cucina

great. probably the best pork belly sandwich i've had in downtown. the atmosphere is really great. service is good too.

so so... soup of the day was tasty . the braised pork shoulder was ok. not the best. but definietly not the worst. loved the tiramisu. and service was great. i would like to come back to try more items on the menu

so worth it. the food was impeccable. everything was made fresh with high quality ingredients. i had the ravioli: beautifully presented with three large raviolis and citrus bursting flavor; asparagus was shaped in a star on top with crunchy bits of crostini-unbelievable journey on the palette. not only will i come here again, but i will return simply for this dish. we also had two sides: the ratatouille and green beans: delicious. i had a glass of french rose to accompany the meal and it was balanced and perfect. the berry pie with vanilla sorbet was outstanding. berries were left to reveal their own taste without a ton of sugar added. the crust was not overbearing: healthy, wholesome and artisan. this place is a new found love for me. friendly service and rustic ambience with contemporary flare. they also serve phil and sebastian coffee. i'll be back!

i like the cute vintage feel to the restaurant! it has an open kitchen.
it is a smaller place, so the tables were really close to one another, which made me feel a little uncomfortable, as it is a little louder.
i had the 'spaghettoni alla amatriciana' and my friend had the 'pork belly risotto', which was both $22 each. the pasta wasn't super fancy or amazingly delicious, but it was still pretty decent. but my friend enjoyed her risotto! in addition, i do like the idea that my pasta was part of mealshare!
like some of the "$$$" restaurants, they do charge you water, but it's like $1.
i must give a shoutout to one of the girl server there, she is such a sweetheart, and communicated with us in a friendly and interpersonal level.

this place is a joke. they wanted to charge me 2 dollars for a 30ml ramekin of salad dressing. are you kidding me!!?? this place is a rip off. i'v ebeen in the service industry long enough to know this is just a money grab. i often go there for lunches with clients etc, morning coffee...will never go there again.

next the wild bc mushrooms and poached eggs on toast with shallot white wine reduction, black pepper and parmigiano. the toast was crispy enough to hold up to the heaps of mushrooms but soft enough to easily bite through, while the poached egg was perfectly poached soft, oozing over the huge chunks of tender, earthy tasting mushrooms like a sauce.

dine in is great, do not recommend the grab n go menu. quality of food is superb when you dine in - worth the premium. lunch time can be very busy and on 3 occasions i have had to wait 20-40 minutes for a reserved table. would not recommend if you require fast service.

grab n go menu is of poor quality. the cold sandwhichs are very soggy and the bread is tough, definitely not worth the premium price. they should consider adding the dressing when the custoemr orders/ or giving it on the side to keep the integrity of the bread. quite shocking the difference in quality between the take out menu and eating in. this part of their business can use some work.

too pricey. there is no complain whatsoever with the service and the menu, in fact they are very good and although it looks rather low level due to the lack of space, you quickly forget about it and start focusing on th efood.

the food is nothing special, some dishes (mainly pastas) are well made some are incredibly bad (rissotto) and some desserts are superb (tiramisu is a must). so it is a rather average restaurant.

but it is too pricey. they charge you as if they have given you a great table, the service was flawless and the food was exquisite. for those prices you could have gotten a much better experience in other high end restaurants. it is simply not worth it.

may 7, 2015 / by t_topcat / in restaurant reviews / post comment i joined a friend at cucina on stephen ave on a monday after work – i chose the location because i wanted to try something new. it was a bit of a walk from my office, but it was a nice day and the restaurant was a pleasant surprise! such a cute little place, with a good looking menu and even a 3 course menu for $35! i’d love to go back with my boyfriend for a nice evening. the service was quite good, but there were only 2 or 3 tables throughout our time there so there wasn’t a large demand for the staff’s time. cucina kitchen we shared the stuffed calamari: calamari stuffed with chorizo, green curry, parsley, garlic, onion, braised in tomato sauce. i was actually disappointed – the calamari was rather tough, and the chorizo was regular dried chorizo sausage cut into small cubes. i was expecting it to be fresh ground chorizo sausage (fluff style) with a smoother texture than the chunks of dried chorizo. the flavours were nice, but i wouldn’t order it again. stuffed calamari i ordered the feature of the day, and it was delicious. it was scallops and a veggie purée and roasted veggies. i couldn’t tell you what the veggies all were, but they were all awesome – if i could have licked the purée off the plate, i would have! scallop feature of the day i recommend cucina and plan to go back, for sure!      

nice deco, good service! beef tartare was good, personally i think to add a bit of lemon taste would be even nicer. risotto is tasty, but strictly, as you can see from the photo, it had too much moisture. gnocchi was not bad but a bit too salty. generally speaking, we enjoyed the dinner and will go back sometimes, hehehe

very interesting menu that seems to focus on pasta and fish.  i had the sablefish and it's cooked just right --- delicious!  for dessert i shared the tiramisu and cheesecake with my friend, both are good, especially the tiramisu.  good experience overall and really want to try one of their pastas next time.  service is good as well, non intrusive and friendly.

i love this place and have gone a few times now. i love restaurants with an open kitchen because i think it really sets the ambience. it has the added benefit of transparency. i have had many dishes here and each one has been very high quality and particularly flavorful. it is a great date night location but be sure to make a reservation.

had lunch at cucina yesterday and ordered the saltimbocca - full size $24. it came with 5 shells stuffed with braised short ribs and a piece of crispy porchetta on top. the food was good but a bit pricey. i was full after the dish but if you have a bigger appetite, you will probably need an appt to start or else a snack in a few hours.

i recently had dinner at cucina in support of restaurants for change. the arancini were to die for and while our mains (lamb chops and pork belly) were delicious, they were not particularly memorable. the service and atmosphere were lovely and the decor is beautiful, including the wine cases built into the tabletops. unfortunately some of the tables are crowded so close together that it was sometimes difficult to concentrate on what my friend was saying over the conversations happening on either side of us. i do like this place and would come back, but i don't think i'd bring a companion with whom i want to have a private discussion or long-overdue catchup.

i loved coming here! it really small inside but it wasn't busy surprisingly, maybe because of stampede. it has a really cute interior going on in black and white. their portion sizes are actually a really good size, i got a half size in both the market soup and the pasta. and i was already filled up after the soup -- which was one of the best soups i've ever had. it was a leek corn soup with spicy sausages. it was both flavourful but not overwhelming. their pasta wasn't too bad, i liked the risotto that my friend got.