Via Allegro Ristorante — Restaurant in Toronto

Went last week with colleagues to Via Allegro, by Sherway Gardens. Rang up a very hefty bill. Here is my experience at Via Allegro. (1) This restaurant is boisterous. I was telling my colleagues, who all agreed with me, that I've been to quieter Leaf games than this restaurant. During my time there, I had to leave the restaurant to take an important phone call, which ate into my dinner time. (2) The food, I ordered the 36-ounce rib steak (priced daily). Had I known in advance from our waiter that it was $229 that day, I probably would have never ordered it. My fault, I never asked, and the server, who was brutal, never volunteered the info either (more about the service later). I ordered the steak medium. Came out less than medium rare, but not rare. The serving I received could not have been 36 ounces. There was absolutely no flipping way it was 36 ounces. I don't believe for 1 second a 36 ounce steak, no matter how you slice it or dice it, would all fit in a very common white plastic 6" diameter take-away container that’s 2" deep. If you guessed it, I didn't get a chance to eat any of my meal as I spent most of my time on a urgent phone call that I couldn't ignore. Took all of my food order home and re-cooked the steak in a cast iron skillet with olive oil and butter. Furthermore, I received my steak pre-sliced, and it was spread out on my plate before it arrived at my seat, perhaps to make it look like a 36-ounce piece of steak?? My colleague who is a big meat-eater agreed that it wasn’t a 36-ounce piece of meat. The fancy potatoes that came as a side were undercooked and still raw. Threw those out in the garbage at home. The asparagus covered in panko breadcrumbs was cooked well, but absolutely no flavour, whatsoever. What a shame, no salt, no pepper, no garlic on the asparagus, just plain, with what seemed to be planko breadcrumbs. (3) As for the service, way below average. This senior male waiter didn't seem to have any patience. There was something about him that was irritating. He seemed to be rushed. You couldn’t pay him enough to crack a smile or even make any suggestions. It just felt like he was upper-class and we were lower-class guests. At the end of the evening (remember I hadn't eaten anything), a couple of my colleagues, incl. myself, were not even asked if we wanted dessert or coffee. I really couldn't wait to pay the bill, leave and write this review. I was truly disappointed. Will I go back? Most likely NO!. Will my office colleagues return? Most likely NO! Do I recommend this place? NO!.. for the prices they charge, the quality and the level of service, it's nothing special. This is not the first time we have been here, as a group!! One last thing, the tiramisu cake that I sampled was very good, creamy and very light, but not worth $20. Ultimately, it was a total waste of a night and truly disappointing. It was completely my fault, I should have just stuck to the simple pizza and pasta, you can’t really screw those...

We had a birthday dinner here last week. This is a very high end restaurant but simply did not meet our expectations. The ambience is stunning. And perhaps our expectations were too high, but the one word that comes to mind to describe this restaurant is classy but overpriced.

The service was outstanding. Alex our main server was excellent. Friendly, courteous and attentive and he was assisted by other servers that were great at clearing the dishes and refilling our drinks.

However, we felt the sommelier was obnoxious to put it bluntly. The Allegro has an extensive wine list, including bottles in the $17,000 range. But my bro and sis-in-law are budding wine connoisseurs and I felt they were not given the respect or service they deserved. Everyone did enjoy the two bottles we chose.

We ordered several appetizers. The foccacia and dip was excellent. The Arancini (rice balls) were also outstanding. We also had olives and calamari. The calamari was ok but a bit chewy and slightly overpriced.

The big disappointment, and the reason for the low rating, was the main courses which did not match what you would expect for this caliber restaurant and these prices. We had a variety of dishes and I got to try most of them. I had the pizza. One word to describe it; terrible. It was burnt and virtually tasteless. Others had the sea bass ($74) was very good, the Tagliatelle bolognese was small and the sauce was bland, the rabbit which I did not try but heard it was just ok and not a large portion and to top it off the birthday girl and my bro shared the duck which was listed as market price and was enough for 2. The risotto it came with was excellent but I personally did not care for the duck. I found it quite gamey. It cost $195 which seemed a bit outrageous to me.

We were charged for the birthday desserts as well. They were excellent and included a chocolate layer cake, Tiramisu and cheescake. I tried them all and they were delicious and well presented.

So overall it was a nice evening and we did not let the food and prices diminish our experience. However, that being said, I would never return to this restaurant and I cannot recommend it due to the fact the prices simply do not match the food quality and quantity that you would expect from a high end restaurant. I have dined at several others that far...

This is my 2nd time coming to this location and it was better this time around. I went during Christmas time. The first time the plating of the dishes were very underwhelming. (The 3 photos with the Christmas tree behind.) I was going to rate the experience a 3 because of the highly overpriced food. With mediocre portioning. I only came back for the tuna tartare.

With the change in menu or chef, he/she definitely changed the reputation of your experience. I was blown away from the effort and value put into the food this time.

Focaccia elevated with freshly grated grana padano, and the side chickpea puree ( I think it was) and olive puree. 5/5

Tuna Tartare (which I came for) elevated with guacamole, fried Nori, capers, pickles, Anaheim peppers were potent enough to lift the dish, sesame seeds and was topped of with lime juice I believe. Definitely my favourite dish and will still come back for it. 5/5

For the entree, I ordered the hen dish with artichokes and tomatoes. The tomatoes tasted as if they were roasted and then milled with skin on. I believe there was a hint of pesto brushed on the chicken, but without the nuttiness of the pinenuts, the overall flavor of the dish was too acidic due to the tomatoes and sliced lemons. The skin was slightly burned, and parts of the breast was dry. 3/5

My girlfriend ordered the same dishes as the first time (bolognese pasta), and she was disappointed. The noodles were clearly not hand made for 40$. And she didn't want to take a picture of it due to the presentation of the meal to be very pale. But the sauce did taste the same. 2/5

The mango sorbetto in between app and main was super delicious. 5/5

The garlic shrimp was fabulous. This item was off menu, but whoever cooked this, knows how to cook shrimp.. 10/10

The cheese platter was also ordered as an appetizer with add-on procuitto because there no charcuterie board on the menu even though it's an Italian restaurant. Unfortunately there no crostini served with the cheese platter. But it was okay, our server gave us more focaccia. 3/5

Overall, the server seemed pretty new and was a little unfamiliar with the menu, but we got everything we wanted along with off menu items. I had a blast, and happily paid for the bill. Thank you and...