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Review content:
After reading all the great reviews, decided to take someone special for dinner at Toscana since it seemed like a Boston version of Trattoria Cibreo we had dinner at twice in Florence, where every course was rich, earthy, Tuscan. When we walked in, the atmosphere was reminiscent...simple, basic, no frills, which is fine, it should be about the food. The issue was, for all the praise, the food was very average. First came bread & olive oil. The bread was basic sliced and it was perhaps the only time we've had olive oil with the consistency of water and no flavor. The Antipasto was better...the meats and cheeses were tasty and presentation was nice. The marinated mushrooms seemed to have come from Shaw's deli, not so special. Entrees did not seem very Tuscan...grilled steak, chicken breast with leeks, grilled salmon with lemon, pork chop and lamb shank...more Mediterranean than Tuscan. The only seafood entree...grilled salmon...had bones in it. This is never expected and should be noted on the menu or told to the customer. It came with grilled zucchini which was cold and unseasoned. The lamb shank was decent. There was an orange colored sauce on it and really could not tell what it was made of. That came with 3 little round baked pototoes, also unseasoned, and some spinach, also unseasoned and with the consistency of Bird's Eye frozen/chopped. The wine, at $8 per glass, was probably the cost of the bottle. As a $5 glass of house wine, it would have been OK. Which is the issue we had. The food was not bad, but dinner for 2 (one app, 2 entrees and 2 glasses of wine) was nearing $100 with the tip (tip was reasonable despite waiting 30 minutes for a fish dish and lamb shank, which would have already been braised/roasted...staff liked to stand around, it was not a busy night). For that amount.or not much more, you can go to Giacomo's, Stella or Rocca...all have better food and better service. Not bad, but not as good as everyone seems to be saying.
Pros: Antipasto, Trattoria atmosphere
Cons: Average food, slow service, pricey for what you get
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