trattoria alla toscana

fantastic meal, and the best italian food i have eaten since i was last in italy! excellent wine list. shared the antipastaplatter, then ate squid ink gnocchi with calamari, finished with creme brûlée and it was all fabulous! attentive and helpful service.

last night, my husband and i visited trattoria alla toscana in napier - the food was amazing!! that should be amazing! we could not fault it in any way... and when the staff found out it was our wedding anniversary - we received a complimentary glass of champagne which was a lovely touch.
we both hadpasta- which was authentic and tasty - i can see why this restaurant was recommended too us by more than three locals - pleased we took the time to enjoy a true italian experience in this lovely art deco town.... we certainly will visit again!

very disappointing meal.pastawas revolting. when sent back it was returned to us with lite change and not re done as it still had our bite marks in it.

prices were $22-$35 so wasn't good value.

waiter excellent but not backed up by good food.

we wont be returning.

i have to compliment the staff for the absolutely wonderful service but as for the chickenpastadish i received that night was very tasteless it had hardly sauce so it was very bland the worstpastameal i have gotten from a restaurant. my partner though enjoyed his meal whereas my one just tasted like boiledpastawithout flavour i was unable to finish my meal.

took my partner here on sat. evening for his birthday. we were both very much blown away by the service and the fantastic food. the ambiance was simple but classy. we shared a delicious green mixed salad which exuded freshness and both tried the specials for the evening. my partner had the oven roasted flounder with roasted potatoes and veggies. wow! it was extremely tasty and we both enjoyed every last bit. my only small complaint would be that there were not enough potatoes ;-) they were simply delicious and i really would have enjoyed eating more of them off my boyfriend's plate. tehe. i ordered a special with homemade fettuccinepastawith salmon and asparagus in a white wine sauce. yum! it was just the right amount ofpastaas well. sometimes i'm overwhelmed when i go to italian restaurants and the amount ofpastais the entire size of the plate. even if you can eat that much, you really shouldn't. since we were both so pleasantly full after dinner and not too stuffed (and of course to help celebrate a birthday), we had to-die-for desserts. my partner had the panna cota which was decorated to perfection with fresh fruit and i had something similar to an eclair but forgot the italian name for it. it was simply divine! really enjoyed our evening and will most definitely be back when we are next in napier! all the best...

the food here is delicious! thepastais to die for as is the mussel sauce. service is great, the wine list below average. decor lacks that italian feel.

absolutely gorgeous food. friendly and entertaining staff make you feel more than welcome. a place with personality. the food was amazing. i've had the seafoodpastaboth times i've been.......(i'm not even a seafood fan usually) and i adore it. something special and different. well worth the effort to go and have a look. personality and personality plus. well done! ( :

more than any other italian restaurant i've experienced outside of italy, this restaurant captures the fine, distinctive mix of tastes that so epitomizes italian cuisine. it is not so obvious if you've never been there. (italy or trattoria alla toscana) it is obvious. trust me.

we started with a bottle of prosecco and had a bowl of local green lipped mussels in a neopolitan salsa that took me back to my first visit to italy 26 years ago. to the best of my ability to ascertain, this was an elegant mixture of olive oil, tomatoes, lemon, garlic, and white wine. the ciabatta had a velvety texture, tasty, and very helpful for dipping. the mussels were big at four inches and were juicy, plump, tender morsels of the sea which, when bathed in the broth made me sad that there were only ten in the bowl. next, came a bowl of house made ravioli with mushrooms and ricotta cheese in an orange tinged lighltly creamy, white wine sauce for trinj and a house made pappardelle with mushrooms and smoked salmon sauce for me. the only thing i could say about bothpastadishes bursting with an exquisitely blended palette of tastes while simultaneously maintaining their subtle distinctness, was you have to try this yourself if you're in new zealand. or maybe even if you're not.

a bottle of 2007 hawkes bay alpha romus merlot/cabernet sauvignon wine came out and as we started to make a dent of it, the secondi came out, a sixteen ounce florentine t-bone steak. this was not lamb. this was not a hamburger. this was a 16 ounce t-bone steak cooked in a traditional florentine style, with garlic, olive oil and rosemary, which i have been in love with since my first bite years ago. yo, baby, yo. as i cut into it and watched the purplish, juices come out of the meat and seep onto the plate, i could almost smell the wondrous meaty smell-----but of course i can't. i can't smell. even so, as i took my first bite of the succulent beef, i thought back to a time in tacoma.

i smiled as i took my first bite. i looked at my wife as she took her first bite. we smiled at each other. this was real. this was not lamb. this was a beautiful cut of meat, beef steak or bisteca, cooked to perfection. the taste, the texture, the juiciness, the tenderness, the feel of it in the mouth, the way it played on all of one's senses. this was a wonderful thanksgiving dinner. oh, baby! the wine did a service to the dish.

a cheese plate followed which was nicely accompanied by walnuts, apricots, kiwi, melons, some more wonderful ciabatta and some crackers.

then came dessert. the profiteroles came out soft and drizzled in chocolate filled with a sumptuous light cream. perfectly done. the sadness that comes with the end of each course is quickly overtaken at the giddy pleasure that comes from the next wondrous caress of the taste buds of the following course.


all in all, a great thanksgiving dinner in new zealand.