TBT - Bottega Off Whyte
One of the worst experiences…
So i’d like to clarify that this is the review of Bottega on Whyte and not the one on 104th. Also that this dining experience was a large group for a birthday. However, the size of our party shouldn't have affected how disappointing this entire experience was.
Let’s start off with some good points about this place. The Rigatoni Abruzzi had the same flavor as the 104 location but with less protein as I was accustomed to. Surprisingly, the Carne pizza was not bad as it had Pomodoro sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, pancetta, Italian sausage, and onion. Now I say surprisingly because by the time we got the pizza everything else was not worth eating.
The mussels were not cooked enough, the taste of wine was strongly prevalent and many mussels were cold. The Tagliatelle with lamb ragu only had some touch of flavor in the sparse parts of where parmesan was present. The clam dish was a special for the evening and was especially garbage. It was extremely bland and absent of any sauce that was promised with it. Everything else from the calamari to the roasted herb chicken was so disappointing.
Service here was also something to comment on. I don’t know if the 2 individuals helping us have ever served before or if one of them was training. They were either absent for large periods of time, or leaving with people’s plates and not refreshing them with new ones as there was still food on the table. One of the waiters spent a lot of time trying to find something on Netflix to put on the tv. Super bizarre. Also, the ambiance of the large group room had a very clinical feeling, probably the lights that had me feeling like I was at a dentist's office.
I know some people will argue that we had 20 people and it’s hard for the restaurant, and I can say that then maybe in the future don’t offer service for large groups. I think it’s safe to say that many of us will not be going again in the future.
Sal says: Just Skip It (1.3/5)
@ncd.23 says: It was pretty bad
Seeing as there is fresh news about secret dinners at the Bottega on 104 with the likes of Jason Kenney…I had to revive this review for this week. See I didn’t really have a beef with the Bottega location where the last time I went I had a nice date where Uccelino was not an option and Bottega on 104 somewhat served okay food at the time. Of maybe it wasn’t good because the woman I took moved back to Korea. How did you screw up this bad Bottega?!?! This was 2 years ago. Fast forward to today and talking to some friends about the 104 location… I’ve heard nothing but bad stories. Did all the bad chefs from Whyte ave go to the 104 location? Regardless of how you feel about the UCP you can definitely agree they have bad taste in Italian food.
In 2021, i’d give Bottega on 104 a skip it for sure. There are too many great Italian restaurants that have sacrificed during the pandemic to even endorse Bottega. Get fucked.
