Toscanini — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Toscanini, 2 ravioli, 1 spaghetti, 1 bottle white wine, 2 coffees: €84 (ex service).

Years ago I spent a very pleasant 10 days touring from Venice to the Amalfi Coast passing through ‘the greatest hits’ of Italy along the way. Tuscany left an indelible impression: the bold, rich brunello di montalcino wines paired with a bistecca alla Fiorentina so large it looks like the cut Fred Flinstone ordered during the opening credit of the Flinstones. It’s not all meat and wine, fish soups and seasonal courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta deep fried and drizzled with honey and pecorino shavings. Tuscan Italian food makes for a lot of the Italian food we see exported around the world forming our impression of a cuisine oversimplified as ‘Italian’.

Toscanini is situated in the charming area of Jordaan, Amsterdam set just away from the tree-lined canals. The inside decor is a stark departure from the curated image of Jordaan: a stark-near-austere study in dipped dyed beige; this is what a working class bar in an industrial area would look like if Scandinavian designers were briefed and equipped with earth tones and a budget for up cycled furniture.

We ordered from their lunch menu: two ravioli stuffed with potato, pecorino and mint served with artichokes and a mussel spaghetti with courgette, garlic and chillis to be washed down with a bottle of Tenuta white wine (starts at €24). The plump raviolis arrive in a modest lunch time portion filled with smooth potato filling supported by the creamy pecorino which is all brightened by a tingling mint that makes the dish light and summery. The well seasoned spaghetti with mussels is a more substantial portion of slick pasta with a scattering of mussels in their shell but an assertive punch of chillis renders the garlic almost indiscernible. It’s not a spicy dish but if you do not like spicy food then this will come as a surprise. Our group was divided as to whether the pasta was al dente or just undercooked: my view is it needed a minute more in the water. The spaghetti was pleasant but could benefit from more mussels especially those taken out of their shell. A hint of lemon would brighten the dish more.

Lastly, service: we waited 30 minutes for main courses to arrive. To be clear, there were no starters, a suggestion of bread and otherwise nothing. We were waiting a while for someone to join but it struck me that three orders of pasta - a dish typically made well in advance and simply assembled per order - should not take anywhere near 30 minutes to get from order to service. This seemed remarkable.

Toscanini is a decent restaurant but the lunch menu left me ambivalent. The care in selecting and cooking ingredients is plainly evident but the careful execution leaves fun behind. Would I come back to Toscanini? Possibly, if invited as the food is...

Sadly, a big disappointment. I booked a table (and paid a deposit) counting on delicious Italian food and exceptional hospitality. Unfortunately, the entire experience since the first minute wasn’t great. We arrived on time and were asked to wait for our table (third ones in a row!) while it has been booked. What’s the point of reservation system if you need to wait to eat? We were eventually sited at the and the drinks were proposed to us - naively though it is a free option as a reward for waiting. No, it wasn’t.

Next, the service is friendly but not exceptionally attentive or hospitable. I would expect more given the prices. When the waitress asks who ordered that dish, it is a level of bistro/ bar.

Food. Biggest disappointment. Although beautifully presented and inviting with some creative combinations, it is simply not great cooking. We ordered a salad and burrata with a deep fried courgette flowers as starters, two types of pasta as mains, and truffle ice cream plus merengue for dessert. A salad was tasteless and bland, not 19€ dish. Burrata - a simple position that is hard to be spoiled - was a supermarket burrata, sour and bad quality product that has been masked with overdone seasoning - too much salt and soaked in an oil (didn’t even taste like an olive oil). A plus for courgette flower - nice addition, but would be better if any stuffing was there. Mains: both pastas were simply not good, neither true Italian (god forbid to say, Toscanini taste). Ravioli lacked any aroma (was supposed to be served in a butter and lemon sauce). Eadible, but nothing more. The other pasta (called alla Sicilians), seasoned with mackerel and fennel, was barely edible. Sour and salty only, no aroma, herbs, whatsoever was simply not good cooking. Thank god my partner was very hungry and decided to finish it instead of me. Desserts - tartuffo ice cream mainly sweet, no other experience or aroma. Merengue- okay, but that’s all. The only great point of the program was wine. We chose Lugana, and as much as almost 12 euros for a glass is on an expensive side, it was very good. Mineral, dry with an elegant deep taste.

Others: plus for an ambient and hot water in the bathroom.

Overall: I would like to give it a second chance as there are so many good reviews (maybe a chef had just a bad day), but I am hesitant to risk taking into account that this experiment costed us 150 euros for 2 ppl. For 25 euros more per person, you can get fine-dining experience that leaves you mind blown.

Overpriced...

I rarely write a review but have to after the horrible experience at this place last night. First, the food is ok but not good enough to forget the bad service. My girlfriends booked the place for my 38th birthday and everything started well. After we were done with the first course, the waitress came to pick up the plates and scolded me for not finishing my vegetables And said « next time just order the cheese » in a very aggressive tone! I was in shock! Just to say I did eat some of the veggies but didn’t like the others…. But why am I even explaining myself!! How dare you ? Then came the 2nd plate and we wanted to choose wine: a bottle of red and 1 of white. We asked another waiter for recommendation, and he left after pointing the page on the overwhelming wine list… hmm ok thank you! Then out of the blue he came back with a bottle we didn’t ask for and opened it so we could try. The whole exchange was just weird but fine we got our wine. They bring the plates and there is a mix up. It can happen no big deal. We mention it to a new waitress who brought the plates and the first waitress comes back with her same aggressivity and condescending tone saying she wrote it correctly she doesn’t make mistakes and so she accused us of intentionally changing our mind! I don’t even know what to say. How can you talk like that to customers? At that point we were quite upset but it was my birthday so we just ignored the rudeness and kept enjoying each others company. Comes the bill (400€+) and they invited me so they share between the 5 of them. That waitress doesn’t like it and started saying « what about her? Why she doesn’t pay?» We thought maybe we did the math wrong and something is missing… no she was mad because we didn’t leave a tip!! And yelled at us « Here in Holland it is custom to leave a tip! » this is a blatant lie, I have been in this country 4 years now and this is not the USA where tips are part of the waiter’s wage. Here it is to compliment a good service which obviously was not the case so why would we leave anything. How rude! I have never been so poorly treated! I can only hope she had a very bad day and that it is not always like this but I also have a feeling she targeted us for some reason. Which one? I have no idea because we did not gave her any reason to until the very end with the tip. I will never go back and do not recommend you to go ! No one deserves such...