cucina

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 gomenuis 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 outmenuand eating in. this part of their business can use some work.

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 lookingmenuand even a 3 coursemenufor $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!      

very interestingmenuthat 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.

calamari was delicious! and bread basket. friend had kale salad and had to ask for a vegetarian entree pasta to be made but they complied. he really liked that pasta. i tried the pappardelle alla bolognese with beef ragu. i found it a bit too salty but otherwise good. full portions are large!
customer service was ok. i think they are trying to change their approach based on some negative reviews online. a pricier place like this definitely is affected by negative reviews.
the place is too cramped. the waitress/waiters slide between tables and their hair almost gets in your food. . and just to get to the washroom you feel you need to say excuse me to the tables by there because if they are leaning back in chairs you will bump into them to get by. it was busy but no one checked in to see how food was. tried to get attention of other staff to get pepper and for a bag for to go items and did eventually get it. even though i gave a full 15% tip the waitress seemed disappointed. not sure why. also note that themenuhas changed a bit from what is posted on their website. there are even less vegetarian entree options.

i ate at cucina twice recently and have dined there several times before. for the money, it is simply not worth it--despite the reclaimed wood and the faux hipster appeal. the service was friendly and exceeded expectations, and the ambience was pleasant. however, the food was a disaster. at breakfast, i tried the $16 feature eggs benedict. it was a "blt" benny, which i thought sounded unusual but in a good wayl. its was a complete disaster and should never have been on the menu--an utterly terrible combination of ingredients (romaine lettuce does not belong under hollandaise). the biggest infraction was that they forgot the bacon--one of several kitchen mistakes for our table. the kitchen remade my dish but poached the eggs for such a short time that both white and yolk were an inedible, liquid mess.

at lunch i tried the $14 kale salad followed by the porchetta entrée. the salad hardly contained anything but plain kale and a few crumbs of cashews. what little dressing there was had an unpleasant bitterness. when the "porchetta" arrived, it was a slab of tasteless, fatty meat accompanied by uninspired, limp roasted peppers and a few unseasoned potato wedges that looked like they belonged next to the rotisserie chickens in a grocery store. at over $24 a plate, this was a huge disappointment.

bottom line: the food at cucina has gone drastically downhill and is totally out of line with its exorbitant price tag. save your money and time and go to one of the numerous other restaurants or pubs downtown where the kitchen knows how to execute amenuproperly.

we recently went to cucina for big taste. the 3-course dinnermenufeatures leek & zucchini bisque, lamb shank, sweet gnocchi and many more. some dishes outshone others. my favorites were the braised lamb shank and tiramisu. however, we found the quality of tiramisu a bit inconsistent - one of our tiramisu was still runny when served. the lamb shank was hearty and rich in flavour. my husband loved the gnocchi but i found it tougher and chewier than expected. i even found a piece that was uncooked in the...

came here for a bday party and there was 20 people. service was great and food was fatastic! ceasar insalata was very tasty and chicken liver parfait was good as well. i had the crispy duck breast entree and it was delicious! duck was perfectly cooked and risotto was yummy.menuis a bit pricey but will definitely be back again for a special occasion.

this was my second visit since 2 years ago and i remembered it being much better. we came on a saturday night and it wasn't very busy. the decor is very nice. tables are a bit close to together but that's alright. open kitchen concept. themenudidn't have as much as a variety as i would have expected. food was mediocre for its price.

both of us had the friday off and decided we would do date night. so scrolling through zomato we stumbled upon someones photo of a lamb dish and knew we had to try here. we were both dressed pretty casual and i actually wore a baseball hat and wasn't sure if it was appropriate at the time, but the staff were so nice and welcoming, they didn't even mind!

we were given the features of the day (not on menu) and the mainmenuwas all on one-sided page. i got the feature and waiter explained it as slow cooked stuffed pork over bed of polenta and cauliflower... and the boyfriend ordered the spaghettini. we also ordered the calamari to start and tiramisu for dessert. let me just tell you how blown away i was with my pork dish! it was so good and the flavours of the polenta mixed with the pork was perfect. the spaghetti was good but the feature was 👌🏽. we both will always order tiramisu if its on a menu, and this individual cup did not disappoint and we could actually taste some of the coffee that was on the bottom.

the interior is quite cute i must say... almost has an urban barn feel to it.

we will definitely be returning and highly recommend.

quality and taste aren't quite worth the price. cucina is interesting... the space is delightful if you get a good table, if you get a bad table (and there are a few), you're likely to feel isolated and almost like an after-thought. themenuis small, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just don't expect much for selection. my last visit, i had the grilled romaine appetizer ($14) but had to send it back as it was just bad... the tiny portion of romaine was soggy (not charred like good grilled romaine should be), the dressing tasted like a flavorless aioli, and the sous vide egg was quite under-cooked with runny egg whites. the arctic char fish special was nice, though the portion was small. this could have been alleviated if served with a bit more veg. my friend enjoyed the daily soup and risotto though, both of which were decent portions. the service was good and we were offered a dessert to make up for the bad appetizer, which helps and the effort was appreciated. but for me, i didn't feel the value was worth what i got. not likely to return, much prefer mercato.


-----08 feb, 2013-----

fabulous! can't wait to taste more.... the service was great, the wine list offered a good selection, and the food was fabulous. the risotto was rich, creamy, and perfectly cooked and the spicy spaghetti was incredibly flavorful. i will definitely go back for more.

tasty but..... we have had dinner several times before at cucina but alas, this might have been our last. the salads ordered by our 4 diners were all tasty but to charge $16 for a handful of heirloom tomatoes and 2 pieces of moozarella cheese seemed excessive. at 8:00pm the kitchen had already run out of the only chicken dish on themenuso pasta dishes were ordered instead. again the food was flavourful but the cut up pieces of chorizo and the 5-6 clams in the bowl that garnished the pasta was certainly not enough for the 2 men at our table. the featured fish filet was ordered for $40 and although enjoyed was certainly overpriced.
the concensus amongst the diners was that there was not enough value for a return reservation.

good choice. dinner club met here last month.
service excellent.
cannot comment on themenuas everyone (except me) ordered the daily specials, (lamb and haddock) everyone enjoyed orders. i ordered the gnocchi which was excellent.
only thing i can think that was not good was my coffee was lukewarm, and i asked for another cup.

lovely lovely bistro. the hostess put down the plates on her hand and attended to me immediately when she spotted me at the door. themenuis not big but covers all the good stuff! when i could not decide which wine to get my server offered to let me taste test the two that i like. the pasta is divine! home made of course. so flavorful and hitting all the right notes on my vision of a good restaurant!

sandwich letdown. i'm a fan of a quick grab-and-go lunch during the work week so i was excited at the prospect of cucina becoming a new go-to lunch spot.

unfortunately, based on my experience there today, i can't say i will rush back. the potential is certainly there, after all, their takeout lunchmenuis actually called "grab-and-go" and it lists a variety of delicious sounding variations of meats, chesses and veggies. on this visit, i opted for the italian meatball sandwich thinking it was a foolproof formula of marina, ground beef and provolone cheese over fresh bread. but, the bread did not hold up to the other ingredients and became soggy, which, coupled with the square-shaped bun, made for difficult eating. the meatballs were also a tad dry and the marinara lacked zest.

although i won't be rushing back, i will certainly give the place another shot. as a major fan of their sister bistro vendome, which almost never disappoints, i feel like cucina will eventually achieve the same standard. the well-crafted space and eye-catching pastries also call my name.

since cucina’smenuis market fresh, a lot of their dishes change on a daily basis. this was the case for both of the mains that we chose...