Toledo Restaurant — Restaurant in New York

My second favorite class in college was public speaking. My favorite assignment in said class was to talk about anything I wanted for 10 minutes. I chose to talk about bananas. There is only one type of banana that is commercially sold, the Cavendish. Since there is only one main type of banana, one disease that does not get along with our good old friend the Cavendish could wipe out nearly the whole population of bananas. This is what is happening now. Bananas are going extinct. If we could cross breed the Cavendish with another type of banana, then this new banana could have the genetic resistance to fight the new disease. But! Most Cavendish bananas do not have seeds, and you need seeds to cross breed (only 1 in 12,000 Cavendish bananas have a seed). In an effort to try and get ahold of a Cavendish banana which could cross-breed, scientists are crushing thousands of bananas in an attempt to find some seeds. To showcase this during my speech, I took a towel out of my backpack, laid the towel on the floor, and took out a ziploc bag with a banana. I looked around the room, and jumped on the banana, crushing it for everyone to see. Unfortunately, there was no seed to be found in my banana.

Given that I am unable to solve the problem of bananas going extinct, I thought I might as well enjoy the glorious banana fruit while I still can. And that is certainly what I did at Toledo. The grey sole with bananas and hollaindaise sauce immediately caught my eye as I peered through the menu. My parents said “David, don’t get that”, but I got it anyways. I’m such a rebel.

After an adequate amount of time in between order time and delivery time, the waiter came and lowered the plate in front of me. At first, I was confused, the bananas were nowhere to be found! But I soon realized they have been browned through cooking. I realize I am giving an incredible amount of detail right now without even telling you how the fish dish tasted! It was lovely. I have never had such a beautiful sweet fish before. It made me think, “why don’t we put bananas on everything!” I was beyond satisfied.

At the end of my banana speech I said “Now the story of the banana is much more interesting than you probably imagined. Just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, don’t judge a banana by its peel” (for additional dramatic flare, at this moment I also brought an additional banana out of my backpack and unpeeled it while I said this line)

Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a grey sole...

Dining at this restaurant was, in many ways, a unique experience—one that left me both amused and contemplative.

The octopus, while commendably tender, was unfortunately drenched in olive oil, to the point that it overwhelmed rather than enhanced the dish. A similar fate befell the mushrooms stuffed with crab meat: a decent concept in theory, but again, the excessive use of olive oil dulled the flavors instead of elevating them.

Our waiter enthusiastically recommended the baked red snapper, describing its preparation in great detail. The dish was enjoyable overall, but I found it difficult to justify the price point based on the flavor alone. What made the evening even more surreal was the complete absence of other diners—we were the only two guests in the entire restaurant. It almost felt as though my date had gone to the extravagant lengths of renting out the place for the evening. While it did add an oddly luxurious and private feel to the night, it also left us wondering why the place was so empty.

Upon arrival, the host presented us with the option of simply "red or white wine," which was oddly amusing and left us wondering if that was the extent of their wine selection. Moments later, another waiter arrived with what he called the "Bible" of wine menus—complete with a table of contents. We opted for the Spanish house white wine, which proved to be unremarkable and forgettable.

The restaurant’s interior evoked strong memories for me. With its traditional décor and classic paintings, it bore a striking resemblance to the dining hall of the preschool I attended in Italy—formal, nostalgic, and oddly evocative of childhood PTSD.

Despite the culinary missteps, I must commend the staff for their warmth and professionalism. They were attentive, accommodating, and refreshingly nonjudgmental, which made the overall experience more pleasant than it might have...

Went here for a Christmas party, and at the beginning, I was excited. The appetizers they presented were delicious. But they had them in a buffet style, with one server spooning out to our company, which was slow. A line formed and people were a bit peeved about the line. Same was true at the bar. One bartender was slow and a line formed and people were peeved they had to wait so long for a drink.

The atmosphere at the tables was lively and generally people had a good time. The wait staff were friendly and seemed eager to help us all enjoy the evening. We had many options for food and I chose the Paella. Sadly, when that arrived, it was average at best. I have had other friends visit this place and they raved about it. But this night, I found it to be a little sub par for what a company wants in a...