Toscano Restaurant

Went for lunch on a warm June day.

The decor is very dark and sombre-lots of dark woods and little natural light even on a sunny day.The lunch menu is much less expensive than the dinner menu.

Strangely, there is a list of pizza's available-which is odd for a restaurant that is clearly aiming for "high-end" status based on the price points.

The Caesar salad starter was nice and fresh, but at this price I would have expected more shavings of Parmesan cheese-note to restaurant Grana Padana is NOT Parmiggiano Reggiano.For an expensive restaurant that aims to be really Italian this is not excusable. The fish stew of my guests was fine if salty,as was the swordfish.The chicken Milanese was way overcooked and had no moistness, and the salt content was something that keeps pharmaceutical companies who peddle statins very happy indeed. Overall, we all felt that the chef should be separated from his salt shaker which may be grafted to his hand from the saltiness of the food.Also, potatoes should be peeled!At this price level, unpeeled potatoes are just a sign of laziness, masquerading as "rustic". Potatoes in Italy ,when served, are peeled.

The restaurant is quite noisy as there are no soft furnishings, and all that dark heavy wood tends to echo and amplify the loud voices that seem to be the norm in the USA.Opening the front windows onto the street is not a good idea as the traffic is very noisy and only a few feet away.
Comment on this reader review

C.Elder
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Friday, June 10, 2011