Folietta — Restaurant in Vancouver

I really wanted to like this place as I want to support restaurants in the neighborhood but unfortunately I would never go back, let alone recommend this place to anyone.

I got there with my fiancée around 5:45 and were seated promptly. After about 15-20 minutes of being sat down we were not given water/greeted by anyone. We had another server who noticed we weren't being helped and he came to ask if we had been served. When the response came back as no, he filled our glasses and ended up speaking to the server (which ended up being ours) who was assisting the table beside us. He asked if she was okay and her response was yes. (Thank you to that attentive server). It wasn't until 10-15 mins later where our server finally came to our table to take our drink order.

We received our drinks and ask for recommendations on what to order and she basically just listed a bunch of items but really didn't give us a description on why it was good or what it really was. We ended up ordering what we thought would be the best as we weren't really sold on her suggestions

We ordered:

Carne Cruda: this was prob the best dish of the night. It was really flavorful but unfortunately everything was very one dimensional in terms of texture. I wish there was some sort of crunch to go along with the softness.

Trottole Con Agnello: After we finished the Carne Cruda, we waited almost 30-40 mins for our pasta dish. The server actually asked us if the pasta had arrived yet and we had to let her know that it hadn't. There was no apologies or acknowledgement of a mistake/wait, simply just an ok and she walked off. The dish itself was mediocre at best. The pasta was not al dente and might have been slightly over cooked

Vitello Alla Parmigiana + Ciambotto: We had told the server we wanted vegetables and she showed us the sides, so we ended up ordering the Ciambotto. If we had known that the Ciambotto and Vitello Alla Parmigiana we're almost the exactly same flavor profile, we most likely would have ordered something with a bit more zest. Because the dishes came out together, we again felt like the dishes became one dimensional. Separately, maybe they would have tasted good but I felt like I was missing acid to cut through the richness of the two dishes. Only thing I can really say was the veal chop was tender.

To top this off, while eating the last dish another person came to our table and asked if we ordered a Cesar salad.

Maybe it was an off day in the kitchen, maybe the server was new or maybe it was a little bit of everything combined with being a fairly new restaurant. Regardless, my honest opinion is that at their price point, there are a slew of better options in terms of service and food if you're looking...

Had heard nothing but great things from multiple friends so decided to try it out finally for a friends birthday and disappointment was an understatement

We were sat at the chefs table which was a pretty cool view and the service was pretty good but the food was just awful. I was very confused by this because three friends had highly recommended it including one who basically travels the world and tries all the best restaurants the world had to offer. I will chalk it up to an off night but we ordered lots of things and majority were not good. I don’t want to type forever so I’ll just rank them below. Also pasta portions are criminally small for the price

Focaccia 3/10 $9 Was way too hard for focaccia

Insalata Mista 9/10 $20 Very fresh vegetables and the salami on top was delicious

Squash Blossoms 8/10 $24 These were deep fried so anything deep fried will be tasty

Rigatoni Arrabbiatta 7/10 $28 It was decent but definitely not the best spicy pasta I’ve had in the city

Gnudi Di Spinacci 6.5/10 $28 Interesting texture and tasted okay but wouldn’t order again and only 5 pieces

Cavatelli (Feature Pasta) 3/10 $27 This was shockingly bad. Tiny portion and no flavour and it’s garnished with so many nuts I had no idea what the sauce tasted like.

Bistecca 1/10 $72!!!! Worst steak I’ve ever had at a fine dining restaurant. Order medium rare and when it came out I thought it was still alive. They say sorry and go to cook it longer and still came out on the rare side but the actual cut of beef was gross. My friend and I both were awkwardly looking at each other like can you please finish it. My friend who’s culinary palette I really respect highly recommended this dish so it must’ve either been a bad cut of meat or the chef had an off night but I wouldn’t eat this steak again if you gave me Canucks season tickets.

Saltimbocca Di Pollo 1/10 $38 I don’t want to sound hyperbolic after my steak review but worst chicken I’ve ever had at a fine dining restaurant. This had no flavour and the texture was revolting The people next to us asked us what kind of fish it was. If you come to this restaurant do not order this dish

Olive Oil Cake 6/10 $12 Really dry but fruit tasted good

Caramel Buddino 10/10 $12 This was actually incredible

Total Damage $292 before tip

Would never go back Price wasn’t that bad for how many things we ordered and the chefs table is a cool dining set up but food was bad especially the Mains which I still can’t wrap my head around cause the reviews...

I had high hopes for this, but left feeling disappointed. However, I will say our server was fantastic and his recommendation to get the olive oil cake for dessert was the best dish we had that night.

I made a reservation for 6pm, but when we arrived our table wasn't ready. We waited around 20 minutes before we could be seated. They did offer us a small drink while we waited, which was nice.

Atmosphere wise I did like how big and open the restaurant was. The large windows let in lots of light (but almost too much as some diners were wearing sunglasses inside). Our table also felt awkwardly placed and there wasn't much room between the other table and for people to walk by. Another thing was that the restaurant was soooo loud. It was hard to hear the host when we were checking in.

We tried a variety of dishes:

Foccacia- for $7 it didn't seem very special. They didn't serve the oil/balsamic right away with the bread. The bread was quite fluffy but didn't seem really like a foccacia or have any special flavours. It'd be nice if it was served with a unique condiment.

Calamaro - enjoyed how tender the squid was and it was crisp. However it was quite salty. To be fair it was served with puttanesca so the capers contributed to that, but it felt like it could use some acid to balance it out.

Linguine- the geoduck was tender and I liked the texture and shape of the pasta. However, the pasta was quite heavy and felt like it needed some acid or more spice to balance it out.

Trottole con agnello- again, I liked the shape of pasta and it was cooked al dente. However the sauce was very one note.

Polpo alla griglia (Octopus)- we love a grilled octopus and the fennel went well with it. I also enjoyed the cannellini beans. However, it felt like it was missing some acidity and again was a bit salty with nothing else to cut through it.

By the end of the meal we weren't really feeling satisfied. However we saw desserts come out to other tables and it looked promising. With the servers recommendation, we had the torta alla'olio d'oliva (olive oil cake) and this was a great way to end our meal. We loved the flavours and tartness of the rhubarb.

After our experience, we're likely not going to be coming back. Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes or since they just opened and they're figuring things out. But after trying so many dishes and having only one wow us, it was a...