Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
Authenic Italian restaurant that brings the flavour of Toscana to Vancouver!
I heard of the restaurant through word of mouth, and decided to bring my date there for the night. We both ordered the three course meal, mine consisting of the squid in tomato sauce, rack of lamb, and tiramisù for dessert. Overall I was very impressed, with only slight nitpicking preventing me from giving more five star ratings.
Food:
Everything I had was very well seasoned and tasted delicious. My squid was tender and cooked perfectly, in a sauce that left me scraping my plate for more. The rack of lamb was very tasty, but slightly less pink than I had asked for. This was my only fault with the meal however, because the tiramisù to top off my meal left me very satisfied and pleased with my choice of going to this restaurant.
Service:
Our waiter was very kind, continually refilled our water, promptly cleared our plates away after we finished our food, and brought us freshly baked bread at the start of our meal that was very tender and flaky. We did not have to wait very long between each course and overall I had no issue with the service.
Value:
For the flavor of the food, The value is on par with what you would expect. I would, however, consider the food slightly pricy for the amount you receive. It was a very tasty meal that neither of us had any complaints about when we were through eating, but the lamb was so tasty I would have loved to have another few bites on my plate as the lollipops of lamb were on the small side.
Ambiance:
There is something very comforting about this restaurant. It is quite small looking, but very warm colored and cozy. The smells come out from the kitchen (especially the bread when it's just finished cooking) that reminds you of home cooking. All the tables are set up very nicely and professionally, and the decoration is simple but pleasing to look at. I personally loved the environment at Cucina Toscana.
The next time I pass through the area I'd love to be able to revisit this establishment, as it was a joy to dine here.
I know this restaurant from their website. And took my girl friend their for her birthday. My girl friend ordered a lamb rack but the waitress said she has to double check with the kitchen if they still have lamb rack left. And turns out they have nothing left. I was unhappy about this. How come a restaurant put something they dont even have on the menu? And waitress doesn't even know it before serve the customer. Totally unprofessional. At last my girl friend has to order rib with black pepper sauce. And it took us 40 minutes for that. The rib is way too hot. I guess the chef throw the whole bottle black pepper on it. My girl friend was crying and left the restaurant. She thought I didn't take too much time on arranging her birthday dinner by choosing a poor restaurant like that. And the poor dinner cost me 118 dollars. If you are a person who is about to go there, then stop while you still can. You definitely will regret.
Food:
Best clam dish every with wine sauce. It was perfectly cooked with NO sand whatsoever. This has not happened before in other restuarants. There is usually a little sand in the clam meat. But, at this restaurant, there was absolutely no sand. The clams were big, fat and juicy, not small or tiny. Great dish! The entree I had was the risotto seafood dish. The risotto was okay, and there was too much risotto. The seafood was cooked well, but a little bit more protein is needed because the risotto starch/carbo overwhelms the seafood additions.
The dessert (cheesecake) was not that good. It was crumbly and the taste just wasn't there.
Service:
Great service. Prompt and courteous. Re-filled water continually. The food came out not too slow and not too fast. It was perfect timing.
Value:
Good value for the quality of food (good) theh restaurant served.
Ambiance:
I love small restaurants with a "private" setting. This restaurant is small and contained only a few tables, so I absolutely adored it.
Conclusion:
You must try it! Perfectly priced with tasty food. Skip the cheesecake though, but try the clam appetizer.
A friend who works nearby brought me here, and raved about their pasta. Since he already knew about the pasta dishes, I decided to try something different, so I ordered the warm seafood salad. It was a bit surprising in that it didn't look like the typical warm seafood salad, as the seafood was in a light, clear broth, and there were only 2 pieces of butter lettuce in the dish. No matter, everything was extremely fresh and tasty. At $15.95, it represented very good value for money. My friend ordered a pasta, and it looked delicious too. It appears that not too many people know about this place yet, so it is a little undiscovered gem, but don't wait till everyone has discovered it. Go there now!
I came here w my gf on April 14th for an early dinner. We ordered eggplant for the appetizer, and I ordered white wine clams while my gf ordered the vegetarian pasta. The eggplant was pretty good. My clam was a little too salty but it was cooked well, not overly long. My gf's pasta however was not a little overly cooked (according to her cuz i didn't try), and a little bland, I saw her adding so much salt into her plate. (I feel so bad cuz I was the one who introduced her to come here.) As for dessert, we ordered the german cheesecake and we both thought it was very bland and a little dissappointing though it got the crumbly texture and we would not definitely order this anymore. I would give restaurant a 2nd chance though due to the great food I experienced in the previous visits.
