Ristorante Sotto Sotto — Restaurant in Toronto

AVOID TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE BETTER OPTIONS ELSEWHERE was served 3 risottos when I asked for one, and was blamed by the staff that I ordered that many risotto was raw as well

I was quite excited to try this place with two friends. The miscommunication ruined the whole experience for me.

Knowing that the lunch stops at 3pm and that the risotto takes 40 mins to cook. I called in ahead of time to speak to someone around 1:30pm to have my amalfi risotto ready as I was making my way there. I spoke to a server, I informed her that I wanted 1 order of the Seafood risotto for a table of 3 people. I think it was this point where the miscommunication happened. She agreed and said it will be ready for us.

We arrived at 2pm, we spoke to the initial server and I asked him about the risotto, that I called in about. And he's like is it for here or to go? I told him that we were dining in.

We were seated and waited for 40 mins. Before the risotto came out. To our surprise they brought us THREE RISOTTO dishes. Mind you, on the menu the risotto dish serves 2 people. At no point in time between 2pm to 2:40pm there was any clarification on the order. So I asked the server and informed him that I only wanted 1. So he fetched the server that I spoke to on the phone. And she insisted that I ordered 3 Risottos. I tried to explain to her that party was not ready to eat 6 peoples portion of risotto.

My experience is already ruined at this point. I don't know why she would think that I would want 6 people amounts of risotto. I could've tried other things in the restaurant.

The risotto itself looked amazing. So if the food was okay I didn't mind.

Unfortunately the risotto was under-cooked. It had a grainy, sandy texture that stuck to the teeth. I informed my guests, and another one agreed with me. I let the server know, he brought Chef Massimo Renzi tableside and he just told me it was cooked al dente, and that he used carnaroli rice.

So know we're stuck eating extra risotto that was under-cooked. My other friend thought the rice was fine, until he tried the one underneath the top layer. I'm assuming that the chef probably tasted that top layer and thought the other rice cooked as well.

The seafood in the risotto was perfectly cooked but the dish was spoiled under-cooked rice.

I think ultimately the experience was ruined when I got 3 Risottos instead of 1. Which caused the quality of control to go down on the rice.

You will see in the photos that you can see the centre of the rice. Which is an indicator that the rice was raw.

Even if none of this happened my dish was not made ahead of time. Still had to wait 40+ mins. I could've just...

We had dinner at this Italian restaurant a few weeks ago for dinner, hoping for a meal that would truly impress us. Unfortunately, it fell short of expectations, especially given the steep price tag.

From the start, the experience was underwhelming. The bread served was cold—almost as if it had come straight from the fridge—and was accompanied by flavorless olive oil and what seemed to be wine vinegar. A quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar would have made a huge difference.

For the appetizer, we ordered the Antipasto Gordonia, which was a small and uninspired selection: a single grilled tiger shrimp, a small calamari, a caprese salad with just one basil leaf and a small bocconcini, a few roasted peppers, a couple of small pieces of Asiago cheese, and a handful of grilled vegetables. While not terrible, I’ve had better antipasto at Italian weddings.

The pasta dishes—the wild mushroom pasta and the truffle pasta—were both good, but not particularly memorable. The Chicken Scaloppini with Porcini Mushrooms in White Wine Sauce was mediocre, lacking depth in flavor, while the Branzino was tasty, albeit a bit salty. However, branzino is hard to mess up, so it wasn’t exactly a standout dish.

For dessert, we ordered the tiramisu, berry cheesecake, and Italian cookies. While somewhat tasty, none of the desserts were particularly special or memorable. I was really disappointed they didn’t have the torts de la Nona or the torts ricotta and pistachio that was listed on the website menu. Very disappointing. The dessert menu selection was the same old selection you can find at any chain food restaurant.

The atmosphere was another disappointment. The restaurant was packed, and the tables were crammed so closely together that we could clearly hear conversations from multiple tables away. It felt more chaotic than cozy.

At a total of $460 (with only two drinks included), I expected a far more refined dining experience. While a few dishes were decent, the overall experience didn’t justify the price. If you’re looking for an unforgettable Italian meal, you may want to...

Sotto Sotto was my first fine dining experience when I was in high school. I still remember the juicy chicken breast, asparagus the size of cigars and salad topped with warm goat cheese.

This was my first time returning to Sotto Sotto in many years and I was extremely disappointed. Mainly because of the service.

The girl (hostess) when we walked in was extremely rude and unwelcoming. Lol I actually felt sorry for her as she gave us such a fake and hopelessly miserable smile as she looked at us with disgust and said: “reservations?” She took us to our table and told us we had to be out of there by 7pm. There is a much more hospitable and classy way to convey the same message. But I guess if someone doesn’t have any grace or class, what can you expect?

Our waiter Andrea was very kind and the guys that brought us our meals and took our dishes were so sweet.

The Calamari/Shrimp, Caesar salad, Grilled Salmon, Pennette Via Frattina and Strawberry Tiramisu were great. The Affogato was served with freezer burned ice cream which was shocking for a restaurant of this ‘caliber’

The one thing about the food service was that twice they brought out the wrong items… once they brought out the Caesar salad with bacon (which we don’t eat due to religious reasons) and second they got the sides for the grilled salmon wrong) The kitchen seemed to be asleep as the restaurant wasn’t yet busy.

I think all in all, the experience would have been decent, had the initial person who greeted us been polite and done what a hostess should do. WELCOME the patrons of the restaurant where she WORKS. Due to her rudeness, it left a bad taste in our mouths and affected the rest of our dining experience.

Needless to say, we met some other diners outside the restaurant as we were leaving and we had a lovely conversation with them. They made us laugh and because of them, we left with smiles on our faces.

Perhaps management could take this seriously and have a chat with the immature girl who they have chosen to be the front face of...