordered:
Chicken Biryani
Beef Biryani
Butter Chicken X 2
Naan Kababs
Tandoori Chicken Wings
Raita, chutney and ambli
and ample Naan
Okay so we are chilling in the back area, posted up beside a huuuuuge picture of, well, Mecca. The setting is very cafeteria-ish, but its cool because that's just how it is. There are no expectations at Makkah, just good food. Soon we hear the Boss call out that our food is ready from the front. We all took turns passing the trays to our table, and someone brought out our basket of froosh naan. As we placed everything onto our table, it was a great spread. Ithinkweoverbought! was the general consensus. So we just went nuts, leaving no naan unripped, no chicken butther-less, and nothing to take home, aside for some extra biryani. Between 5 of us, we went through it all, and it was amazing.
The naan kababs were a treat, not too big and not minner, the perfect size. Properly seasoned, although they looked like 'tuts' according to Winse. Still very good. The masala fish was exceptional, pan-fried perfectly with a nice crispiness on the outside, yet moist and flakey on the inside. The were like little Masala-Mcnuggets, with no 11-cent dipping sauce needed (screw you Bamburgh McDics). The biryani was flavourful, boasting nice even colour between rice and not overly saucy like the usual auntys' biryani. This was almost dry, and very tasty. Topped with some fresh cori, can't argue with that. The butter chicken was to die for...perfect balance of rich tomatoey goodness, not a lot of cream, but just enough, a little bit sweet....like they say in India, TOP NOTCH (head nodding from side to side). Tandoori chicken wings were nicely spicy, loaded with tandoori. Sippi would be proud. This is no run-of-the-mill Kelsey's chicken wing, that's fo sho. Did I mention how good the naan was? I think I did. We ordered 2 more baskets. Nuff said.
Whats the TOE-TAL?
So after a little game of RO-Lette, and Winson claiming that he was winning 649 this weekend, we got the bill. Actually there's no bill, you just pay on your way out. Our total was $78, including pops all around. Remember, they don't serve you so there;s no tip. Bonus. I was personally shocked at how cheap it was. All the more reason to Thank-You, Come Again.
An hour later I was still full, not running to the nearest facility, and felt in a good 'zone'. Pillowy mounds of butter chicken were all I could think about...
Overall scores:
Decor- 2/5 Nothing fancy, almost an Indo-chic if you will......with enough accents of "back home" to make you feel welcome.
Service- 4/5 Very friendly, almost a help-yourself attitude which is cool, and very inviting. Casual at best.
Food- 5/5 No need to say much more, first 5 on 5thstar
Price- 4.5/5 Cheap cheap cheap, but no shortcuts taken...
OVERALL- 4.5/5
Makkah exudes that feeling of 'our food is so good we don't need to have proper washrooms', or even 'we're not here to make billions, we just want to make good food'. Well Makkah, congrats on a job, well done... There may have been some terrorist meetings going on beside us while we ate, and I don't think we even noticed...
On a side-nugget: between the time we visited this place and the time I wrote this blog, I've already been back, and been even more satisfied. I ordered a few similar dishes, namely the butter chicken and the biryani, and needless to say, consistency is there. Now I know I can depend on Makkah to link the same great food, daily.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sotto Sotto...Oh So So-so
Sotto Sotto- Yorkville (Avenue + Bloor)
Okay, enough with the heavily-recommended places. Next time someone suggests a place, we're NOT going there. Expectations run way too high, thus setting us up for disappointment... Although I gotta give it to Sotto, they are everything a proper "grotto" (definition to follow) wants to be and more...minus the blandularity. Lets extract this experience...
Okay so if you've seen an episode of Sopranos, you know what a typical Italian restaurant should feel like. But this isn't your run of the mill Vessuvio's, where your family can dine side by side with mobsters SYL and Furio. This is more of a I-take-my-Guma(r?)-and-hide-out-here type of place.
After a quick reference from my good friend WiKi- a 'grotto' is defined as:
(Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans.
Cave you say? That's an understatement. I felt like a prized '65 Merlot hiding out in the depths of a Naples wine cellar, surrounded by darkness. Okay slight exaggeration but really, it was so dark that we had to double up our candles just to read the menus.
