Brunello At 27 On Fourth — Restaurant in Collingwood

We have been coming to Collingwood for over 20 years and always like to try all the restaurants. Somehow we missed Brunello’s, maybe cause it’s located on the side street.

I ran into an acquaintance at a local restaurant who mentioned that they go to Brunello’s and they have good food. So I looked up the review rating and it was highly rated.

We decided to go and try it out one night. Omg!!! It was a big mistake! The place looked really cute and I couldnt wait to try their food and cocktails. We were seated by the window in one of the small rooms. I thought that was cute and very intimate. It took a long time for wait staff to come to our table but we were being patient.

I usually order an espresso martini at every restaurant I go and then I rate it (in my head only). I give it a 6 out of 10. It lacked sweetness and crème. It tasted more like a cold brew. My husband ordered the Negroni. It tasted very bitter as they used the cheapest gin. I guess he could have asked what gin they use. But this being his fav cocktail and when we go out, it was by far the worst he has ever had.

Then we ordered an appie. Again, I decided to go with my fav dish which is carpaccio. I’ve had this dish at many restaurants that serve it. Most of my experiences have been positive when ordering this. However, at Brunello’s I was gagging at the appearance and first bite. Some of the pieces of meat looked brown. The arugula looked old. And the piece of baguette tasted stale. My first bite of the meat tasted off and it tasted like they poured vinegar on it. My husband was not impressed either and was concerned that he will get poisoned if he ate it.

The waiter came to check on us and I explained to him everything that was wrong with it. The waiter immediately grabbed the dish and did not look happy. He tried to explain that it was lemon juice on the meat and that he made the bread that day.

Then we ordered our main. I got the cod with veggies and my husband ordered a pasta chicken dish in pesto sauce. I didn’t realize that the cod would be deep fried as it wasn’t mentioned on the menu. It came in a tomato sauce. It was ok but I wouldn’t order it again. You can’t go wrong with veggies on the side. Unfortunately they only gave me a butter knife and I had to struggle to cut my hard carrot and corn on the cob. My husband’s entree was mediocre too. He said it was drowning in the pesto dish.

We wanted to try the desserts but at this point were afraid to try anything more and being disappointed again. So we decided to skip the dessert and go to another restaurant where we know we wont be disappointed. We got our bill and left and drove to the next place that had great desserts. On our way, we couldn’t stop laughing about how bad this place was. Then I wondered why people like the food there and I guess cause they don’t...

We were craving some old fashioned Italian food and we’ve previously tried Tesoro, so decided to give Brunello at 27 on Fourth a chance. With a 4.6 Google Review rating, we had moderately hopeful expectations.

While Brunello’s does provide the obvious staples of a stereotypical Italian menu, it was, sadly, mostly disappointing.

I started with a negroni, while my guest had the carpaccio. The negroni certainly wasn’t offensive, but neither was it particularly well-crafted. Hard to tell if it was pre-batched, but if it was, it didn’t hit the mark. A negroni is a fairly straightforward recipe. This wasn’t quite there.

The carpaccio was similarly not especially well-received. I mean, it wasn’t that the meat was off or had any major consistency issues, it just didn’t feel right. And the presentation was circa 1970-1985. White plate, grill-marked bread, dollop of parm shavings in the middle, a single line of olive oil and cracked pepper.

I mean, it’s fine. It’s just not new. Or interesting. And if the taste profile doesn’t elevate it, it’s just boring and not particularly well-done Italian-inspired food that can be found in many many places.

The pasta came. We had gnocchi Pomodoro and ravioli con funghi.

Again, I just felt it was very uninspired. And I could be wrong, but it really didn’t feel as though the pasta was house-made, especially in the case of the gnocchi. The ravioli, in particular, was overcooked and each parcel had split (as you can see in the photos). The sauce was a tad too rich and overly creamed.

I guess if you can’t cook Italian and haven’t had really good pasta and sauce, this may feel like “a true Italian experience”, but having had expertly prepared Italian in multiple places, having made damn good pasta dishes myself and knowing a true Italian experience, this wasn’t it.

There was dessert too, but it’s not really worth a detailed review, because it was cheesecake.

I know this review sounds harsh, but when you go to an “Italian restaurant” and the quality is sort of on par with a generic chain restaurant serving everything from burgers, Tex-mex, pub food and pasta, then are you really distinguishing yourself?

It’s not terrible. It just wasn’t really good.

And the decor is a flashback to Italian-inspired restaurants from the 80’s to the 90’s, with the walls painted to mimic aged and cracked Italian plaster, replete with Chianti bottles in straw.

My apologies to the owners and staff if you feel this is unwarranted, but perhaps it’s time to mix things up and create a more authentic menu with a few...

I went to Brunello's with my wife for our anniversary and her birthday and we were disappointed.

The place looked cosy and the waitresses gave a friendly vibe at first. Plus the fact that the washroom was clean was a good sign... but to be honest this is not a high end restaurant.

I don't mind a high bill as long as I get the service that goes with it but in this case the food was overpriced and the service needs some kind of management.

At first our table was not ready, and we booked it in advance and I went to the restaurant before hand to make sure that everything would go according to plan. P We were supposed to have 1 waitress but got 3 different ones throughout the evening which caused some communication issues at some point.

We ordered the very nice sounding "Gnocchi al Pomodoro e Basilico" and that's exactly what I got except that I was not expecting the not so nice overcooked gnocchi with canned tomato sauce and what I believed to be dried basil.

My wife ordered the "Ravioloni con Funghi" and they were nice, though a little bit too salty to our taste. That's a safe choice knowing that mushrooms can't be overcooked.

We sent back the gnocchi and I got the ravioloni because it tasted a lot better and it was actually home made.

We finished with a simple crêpe with nutella and banana with whipped cream. It came with alcohol but since we stay away from it, we asked them to remove that part. (I also asked the waitress to light a candle on whatever my wife ordered for dessert, which she did). We were served a drowning crêpe with bananas for lifebuoys, and to be honest we still don't know what the liquid was but at first we thought it was the alcohol we asked to remove but then the waitress told us that it was orange juice so it was either a really bad and strong orange or there's some funny business going on there.

Unfortunately the waitress lost her tip when she traded her smile for a nasty exasperated gaze after we told her about the crêpe; the bill was the only conclusion we all silently agreed upon the refusal of the dessert.

Anyways I just wanted to share my experience and of course my judgement can't be 100% objective since it was a black dot on a perfectly good night but I tried to give an honest review. People at the other tables seemed to enjoy a lot the place and the food so I guess it just didn't...