If you’re in the mood for real Italian food (not frozen pizza or spaghetti in a can) Terroni is be the place for you! Affordable prices, a pleasant atmosphere and food that’s very simple yet extremely tasty make this restaurant a great spot for dinner. With two locations in downtown Toronto (Queen west and Adelaide east) and one in uptown (st Clair and Yonge) this restaurant makes a great beginning for a night out on the town.
We had the pleasure of dining at the uptown location and immediately fell in love with the aromas wafting through the place. Two pizza ovens located centrally in the dining room complete with two chefs slaving over them made for an overwhelming desire to have a traditional pie. The decor of the place is very unassuming, with lots of wood detail in order to create a very intimate and comfortable atmosphere for the clients. Beautiful chandeliers are contrasted by exposed venting pipes, distressed wooden planks are used as table tops juxtaposing the posh leather chairs and overall creating an environment that imposes very little upon diners. It’s truly a place where fine dining didn’t mean I’d feel out place walking in with flip flops, it just meant we could expect better service.
Our meal was exactly what I had hoped it would be: the end of a horrible and busy day, comforting, filling and definitely very tasty. We shared appetizers which consisted of grilled calamari served over a bed of greens and steak tartare. Both were perfectly seasoned and very accessible sizes that didn’t make it hard to continue eating. One really good thing about the calamari is that it showcased the abilities of the kitchen since they were soft and tender not what most other restaurants serve (chewy rubber) due to simple overcooking. For our mains we shared two pizzas, both thin crust (which is perfect) and served simply doused in olive oil with fresh and seasonal toppings scattered over top. This is the way pizza should be and is made back home in the motherland. There was no extreme amount of tomato sauce, cheese or a variety of dipping sauces for the crust. It just consisted of simple and fresh ingredients. I did also discover that ricotta and pizza are a phenomenal combination, especially when paired with a hard and salty cheese. To compliment all this food, Terroni also features a seriously extensive wine list (which showcased serious mark-ups) which the servers had great knowledge of. Overall, the dinner for two with three glasses of wine came under $80 which is definitely affordable for the quality of food and service we received.
Overall, this is a restaurant that I would definitely return to in order to enjoy a very simple and tasty meal. It definitely showcases a lot of great ideas and it’s no wonder they’ve expanded their empire to the three locations.
*Picture I posted is unfortunately not mine but it’s courtesy of ugonnaeatthat.com
I have to say that have only been to the Queen West location, once, about 2 years ago and had a excellent meal. Had a very good 3 course meal (i choose my courses). Had a special of the day app…beef tenderloin carpaccio on a crusty garlic open faced baguette with a peppery arugula salad, lightly dressed with a vinaigrette, lemon wedge, and shaved parmigiano-reggiano. Second, was a thin crust pizza with mixed roasted vegetables, smoked mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves. Desert was their tiramisu, maybe the weakest of the three, but only by comparsion.
Remembering that meal now makes me want to go back and see whats on their menu and special board now…