TOZI Restaurant & Bar, Vondelpark — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Nice location in one of the richest streets in Amsterdam. The interiors are very nice and as you are inside it feels like you are entering a super-chic restaurant. However, the service is not a 5 stars one and the waiter immediately tells you “how it works”. They “strongly recommend you” to order “not less than 6 dishes to enjoy the food at its fullest”. When we said we only wanted to order three dishes and maybe more later on, they almost forced us to order everything at the same time “because it’s easier for the kitchen”. Is it really that the reason or is it because they want you to spend more?… The food itself is tasty, well presented. The concept is small dishes tapas-like, which is quite atypical for Italian cuisine. Nothing wrong with that, however, a small dish of tuna tartare (17 euros), was actually not a whole portion: half of the portion was occupied by a tasteless smashed avocado, which looked like it was placed there just to save on tuna… Same goes for the octopus: very tasty, but the portion is ridiculously small for the price. Burrata is nice and abundant though, but don’t dare asking for some bread with it…they only have one little basket for each table. We came there for the spaghetti cacio e pepe, which are in the photos on Google. But for some misterious reason, they are not on the menu anymore. What a pity. We went for ravioli instead, which are very tasty but, again, not enough for the price. Overall: okay food, average Amsterdam service, portions too small for the price and too many constraints (no bread, order at least 6 dishes). A formula that works in a city like Amsterdam but that has absolutely nothing to do with the real...

A great spot for a nice evening out! We were celebrating our fifth anniversary here, and everything was perfect. They have three menu options, you can choose A la Carte, ‘Best of Tozi’ and ‘Feast of Tozi’. The latter two being a selection from the a la carte menu, and all dishes are for sharing. We chose from the a la carte menu because we wanted to try some things that weren’t on the special menus. We started with the Sea bream Carpaccio, the Burrata and the focaccia with anchovies. All of which were absolutely fantastic. After that we had the Mezze maniche and the aubergine parmigiana which was to die for. Sadly tho after those two courses we were full, with sadly meaning we still wanted to taste more, especially the cacio e pepe with real truffel! But, as always, there was still some room for the tiramisu from heaven. The food was absolutely amazing and i would recommend everyone to eat here, we are sure to come again. Furthermore it should be noted that the staff made the evening complete. Our waiter was Elia, and he made our evening perfect. Telling us about the menu, helping us choose a good bottle of wine (and making sure our glasses were always filled), and giving us some background on the food upon serving it. You can tell the staff is well trained and are taking pleasure of making your...

I would expect better food, but…

Staff was very friendly and professional. When we entered the restaurant, a lady took our coats and led us to the table. She also explained the menu and the concept: shared dining. She recommended to order 6 dishes for 2 persons. We ordered the aubergine parmigiana, ravioli (big portion with 6 pieces), spinach salad and a portion of the bimi (asparagus broccoli). I thought the food was okay. Not bad, but not really good either. I liked the garlicky bimi the most. The ravioli was a bit boring, although I liked the big slices of truffle. Melanzane alla parmigiana was not amazing; It was not layered like the traditional dish, but instead they just put some tomato sauce and cheese on top of a half slice of aubergine. That made the texture mediocre, even a bit rubbery…disappointing. The spinach salad consisted of some spinach leaves and a small amount of parmigiana cheese slices. Not so special. For dessert we ordered tiramisu and something with chocolate. Both tasted fine.

Over all, I wasn’t too impressed by the food, but the service was good. One more small downside: I didn’t like that they just put the bill on our table after spending exactly two hours in...