Upon arrival Sotto Sotto feels like one of those places you go to to be seen, or to say you've eaten there because you are cool. The collage of famous peoples plastered in the entrance kind of displays that feeling...A certain 'you're sitting at the same table as Denzel and Jennifer Love Hewitt', so this place MUST be good. Celebrities don't eat at shitty places, right? Hmmm...
I like the feel of a restaurant underground...something about it gives off some charm. Maybe because I can't justify walking up Six Steps anymore. Open concept kitchen as you walk in shows some pride and confidence in a restaurant, and quite frankly the chefs can't hide behind any walls or doors. This is like a diner's security blanket. Always appreciate places that will cook somewhat in the open...They can be watched, you can see how fresh their produce is, and you know everything is done from scratch. Plus.
Our dining room was toite. Meaning the sont of a busboy kept knocking me from behind each time he went to the other table. But this place is quaint so you can't really expect any elbowroom. Plus the tables were a fair size so I can't really complain. I liked the brick walls, inlay patterns and mini grotta caves (more so just cut-outs). Nice big window that showed us the snow-covered trees outside, also a nice touch. Very romantic.
Considering we trekked through blizzardous conditions on Saturday to get downtown, our appetites awaited some serious Italian cuisine. I like variety, but Sotto takes it to a next level. A very extensive menu, can be a good thing and a bad thing. Good because you have ample choices, but bad because you can't decide. I personally prefer a place that concentrates on a few good items instead of offering the whole farm, but that's just me. Approximately 15 different apps, 10 salads, 15 pastas, 8 fish, 6 veal, and a few steaks and chickens...MARONE! Thats a lot to choose from. Then came the Specials...Now most places I know have 1 special app, 1 special pasta, etc...Okay Sotto had like 8 specials. Serious tings. More confusion.
Our waiter was ill. Of course, his name was Tony (we called him TONE)...and he was not short on character. Singing while pouring our wine, making jokes with the ladies, you could tell he took pride in his job. But then again Italians are passionate about everything they do. I love it. He made this a good experience. Sometimes you go to a good place and the servers treat you like you've never eaten at a restaurant before. Tony made us feel like we reach this place daily. Although he forgot to bring us our requested spicy oil with our bread the first time around, he did hook us up with the 'special' olive tapenade after we dealt with the first round. This was a nice touch, 3 little nuggets of chillies in E.V.O.O, spicy olives, and a garlic mash for our breads. And I forgot to mention how they started us all off with complementary bruschetta (pronounced BRUS-KETTA, not BRU-SHETTA, sorry, just a pet peeve), before we even ordered.
So far so good.
Our apps arrived, including traditional Caesar salads- with slabs, literally, slabs of Parmesan on top...nothing too special. Special stuffed mushroom caps- meh. I had an arugola salad with pear and Gorgonzola with walnuts...tasty, except the gorg tasted like sock. Can't really describe it any other way, but cheesey sock. Usually from my personal experiences and schooling, and I'm no chef mind you, certain cheeses should : A) be crumbled on a salad, not one big brick, and B)tossed or marinated with the dressing, not just placed gingerly on the top. Da well what do I know? Although the combination of all 4 elements did go really well together, it still left a taste of foot in my mouth.
After a serious delay, we received our mains. Here's a quick rundown of what we ordered and how it fared:
- Osso Buco (Veal shank)- tasted great, looked like Ulti (throw up)- Presentation was lacking, severely
- Fettuccine with Salmon- very good, mild sauce, pasta was froosh (fresh), nice balance of flavours
- Farfalle with anchovies, capers, lemon- little too 'fishy' smelling, light sauce, still decent
- Penne with asparagus, Rose sauce- really good...tasty sauce, thick but not too rich
- Mamma Laura's Bolognese with Penne- in a word, bland. No taste. Send Mamma Laura back to Bologna to get a lesson in Italian Gastronomy 101...Lesson 1- add SALT AND PEPPER! Come on Sotto, you can't fail on a house specialty. The base of every Italian Kitchen is their mother sauce- the Bolognese, also known as ragu. If this is lacking, you've got problems. Maybe Mamma Laura needs to tune into Food TV, channel 52 at 5:00pm, daily, for a little show I like to watch called Everyday Italian. Giada can teach her a thing or two. And she's hot.
