Noce – 875 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1G5
Country: Italy
Seating: Indoor and outdoor dining
Must-try dish: Ravioli Al Funghi 
Dinner guests: Happy Hil, The Honourable Mitchell, Suited-Sebastien & Young Matt
The high: The food was fantastic. 
The low: The poor service left a bad taste in our mouths. 

This was the Last Supper out for Mandrea Bike and their cronies before Toronto fell back into an imminent lockdown. The goal was to eat well and wash it all down with delicious libations, and if nothing else, that modest marker was hit. 

Noce is one of the best Italian restaurants in the city, and it’s common to hear high praises about it whether dining in or taking out. The owner makes a habit of visiting tables and dinners are all but licking their plates. 

As far as the food goes, Mandrea Bike and the gang arrived with empty bellies and left more than satisfied. The Beef Tartar and the Burrata took center stage for the appetizers, while the Ravioli Al Funghi was a dish that we’ll be craving for a long time into the future. For those that don’t like mushrooms, it’s still worth ordering. 

These are the unpleasant events that led to a sour evening at Noce. Upon arrival, the table wasn’t ready so we were asked to wait in a cramped area that was in the way of people coming in and out of the patio, which felt counter-intuitive to COVID-19 guidelines. Over the half-hour wait, we weren’t once offered a drink, which would have made the experience slightly better. 

Once at the table, the server arrived and promptly told us that we had to order and eat quickly within a two-hour window since our table was going to someone else. Note: we sat at 20:15, and the restaurant had to legally close at 23:00, and were sat 30 minutes behind schedule without even acknowledgment or apology. ON Noce’s website, each reservation is two hours and 30 minutes. 

All this would have been ok, and we would have forgotten about it except that the server continues to prompt us to order because our time was running out. At this point, there was still one hour and a half left on our reservation, which is plenty of time for us to eat. We felt rushed, uncomfortable and unwelcome. 

The icing on the cake was that as we paid our bills, there was no mention from the server that a 20% gratuity was already added to each bill, and the majority of the table paid an additional tip on top of that. Not communicating with the table for an auto-gratuity is in bad taste, as well as being sneaky and greedy. 

It’s with a heavy heart that we have to write a negative review of a restaurant that both halves of Mandrea Bike used to rave about, and one that has such amazing food. On top of that, we don’t want to give anyone bad press, especially with all the struggles that come along with the pandemic. 

This negative experience was unique, but it’s enough to shift our loyalty to other Italian restaurants across the city. As previously mentioned, the food was incredible, the wine and drinks went down well, but in the end, rude service sticks out in our minds. We understand that things are complicated with the pandemic hanging over our heads, but both Mat and Andrea have worked for years in the restaurant industry and there is never an excuse for bad service. 

It’s been a tough year for everyone, and people go out to socialize with their friends in a restaurant to be able to get away from it all and relax. This evening brought on the opposite for our group. We felt anxious, unwelcome and not good enough to be in this restaurant. We don’t see a need to return, but will always recommend the food if anyone asks. 

Eat with you soon,

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)