Cucina Market Bistro — Restaurant in Calgary

I’m sad to say that Cucina, once one of our favorite spots, has gone significantly downhill. Our recent experience was very disappointing. We had a reservation for 9 people during lunch, made well in advance. We arrived at 11:40 AM, but our food didn’t come out until 1:20 PM. Watching other tables, including those who arrived long after us, receive and finish their meals while we were still waiting was frustrating and awkward. By the time our food arrived, lunch service was practically over, and the delay had us all concerned about being late for our afternoon commitments. When we politely asked about our food, the manager’s dismissive and rude response—that our group was large—felt like they were blaming us rather than taking responsibility. If they can’t handle large groups, they really shouldn’t accept such reservations.

The most baffling part was the treatment of one of our orders—a salad. It was made right away and left sitting on the counter, visible from our table, for about an hour until the rest of the meals were ready. Yes, an entire hour! When our dishes finally arrived, they still served this sad, stale salad. Of course, we had it sent back and asked for it to be redone.

As for the food itself, it was a mixed bag, but mostly disappointing. While the dishes were served hot and the chicken was well-prepared, everything else fell flat. The salmon was fresh, but the accompanying sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans were bland and lacked seasoning. On the flip side, the pasta dishes were overly salty. The conchiglie with braised beef and pancetta had poorly balanced flavors, while the bucatini with sausage was nearly inedible due to excessive salt, overpowering the delicate prawns in the dish.

The manager eventually applied a 10% discount for the delays, but it felt like too little, too late. Worse, the lack of an apology or any genuine acknowledgment of the inconvenience left a bitter taste. Sadly, this experience has convinced us not to return. Cucina is simply not what it used to be, and that’s...

I liked the overall casual and cozy atmosphere. We started with the octopus which consisted of two tentacles a few potatoes, greens and some crispy bite that I didn't know the name of served with and avocado sauce. It was a bit pricey and the dish didn't really deliver on taste. The octopus was almost too soft it made it seem like it had gone bad, but that might just be a personal preference thing. There were bits of sourness and creaminess to the dish and overall the flavors just didn't compliment each other and the dish fell apart for me. For the main course I got the confit duck tagliatelle and my friend got the feature of the day which was a baked pasta with oxtail and a tomato sauce. The tagliatelle was my favorite dish of the night. It was simple but had a nice flavor. The pasta was cooked perfectly and you could taste bits of duck in every bite. Overall the flavors of the dish really came together well. The oxtail pasta was another story. The first few bites were pretty good, but it soon got to be too much with all the tomato sauce. Overall the dish felt very heavy and could have benefited from some freshness or maybe a bit of acid to help with the heaviness of the dish. The biggest let down of the night was our server who seemed to have RBF. Even when I tried to crack a joke, either she didn't hear it, or was just not in the mood. She made me scared to ask her anything so I didn't even get a refill on my water. Sad to say with all the options out there I don't think I would ever return to this restaurant based on my...

Such a disappointment! I am having coffee at Cucina almost every day and their barista is the best of Calgary. I decided to book a dinner, being also always 100 % satisfied with their pastries as well (I suspect they are made upstair at E.A.T. Service: below average. In my opinion, waiters need to know how to serve wine without any splashes and open a champagne bottle correctly. It is okay to ask if everything is okay but you need to care about the answer and not leave before guests have time to reply. Food: Such a disappointment! some of the dishes had not enough salt and seasoning (scallops carpaccio) and some too much (mussels). My mum taught me at age 10 to not add salt to mussels, then taste and adjust if needed as mussels are already salty (especially if you add salty bacon like they did). Toasts with the tartare were half burnt, as well as the toasts for the mussels (therefore was not an accident). The Porchetta was cooked perfectly but the sides were just “okay”. The eggplants were good but kind of mixed with the mash potatoes. Talking about the mash potatoes, it was barely better than at Montana’s! I usually love the food of Dominique being a regular client of Cassis. Cucina needs big improvements (staff training and slightly more inventive recipes) given the very high bill. May be they are saved by the lack of true...