But I digress.
ScoreCard:
Decor/ Atmosphere: 4/5- Nice, quaint setup, a little dark, but still acceptable. Don't come here with a big party, as everyone will hear your conversations. Good place to people watch, as we dined next to one Donyell Marshall and Co, of ex-Raptor fame.
Service: 4.5/5- No complaints, Tony was entertaining (maybe had some thullard), friendly and knowledgeable. Gave us a quick vocab lesson too. Front of house staff was accommodating and on the ball with the coat check. It's good to see servers really work and earn their tips.
Food: 3.5/5- A little disappointing, as 2/5 dishes were bushy. Apps were not the greatest. Bread was good. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, as we only tried 5 items of like 132. So maybe we just picked the wrong ones. But the Bolognese-lack-of-salt is a big NO NO. Discouraging.
Price: 3.5/5- Our bill was $390 for 6 people, including 5 apps, 6 mains, and 2 bottles of Reisling, no dessert. Approx $65/person, including tip, is decent.
Overall: 3.5 STARS out of 5
Sotto Sotto, the critically acclaimed hot spot, Zagat-approved 'authentic' Italian restaurant, would have Tony Soprano himself spinning in his grave (did he die or not?) if he ate here. He himself would dunk Arti Bucco's hand in the bushy ragu if he was the chef here. This place is more atmosphere/service than it is food, in my opinion. There were some really nice touches, don't get me wrong, but for the most part, I would say it was just good. Nothing to write a blog about.
I would eat here again, but in a few years. Note- they DID have really good mints. Fruity.
Preggo!
Okay, enough with the heavily-recommended places. Next time someone suggests a place, we're NOT going there. Expectations run way too high, thus setting us up for disappointment... Although I gotta give it to Sotto, they are everything a proper "grotto" (definition to follow) wants to be and more...minus the blandularity. Lets extract this experience...
Okay so if you've seen an episode of Sopranos, you know what a typical Italian restaurant should feel like. But this isn't your run of the mill Vessuvio's, where your family can dine side by side with mobsters SYL and Furio. This is more of a I-take-my-Guma(r?)-and-hide-out-here type of place.
After a quick reference from my good friend WiKi- a 'grotto' is defined as:
(Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans.
Cave you say? That's an understatement. I felt like a prized '65 Merlot hiding out in the depths of a Naples wine cellar, surrounded by darkness. Okay slight exaggeration but really, it was so dark that we had to double up our candles just to read the menus.
Upon arrival Sotto Sotto feels like one of those places you go to to be seen, or to say you've eaten there because you are cool. The collage of famous peoples plastered in the entrance kind of displays that feeling...A certain 'you're sitting at the same table as Denzel and Jennifer Love Hewitt', so this place MUST be good. Celebrities don't eat at shitty places, right? Hmmm...
I like the feel of a restaurant underground...something about it gives off some charm. Maybe because I can't justify walking up Six Steps anymore. Open concept kitchen as you walk in shows some pride and confidence in a restaurant, and quite frankly the chefs can't hide behind any walls or doors. This is like a diner's security blanket. Always appreciate places that will cook somewhat in the open...They can be watched, you can see how fresh their produce is, and you know everything is done from scratch. Plus.
Our dining room was toite. Meaning the sont of a busboy kept knocking me from behind each time he went to the other table. But this place is quaint so you can't really expect any elbowroom. Plus the tables were a fair size so I can't really complain. I liked the brick walls, inlay patterns and mini grotta caves (more so just cut-outs). Nice big window that showed us the snow-covered trees outside, also a nice touch. Very romantic.
Considering we trekked through blizzardous conditions on Saturday to get downtown, our appetites awaited some serious Italian cuisine. I like variety, but Sotto takes it to a next level. A very extensive menu, can be a good thing and a bad thing. Good because you have ample choices, but bad because you can't decide. I personally prefer a place that concentrates on a few good items instead of offering the whole farm, but that's just me. Approximately 15 different apps, 10 salads, 15 pastas, 8 fish, 6 veal, and a few steaks and chickens...MARONE! Thats a lot to choose from. Then came the Specials...Now most places I know have 1 special app, 1 special pasta, etc...Okay Sotto had like 8 specials. Serious tings. More confusion.
