celine Jan 20,2010

I have one word for both the food and service at this so-called fine dining restaurant Toula - appalling. I have never seen a maitre d' use a stainless steel cream jug as an instrument to sing happy birthday - what is this? McDonald's? So incredibly tacky. When dessert was served, there was no offer of coffee service - we had to ask and even then, coffee did not arrive until we asked a second time and our desserts were finished. I have been to many moderate to fine dining restaurants, and I have NEVER experienced such tacky service and non-creative menu.

Serena Dec 05,2009

The ONLY thing that this place has going for it, is the view. JUST as the first two from our party of four sat down, the waiter was over and asking about our drink order.Efficient service is one thing but feeling like someone is breathing down my neck is another.I ordered a gimlet, and if your are advertising yourself as a fine dining establishment I would expect you to not only know a couple of classic cocktails, but also to be able to execute them well. My drink came watering down the gin with some sugary lime bar mix and a sad looking lime wedge. If I am asking my customer to pay 11 dollars for a cocktail, I should be using actual lime juice, and for heaven's sake give me a lime wheel: it looks ten times better and takes a second longer to cut. Right away, we started getting harassed about the wine order and the waiter actually sent over another server to "check up on your wine order". I served in restaurants for years and this is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Relax! We're gonna order a bottle and rack up your bill by another 60 bucks. It just kept going downhill from there. The lobster bisque was bland and watery and served without a spoon, and the risotto was HORRIBLE. I didn't even take more than a few bites and when my plate was cleared, the server didn't even blink at my nearly untouched plate let alone asking me about how it was. The rest of the table didn't fare much better.All of this I would expect from a mid-level restaurant, but from somewhere that advertises itself as an "experience" and has a stuck up and pretentious waitstaff to go along with it my message is this: STAY AWAY! A dinner for four cost us just under 400 dollars. Don't make the same mistake!If you want Italian try Vesuvio's. If you want cocktails with a view go to The Park Hyatt. DO NOT EAT HERE and I will bet my right arm that the positive reviewers work there

TonyB Nov 24,2009

Anyone who knows anything about food knows not to go out during winterlicous. Do not be cheap and actually try Toula when it is not $20 dollars a menu and 200 people there. I have been going there for 5 years now it is the best food and has the friendliest staff in Toronto

Jennifer Apr 18,2009

My husband and I ate at Toula last saturday night. What a beautiful restaurant, overlooking the harbour and all of downtown. The food was great, and the staff very friendly. They had a musician playing that was just phenonenal. I took her card - her name is Lynsay Ryan, and she has a website www.myspace.com/LynsayRyan. The music absolutely made our night. She played both the grand piano, and played beautiful melodies on the guitar as well. I believe she plays every saturday night so make sure you check her out on a saturday.

Elsa Feb 11,2009

The service I experienced at Toula Restaurant & Bar is totally unacceptable. We were given the Winterlicious menu and a waiter call Andre came back and started ordering. It was strange because we were not asked for an aperitif or a drink. Alright, it was a bad start. We ordered Grilled Jumbo Sea Scallops Chowder. It was very watery and we couldn’t find or taste any scallop, it must had been diced or minced . For main disk, I picked the Black Angus Rib Eye Steak. The waiter didn’t ask how the steak should be cooked and we didn’t mention. Luckily, it was cooked to how we preferred. However, it looked and tasted more like an AA graded striploin streak with all the fat untrimmed instead of Angus beef. My friend ordered the Grilled Sea Bass Fillet. The taste was OK, but the portion is tiny (2.5 x 2 x 1 inches). For desserts, not worth mentioning, definitely below standard at a restaurant of this class. Don’t trust the description on the menu, I tasted better quality desserts from many fast food restaurants than at Toula. Also, not once did anyone come by to see how the dishes were prepared or see if anything is missing. To end our unforgettable dining experience, we were not even asked for tea or coffee and the bill was placed on the table. Service at Toula is horrible, the staffs need to be trained if they understand what Restaurant is for. When I order a burger from McDonald, I am always offered a drink or dessert to complement my meal. It amazed me to see Toula Restaurant & Bar cannot even provide this basic service. I definitely do not recommend Toula to anyone.
I have always enjoyed Winterlicious & Summerlicious and the chance to explore various restaurants, it’s sad to see Toula Restaurant & Bar had put a bad mark to the event…

Leo Ho Jan 31,2009

I had one of the worst restaurant experiences I've ever had with the winterlicious menu at Toula restaurant. The service was terrible - I had the distinct feeling that Toula aims to rip off customers that they will probably never see again because Toula is a hotel restaurant. The spaghetti that I ordered had a watery sauce and absolutely no flavor. The dessert was a cheesecake which would have been better suited being served at a high school cafeteria. It literally had the texture of whipped cream on a graham cracker. To top it off, they tried to charge us $385 before tax and tip for a table of 7. The winterlicious menu is $35 dollars per person. 35*7=245, not 385. i don't see how they could have made a calculation error of $140. When we mentioned this to the waiter, he did not argue in the slightest, nor did he even bother to pretend to check the bill, leading me to believe that he had known about this discrepancy before having given us the bill. the moral of the story is - DON'T GO TO TOULA. it is a restaurant run by greasebag scum. I had a much better experience at Brassai downtown, also for winterlicious, and for the same price.

Anonymous Oct 10,2005

WOW what a restaurant! over the top mushroom risotto,"bella notte and beautiful people at toula".highly highly reccomanded

Anonymous Aug 24,2005

yes,yes, yes!!!!! finally my wife and i are in love with the same restaurant.thank toula,for the fantastic dinner experience.

Anonymous Aug 24,2005

simply the best!impeccable and friendly service,very romantic,and so far the best hand made branzino ravioli ever, thank you raymond for suggesting toula

Anonymous Aug 10,2005

The view was spectacular, however the service was lacking what I was expecting from a place like this. The food was also very bland and slightly overpriced. Your dollar is really paying more for the view and ambience then the quality of food and service.