Credit: Toscana Mia
Yesterday evening we found ourselves dining at “Toscana Mia”; an upscale Bucerias restaurant with a specific focus on Italian cuisine. Part of the reason we chose this establishment was due to it’s “No. 1” ranking in TripAdvisor. While I must say there are many positives to our visit, the most appropriate word I have to describe the experience in it’s entirety is, “underwhelmed”.
On approach, our party (Eron, another couple, and I) all commented on how clean and modern the outside of the restaurant appeared. On entering, my first impression was very positive; the proprietors had opted for a more minimalist, restrained approach to their decor. The dining room had a very modern, upbeat “pan-European” look and feel to it. The staff were uniformly young (a mix of women and men) and eager to assist our party to a table. The first indicator showing a lack of attention to fine detail came when the waiter presented our menus. The menus were of a classic style, printed on quality paper-stock, and the pages were even laminated. However, they were worn with dog-eared corners and wear-through along the spine. The owners had initially spent the time, design effort, and money necessary to produce these menus but (evidently) do not have a system in place for replacements.
After ordering our drinks and an appetizer, we settled in. The room was of medium-size, had about a 1/2 dozen parties (including ours), was bright without being intrusive, and had Italian music playing at an appropriate level. Notably, for an environment composed mostly of hard surfaces, the room’s low noise-level was quite a pleasant surprise.
A classic Italian dish, “Caprese Salad”, was ordered as a shared antipasto. This was served at the same time as a complimentary plate of Bruschetta. First the “bad”, then the not-so-bad. With the free bruschetta; we got what we paid for. This was one of the worst examples of this dish Eron or I have tried, “period”. The bread crust was “chewy” instead of “crusty”; mostly likely due to the high ambient humidity. Although lightly brushed with olive oil, we could not taste any garlic. The finely diced tomatoes were virtually tasteless. And most egregiously, the bread beneath the tomato mixture was a soggy mess and fell apart on attempting to pick up the pieces of Bruschetta. On the other hand, the Caprese Salad was at least edible. It’s presentation was a slightly non-traditional layering alternating slices of bocconcini and tomato with basil leaves in a row along the plate. There was olive oil poured over the layers, finely chopped basil sprinkled on top, and a small drizzle of balsamic reduction beside one edge of the row. It was an attractive and appetizing plating. However, on first-taste, it was disappointing. The tomato, while appearing ripened, had a distinct lack of that, “fresh tomatoey taste”. There was little to no basil flavour; even when cutting off and consuming a slice of the basil leaf with each bite of the cheese and tomato. And the balsamic reduction; there was not nearly enough of it and what little there was had none of the rich balsamic flavour that should be present in this reduction. The good-thing was that at least the reduction did not have any bitterness or a harsh finish.
For the entree, I ordered their “Tagliata Montecarlo”; beef filet (I requested medium-rare) with a mushroom sauce served with baked potato. The presentation for this dish was, at best, uninspired. The beef was sliced into medallions, cooked a rare to a medium-rare (depending on the size of the medallion) and arranged in a tiled row along one half of the plate. The balance of the plate held one layer of cubed roasted potatoes (their interpretation of “baked”?); the cubes were very lightly seasoned, properly roasted, browned, and had a nice crispness along the edges. A sizable quantity of a thin-sliced mushroom and onion sauté was covering the top of the beef medallions. And a thin gray-brown gravy was poured over the beef and sauté portion; the gravy held the presence of black pepper, was not overly-salted, and presented with the essence of red wine. The food was served on a rectangular black plate. So, combine that with medallions of grayish meat, a mound of black and gray sauté, and a pool of gray-brown gravy with the only colour on the plate being the brown and golden hues of the roasted potato; the result was not very visually appealing. But even worse than the lack of visual appeal was the effect of the gravy on the roasted potatoes. The gravy was thin; therefore, when it was poured over the beef it also flowed beneath the potatoes rendering the bottom of each cube of potato into a soggy, disintegrating starchy-paste It was very much a “mess hall” plating; all that was missing was the pressed aluminum tray and the buck-toothed Private serving the food off a commercial steam table. The upside was that there was a good-sized portion of beef and although not browned enough to lend more visual appeal, did have good beef flavour and was very tender. The roasted potato cubes (well at least the top halves of them) were tasty and had a nice crunch to them. And mushroom and onion sauté was flavourful and was a good compliment to the beef. My verdict; I will not be ordering this dish again.
My dining companions each had different pasta dishes. Eron tried the fresh pappardelle pasta with the puttanesca sauce. While she liked the fresh-made pasta, it was not quite al dente enough for her. As for the puttanesca, she thought it was, “Okay.” The sauce had the requisite flavors of anchovies and capers but they were too muted. Puttanesca is, “not supposed to be subtle”, and this one, “didn’t have the snap”. Her verdict; edible but not memorable.
As I stated previous, the wait-staff are young and eager. That is both their strength and their weakness. They seem to be bright, cheerful, and genuinely want to make dining at Toscana Mia a positive event. However, it is their youth and inexperience that hampers them. They are attentive to a fault; either they have not been taught or do not have the experience necessary to distinguish between being at hand and “hovering”. Being unobtrusive yet readily at hand is what good waiters do; hovering over and being noticed by the diners is not a positive attribute in wait-staff. For example, when clearing the appetizer plates, the wait-staff did not wait for all the diners to cue that they were indeed finished with this portion of their evening. Seeing that the majority of the party had finished and had pushed their plates away, the wait-staff started to clear the plates even though one diner was still mid-bite. This diner was asked if they were, “Finished?”, interrupting them even though it was obvious they were indeed, not yet finished. Unnecessarily obtrusive and not conducive to a overall positive opinion of the dining experience.
Unfortunately, our experience at Toscana Mia would lead me to feel that it’s TripAdvisor “No. 1” rating for dining in Bucerias was not exactly representative. In my experience, all-too-many reviews confuse the ambiance of the restaurant or the friendliness of the staff – the “dining experience”; with the objective critique of the “food experience”. It was, “a beautiful setting”, with “wonderful, friendly servers”, and “the food was so pretty”. Therefore, despite the food being being mediocre at best, it was a “great” dinner. Whilst, I do appreciate the thought, time, and effort put into creating an ambiance that promotes and enhances a fine dining experience. That in itself is not enough; the dining experience must be in support of, and not in substitution of, the food experience. Some exceptional restaurants will have both elements in balance. Most, will lack in one or the other. Toscana Mia is an example of a restaurant that while not a perfect dining experience, does provide a very good one. However, it is their food experience that is their downfall. The food does not meet the expectations set up by either their review ranking or the restaurant’s ambiance. In addition, this restaurant does make a conscious effort to take the diner out of the “Mexico Vibe” and transplant you into an air conditioned bubble of “Euro-Vibe”; this can either be considered good or bad depending on the diner. Their price-point, while not truly expensive, does place them firmly into the realm of North American casual-dining prices – fairly “spendy” by Mexico-standards. Recommendation; I would go there for a decent non-Mexican dining experience knowing that the food will be lagging behind the level of the look and feel of the place.
Toscana Mia: Hidalgo 25 | Colonia Centro, Bucerias 63732, Mexico +52 329 298 1525
East to Hedon
East to Hedon 