Our waiter was ill. Of course, his name was Tony (we called him TONE)...and he was not short on character. Singing while pouring our wine, making jokes with the ladies, you could tell he took pride in his job. But then again Italians are passionate about everything they do. I love it. He made this a good experience. Sometimes you go to a good place and the servers treat you like you've never eaten at a restaurant before. Tony made us feel like we reach this place daily. Although he forgot to bring us our requested spicy oil with our bread the first time around, he did hook us up with the 'special' olive tapenade after we dealt with the first round. This was a nice touch, 3 little nuggets of chillies in E.V.O.O, spicy olives, and a garlic mash for our breads. And I forgot to mention how they started us all off with complementary bruschetta (pronounced BRUS-KETTA, not BRU-SHETTA, sorry, just a pet peeve), before we even ordered.
So far so good.
Our apps arrived, including traditional Caesar salads- with slabs, literally, slabs of Parmesan on top...nothing too special. Special stuffed mushroom caps- meh. I had an arugola salad with pear and Gorgonzola with walnuts...tasty, except the gorg tasted like sock. Can't really describe it any other way, but cheesey sock. Usually from my personal experiences and schooling, and I'm no chef mind you, certain cheeses should : A) be crumbled on a salad, not one big brick, and B)tossed or marinated with the dressing, not just placed gingerly on the top. Da well what do I know? Although the combination of all 4 elements did go really well together, it still left a taste of foot in my mouth.
After a serious delay, we received our mains. Here's a quick rundown of what we ordered and how it fared:
- Osso Buco (Veal shank)- tasted great, looked like Ulti (throw up)- Presentation was lacking, severely
- Fettuccine with Salmon- very good, mild sauce, pasta was froosh (fresh), nice balance of flavours
- Farfalle with anchovies, capers, lemon- little too 'fishy' smelling, light sauce, still decent
- Penne with asparagus, Rose sauce- really good...tasty sauce, thick but not too rich
- Mamma Laura's Bolognese with Penne- in a word, bland. No taste. Send Mamma Laura back to Bologna to get a lesson in Italian Gastronomy 101...Lesson 1- add SALT AND PEPPER! Come on Sotto, you can't fail on a house specialty. The base of every Italian Kitchen is their mother sauce- the Bolognese, also known as ragu. If this is lacking, you've got problems. Maybe Mamma Laura needs to tune into Food TV, channel 52 at 5:00pm, daily, for a little show I like to watch called Everyday Italian. Giada can teach her a thing or two. And she's hot.
But I digress.
ScoreCard:
Decor/ Atmosphere: 4/5- Nice, quaint setup, a little dark, but still acceptable. Don't come here with a big party, as everyone will hear your conversations. Good place to people watch, as we dined next to one Donyell Marshall and Co, of ex-Raptor fame.
Service: 4.5/5- No complaints, Tony was entertaining (maybe had some thullard), friendly and knowledgeable. Gave us a quick vocab lesson too. Front of house staff was accommodating and on the ball with the coat check. It's good to see servers really work and earn their tips.
Food: 3.5/5- A little disappointing, as 2/5 dishes were bushy. Apps were not the greatest. Bread was good. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, as we only tried 5 items of like 132. So maybe we just picked the wrong ones. But the Bolognese-lack-of-salt is a big NO NO. Discouraging.
Price: 3.5/5- Our bill was $390 for 6 people, including 5 apps, 6 mains, and 2 bottles of Reisling, no dessert. Approx $65/person, including tip, is decent.
Overall: 3.5 STARS out of 5
Sotto Sotto, the critically acclaimed hot spot, Zagat-approved 'authentic' Italian restaurant, would have Tony Soprano himself spinning in his grave (did he die or not?) if he ate here. He himself would dunk Arti Bucco's hand in the bushy ragu if he was the chef here. This place is more atmosphere/service than it is food, in my opinion. There were some really nice touches, don't get me wrong, but for the most part, I would say it was just good. Nothing to write a blog about.
I would eat here again, but in a few years. Note- they DID have really good mints. Fruity.
Preggo!
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