Piano Piano — Restaurant in Toronto

My Partner and I brought my mother-in-law this past Saturday evening to celebrate her birthday. To be frank we do have mixed emotions about our evening here.

Upon arrival at 17:30 we were greeted by friendly staff who informed us they are able to accommodate the 3 of us but they would require the table back at 19:30 this giving us a 2 hour time frame to enjoy our meal ( which sounded great). Once seated , the bus boy brought us menus and asked us if we wanted some water to start with which, we agreed to ( Best part, we were charged for the water …). We sat for over 20 minutes before our waitress came to take our drink and food order. In the interim a table sat near us and were greeted by their server after 5 minutes of them being seated… as we still waited for ours to come …

My partner and I decided to share the steak platter for two ( $100.00 comes with 20 Oz steak, potatoes and salad) . My mother in law decided on the vodka pasta . For apps we shared ceaser salad, and the proshuutto platter. My MIL, asked the waitress if the pasta was spicy, waitress confirmed it’s made with chilli flakes, so we asked if she could get the pasta with out, and the waitress confirmed and also assured my MIL that the pasta will not be spicy…..

The apps we shared were delicious and left us extremely eager for the rest of our meal. Our main courses arrived, and we weren’t as enthusiastic… The steak and potatoes were cold and my MILS pasta was undercooked and was spicy…..

At one point I got up to go to the bathroom , and I guess the waitress over heard us talking and asked if we were celebrating a birthday, I told her it was my MIL’s and she asked “ oh that’s great, can we do a little dessert to surprise her” I thanked her and told her that was very sweet of her. Desert time came and so did the surprise desert along with this great big sparkler… Had an other surprise when the bill came that we were charged for the slice of cake , $20.00…. even though it seemed as if when it was presented to me that this would be on the house. I didn’t say anything , because hey, mother in laws bday … just going to let it slide but I was taken by surprise with this upsell tactic… having worked in the industry many years myself, I certainly didn’t appreciate this.

19:15 came and we were quickly reminded that the table was needed at 19:30 and were presented with the bill, we all chugged down our coffees and quickly left.

Conclusion.  Apps: Delicious, generous portion and well presented  Steak platter to share: Over rated, could have included some vegetables , could have been hot  Vodka pasta: undercooked and though assured not spicy, was spicy  Sneaky Upselling tactics not appreciated  20 minutes from the moment we sat to when we first saw our waitress and were able to order drinks also not appreciated. (Especially when on a time constraint due to the table being reserved)

Overall minus the few “hick ups” that happened we did enjoy our time there. The atmosphere is pleasant, and the staff is curtious. As for the food, not what we expected ( main courses ) but are willing to give this place an other try...

This popular Italian restaurant was recommended by my sister. We came here to celebrate her birthday. Reservations for groups of 6 or more require you to give your credit card. If you don't show up, they will charge $25 /person.

The place wasn't packed yet, but as soon we hit dinner hour around 7 pm - 8:30 pm, it was completely full. There are seats on the patio available, but it was chilly to tonight.

The server was nice, and she greeted us and asked us if it was our first time here or not. That's a great way to open a conversation with your guests, and I appreciated that. She also answered our questions about the family style dinner $65 / person. Since we had some specific dietary preferences, we just ordered off the menu. The menus are very cute and made into a fold up newspaper with headlines to guide your eyes around it. It's a Great looking menu!

Now for the food. We ordered some appetizers and snacks to share. The proscoutto crudo was fresh and delicious. Nice sweet grapes served on top along with some grated Parmigiano. I didn't try the shrimp cocktail $13, but there were 4 large tiger shrimps served on a martini glass. My nephew enjoyed it. The calamari fritti had a nice dipping sauce, but for $19, it was a little bit overpriced for the portion size. Spicy Manila clams $14 were served on top of a foccacia bread. The sauce wasn't overpowering or spicy. The clam meat seemed to be miniature size, but the taste was on point. I ordered the Chicken Piccata $32. It was a lightly breaded chickn breast topped with arugula, and the sauce had a hint of lemon, garlic, capers, and parmesan. I loved soaking up the fried chicken in the sauce. Very well executed dish! My wife ordered the roasted seabass $32. This was served with manila clams, chopped potato cioppino. The seabass was fileted and had a nice crispy skin, and the meat was cooked perfectly. Another well presented dish! My brother's Veal Parmesan is $36, which was massive. The long tbone made the dish stand out. If you are a carnivore with a big appetite, this would be the go-to dish. The other dishes looked appealing. My nephew did note that the meatball in the rigatoni dish was a bit on the dry side. Maybe Nona had the day off on Thursday.

The desserts were pretty good. I like the Nutellla Tiramisu and chocolate caramel budino. The soft serve was nothing special.

Service was great, and the server even brought a sparkling candle to accompany our desserts for my sister's bday. Very nice touch.

Now, a few things that need improvement. Our table had a few annoying fruit flies that kept flying around our food and drinks. This place is super loud when it's full. The acoustics and soundproofing of the walls reduce the noise bouncing off the walls. If you're looking for a romantic place to have a date and casual conversation, then look elsewhere or plan to eat here quickly and relocate to a lounge or cafe for a night cap. This venue is good for girls' night out. The food and service were excellent here. Portions could be bigger for some dishes. We will try to visit their downtown...

If I could give 0 star for the service, I would. It was my best friend birthday yesterday and she is going through tough time and didn’t want to celebrate it. Her husband finally was able to convince her to go out and has reserved table for 4 of us to have a small celebration with closest people to cheer her up and have a good time together. The server was giving us an attitude for a whole 1 hour we have been there since we arrived and kept ignoring us throughout the evening although we asked for service. Food took so long to come and when it came, the server just rushed it though as of she wanted us to be out as soon as possible. After the meal, Waiter brought a cake and although we asked for cutlery, she said it’s a restaurant policy that “you can’t cut cake at the table and there is cake service fee you have to pay”. I came to her to politely ask about the policy and ask what is going on away from my friends because I didn’t want to escalate further situation in front of everyone in the restaurant. She kept defending that is the policy while I was trying to 1. understand the situation, since I was not aware of it, I wasn’t the one who booked the table. 2. Ask to bring plates, tissues and cutlery. However, after the small chat, I have realized there was no communication- it was a monologue where waiter kept being defensive and I didn’t want to argue, I am trying to enjoy the evening. As I was about to sat down to the table, she came, and just ran away with the cake, not asking as if we would like to take the cake and cut it at home. I brought this up to their supervisor and as I was talking to her, the waiter kept jumping into conversation and reminding about policy. We(my friends and I) understand, everywhere has their own rules, we don’t mind paying for service, but it would be nice if she asked us if we would like a cake wrapped and we can cut it ourselves at home - just give people an option, be considerate, not everything is a fight. Please educate you staff be kind and patient. Everybody have bad days, you never know what people are going through, especially on...