Oretta King West — Restaurant in Toronto

I had a horrendous experience this past Monday night. I had booked the tasting menu for two of us with the drink pairing. It became clear quite quickly that there wasn’t actually a tasting menu or drink pairing as we were asked to pick our food from the menu when we got there. We said we had no allergies and would take the tasting menu as it was intended by the chef (otherwise why advertise one). After 25 mins with nothing in front of us other than tap water I asked a gentleman in a blue blazer and white tee when our drinks would arrive and if it might be best to order a drink before the dinner. He proceeded to passive aggressively advise me that “tasting menus, you get the wine and food at the same time”, which we said we knew, but it had been 25 minutes and if it makes sense for us to order a cocktail then we’d like to see a menu. Blue blazer then said “well we can rush it for you” and I said we’re looking for transparency not asking the kitchen to rush anything. When the food rolled out we realized the server didn’t know what the tasting menu was and so they sent out a cook to tell us each dish, poor dude was nice but as this is not standard practice he was nervous, I felt for him tbh. The wine pairing was not presented at the table and the bottles we were being served had been open, likely on the weekend so there was a sourness to them. Dinner started with bread and fresh ricotta, hands down the highlight of this sad meal. Next up - cucumber salad, mandolined slices of cucumber rolled up and stacked on a plate with a small amount of dresssing underneath. Next up lemon ricotta pasta, was good but we just literally ate an entire plate of ricotta before this so a weird choice there. Next up was a short rib ravioli with bolognese which was honestly just so underwhelming, seasoning was not there and the short rib was tough, we felt this was another dish they needed to just get rid of some ingredients before they went bad. This was followed by lamb, which had salt on one side with no other seasoning. Next up was dessert which we asked to take to go, it was pastry from their cafe and some hazelnut whip. Overall it’s safe to say there isn’t a tasting menu (at least on Mondays) and this was a cash grab. As two gay girls, we always hope that we can get service on king st since we live so close and have a great time but this just felt so insulting. The blue blazer manager was just so pretentious and full of attitude. Our server and cook were nice but I expect a bit more when dropping $400 on a meal. I called the resto the next day, was told I would be called back, which they did 5 hours later at dinner time so I was unable to answer, there was no message left with a name and number to call back so, figured I’d warn other folks especially those in my community that this spot isn’t the one for us. Too bad, as an Italian i was looking forward to an authentic experience but all we got was carelessly put together food, old wine...

I recently visited Oretta King West, and honestly, my expectations were much higher than what I actually experienced.

Starting with the drinks - I asked for a nonalcoholic cocktail and was only offered two options: one with a coffee flavor and another with spicy orange notes. I went with the orange one, expecting a bright citrus taste, but what I got was extremely spicy water with barely any hint of orange. Even though I usually enjoy spicy flavors, this drink was just unpleasant. I told the server it was too spicy to drink, and while they did remake it, it tasted like they just added sugar. It was still overly spicy and lacked any real flavor.

As for the food, I ordered their most popular pizza with dates and prosciutto. It was tasty, but unfortunately, it was served cold and not pre-sliced. I had to tear it apart with my hands because the table knife couldn't cut through the dough.

Service was very mixed. On the one hand, the staff smiled at everyone and one server even offered to take a photo of me and my friends, which turned out great. On the other hand, no one came to our table unless we flagged them down. Even though the place wasn't extremely busy, we had to wait and actively try to get attention just to order something.

The dessert was also disappointing. I saw photos in online reviews of a beautiful tiramisu served in a glass cup with a nice presentation. What we got, however, was a small square slice that looked and tasted more like a basic cake — dry sponge layers with a heavy, greasy cream. Definitely not what I expected from a restaurant of this level.

The interior is nice, but the restroom situation was strange. First, it's located on the second floor with awkward stairs — I almost fell while wearing heels. Second, there's no separate men's or women's restroom - just a row of about five private rooms. Inside, the space is very small and dark, the door opens inward making it hard to close, and there's barely any room to move. Instead of regular soap, they had some sort of exfoliating scrub - not ideal for people with sensitive skin. The hand dryer barely worked, and the door lock kept jamming.

Would I recommend this restaurant? That's a tough one. I personally wouldn't go back, but if you're really curious — go and see for yourself. The restaurant isn't terrible, but it definitely didn't live up to the hype. Also, it's not the most comfortable place for taking photos since there are tables and people all around who look at you weirdly when you...

(Last visited 2/13/2022.) Hanging out in Toronto for Valentine's Day weekend and you know that we BRUNCH! So when we went hunting for bottomless mimosas in the area we landed on Oretta! So here's how things went!

Atmosphere/Appearance: This place is located right downtown so you'll need to find a place on the street or a parking structure to put your fly ride. The exterior of this place looks just as grand as the inside! It's amazing. There's quite a few tables outside for outdoor dining during the warmer months. Once inside you're just thrown into a grand venue. It looks almost like a freaking church or wedding ballroom in here. The ceilings feel like they're 25 feet tall. There's swooping arches, mirrors everywhere and just so much grandness in here. I loved it. The high ceiling and open floor plan certainly also help diminish the noise level from everyone talking.

Service: I can't remember the guy's name that took care of us, but he was AWESOME. He was handsome, efficient, sweet, make excellent recommendations and made our brunch experience just that much better.

Food: So of course we're here for the bottomless mimosas so we made sure to indulge in those! You only get 90 minutes so make sure to pace yourself! For my entrée I went with the Tagliata De Manzo which is a 6 oz. flatiron steak served next to crisp potatoes all underneath fried eggs and black truffle shavings. It was delicious. All the flavors were straightforward. Everything tasted natural and not over seasoned. The black truffle shavings were much lighter than I had expected, but added an excellent accent flavor. After that we were presented with some bombolones! They're fluffy, cream filled (could be a variety of flavors, but one of ours was chocolate and one was a strawberry flavor), grapefruit-sized balls coasted with a dusting of sugar. They were absolutely delicious. These were my favorite part of the brunch and they were an excellent sweet finish.

Value: (All values in $CAD.) As an American coming over to Canada, almost everything feels like a deal of some sort. Lol. So to go bottomless it's gonna be $28.00. That's excellent if you're a drinker. My entrée was $30.00 and the bombolones were $6.00 a piece. Everything is absolutely worth it. It's a bit of a fancier place so you'll have to pay to play, but again, worth the experience.

When I'm in town again, I'm surely going to make time for this place. I had a great time here and I'm sure that...