Toscani's Cafe Bar & Restaurant

I had a wonderful dining experience at this restaurant on a Sunday morning. I ordered the mashed avocado with feta, which was absolutely delicious. My friend had the bubble and squeak, which was a generous portion and I couldn't resist trying some of the bacon. The atmosphere was very relaxed, allowing us to take our time chatting and enjoying our meal at the table. The coffee was also excellent.

Had a nice dinner here the other night with my partner, we decided to sit outside because it wasn't to cold of a night. We ordered are drinks first while we decided on what we would like, came out pretty quick. I ordered the spaghetti bolognese my partner ordered Penne Chicken Pesto but he also wanted to try their bbq lamb which they where happy to add it with the penne pesto dish. We didn't wait long for our meals which was good because I was hungry and I get grumpy when I am hungry. Both meals where amazing really enjoyed them was really surprised how well the lamb went with the Penne Chicken Pesto. I have read the bad reviews in the past but it seems like they have new management in and have made it a really friendly welcoming place to go to.

We requested an inside table for four at around 12:45 pm on a week day. The restaurant was less than half-filled. A cheerful waitress handed out menus within a couple of minutes and we were off to a good start. The smiling waitress asked whether we would like drinks and I flipped through the menu but found no beverages list. When I asked her what beers they sold she said she didn 't know but said she would go and ask. Perhaps they had a drinks menu I prompted; she returned with one. We ordered beers, two pizzas and two veal scaloppine meals (that were on the Toscani 's Favourites list). Within 10 minutes one pizza arrived. The delivering waitress (a different one) told us that the rest of our order would be along in a few minutes. After another 10 minutes we asked the second waitress to check on the rest of our order as one of our group had now finished his pizza. She returned and said it would be delivered in 3 minutes. 15-20 minutes later the second pizza and the two veal dishes were delivered with apologies. There were three people working in the kitchen so it was surprising that our simple order should have been so delayed. After we finished the fairly ordinary food we requested our bill and a third waitress brought it over. It was not our bill, being for a much smaller amount and a different table number. I returned it to her and we were given the correct bill. We appreciate that mistakes happen, but there was something not gelling in this restaurant. Why were we not served by one waitress rather than three? Why not deliver a drinks list with the menus? Why deliver main courses 25 minutes apart? Why deliver a bill for around $20 to a table of four people; how could that be the correct amount? Despite the pleasant and apologetic wait staff (an extra review circle), we will not be returning. Sorry.

We chose Toscani's at Garden City for a work dinner, for the nice outdoor setting and varies menu. The overall experience was so bad, I had to write something, as I see others have also. The service was mostly non existent , we had to wave for any attention. The menu descriptions need reviewing as all were inaccurate. The Fish Basket with salad was on a plate, not basket, and the salad was a few bits of wilted rocket. The steak was chewy and inedible the waiter took it away, offered a refund and didn't seem surprised at all. The daiquiris were frozen and tasted terrible, not like the promised mango or strawberry flavours. The pumpkin risotto looked ok but just tasted wrong.

When our food arrived, it was a major letdown. My husband's fish and chips were small and overcooked, with no sauce to make up for the dryness. My Mediterranean breakfast was a disaster - the toast was dry and unbuttered, the eggs were overcooked, and the avocado still had the product label on it. It was all so dry that it was hard to eat. We were too uncomfortable to complain to the waitress, as she had been so unfriendly throughout our visit. We will not be returning to Toscani's and I would caution others to avoid it as well.