I decided to check this place out based on the past reviews. So I made a reservation and was a bit apprehensive when a Chinese woman took my reservation.
Our first impression is that it’s got decent décor and its clean but thought that it odd to have some Chinese characters on the window. Also I peaked into the kitchen and noticed the cook was Chinese. Regardless the food was really good with really good portions. (not too much where you can expect to bring leftovers home)
Our party ordered:
-the portabello mushroom appetizer which was decent
- the potato gnocchi with clams and Italian sausage which was pretty good although I think the sauce would be better with regular pasta
-the sole with cream sauce which was amazing and the linguine with clams in a white wine sauce which was really good but I thought the pasta could be a bit more al dente
-For dessert we had the tiramisu which was excellent and the crème brule was really good as well.
Overall I’d rate the food is better than the Italian tomato or Spaghetti Factory but not quite Italian fine dining. Also, the price rating for this place should actually only be $$ as opposed to the $$$ that its currently rated at.
I’d recommend this place if you want good Italian at really great prices.
It's tucked in an obscure location, not even located on a main road. I was a little skeptical to step in at first, but apparently regular patron knew their way already. It was 7pm and they're already serving 4/6 tables (small restaurant) Food was surprisingly good, not a big menu but their dishes are cooked to perfection. Worth a visit.
First review, the rating system here is not perfect. This place not quite what I expected from the previous reviews.
Anyways, it serves me right to think that an authentic tuscan italian restaurant exists in Richmond! The previous reviews are a bit over the top for the place it really is. Need to get a real rating in here.
Where it's good:
Food was good and for the most part well flavoured and well cooked (Only real knock was that medium rare steaks at our table were quite rare)
Portions are fair for the price. Pasta's range from $11-$17, meat dishes hit $27... normal pricing for the type of food.
You can get a decent meal here.
Where it fails:
Ambiance - Completely lacking in any Italian feel, nevermind tuscany. Decor is pretty plain jane.
Wine - ok selection, improper storage. Our bottle of Chianti PIscilli 06 was quite warm. Was explained to me that the lights are what made it warm. Well........
Servers aren't experienced in this kind of dining.
Menu didn't have an italian/tuscany feel to it as it was simply a selection of pasta and meats. You have to have a some kind of special type of pizza! They did have a tuscany soup but no one was interested in trying that.
So first impressions didn't set me off right. The food was good. I won't call it outstanding but with this rating system, I don't want to give them a 3 either. I was going in expecting a fine dining night. It's not a fine dining restaurant. Overall a solid experience, but not the incredible ratings that are being given so far. Kind of like a good chinese restaurant minus the chinese food.
I have always been a regular to this restaurant. When the owner closed thier old store in kerrisdale i was so depressed because I thought another good restaurant is gone from my list. Now they have reopened in richmond, hiding in a tiny alley. Yet the food was better than ever. Before they mainly serve spaghetti, and not many selection of main courses. Now they are serving more and more exotic food, yet the price still remain reasonable. Me and my girl friend went there yesterday on valentines day, and the set dinner course for 2 are only 100, which includes 4 dishes + dissert + 2 cup of complementary wine. This is the cheapest price for a valentine dinner i have heard so far. And the quality of the food is still amazing, regardless the restaurant is fully seated. I would definitely go more often. People in richmond, thanks to this restaurant, you no longer need to drive to dt or vancouver for some good quality but resonalbe priced italian cuisine.
| 1. | Traditional Taiwanese Restaurant (38 m) |  |
| 2. | G-Men (38 m) |  |
| 3. | Gee Taste Good Cafe (83 m) | |
| 4. | Woo Ying Vegetarian (83 m) | |
| 5. | Sushi Hachi Restaurant (83 m) | |
| 6. | Bubble Queen (83 m) | |
| 7. | Taikoo Yummy Food (83 m) | |
| 8. | Negative Space Chinese Restaurant (83 m) | |
| 9. | Subway (110 m) | |
| 10. | Mega Bakery (116 m) |
