Food for Pleasure

Saturday 13 October 2012

MARINELLA
360 College Street West, Toronto (416) 348-9200
Decided to try a new restaurant on College Street in Little Italy, it was called Marinella. We checked the menu on the board outside and it seemed to have some dishes we wanted to try. We began with the usual request for a bottle of wine, Chianti and it was good ($40). The meal began with a plate of homemade bread that was still warm, and definitely homemade. The bread was accompanied with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. Had to ask for another plate of it, it was melt in your mouth good. We ordered calamari fritti and an olive bowl as appetizers to share, they were a reasonable price and very good. The calamari were large and covered in a nice panko like coating and an accompanying tomato sauce which was not acidic. My wife ordered gnocchi in tomato sauce (she has tried many gnocchi dishes in many restaurants) and she said it was very good. I ordered the veal parmigiana with the standard spaghetti accompaniment. I found the veal thin and delicious. I cut it with the butter knife. The accompanying spaghetti tasted homemade (usually it is a filler to accompany the veal parmigiana), but this was different, it was definitely homemade and scrumptious. We completed the meal with a cappuccino and shared a tiramisu that was homemade.

When we first arrived the waiter told us that tonight's cooks in the kitchen were the owners mother and brother and that everything was homemade. Well I had to agree, our meal was delicious and tasted homemade.

I do not take well to acidic tomato sauces, but this was not definitely not an acidic tomato sauce (try Kit Kat's sauce and you will see what I mean).

In summary, this was a great meal. The waiter was very efficient and deserved the larger tip. The only drawback was that the restaurant owner had turned away at least a dozen people, saying they were booked for the night, yet when we left an hour later it was still mostly empty. He lost possible return customers - I am not a fan of reservations!!