DOVA

Fantastic restaurant! Had a girls night here and ordered a few dishes to share. Loved a few and some others were good but not amazing. Highly recommend the calamari, truffle pasta, and wild boar pasta. Our server also gave some great recommendations and was excellent!

We have to agreed with some of the reviews that there was no WOW factor. For a higher price point we weren’t impressed but not entirely disappointed. Let’s break this one down: 5/5 for aesthetic and ambiance. The patio is perfect for a date night with lots of plants and flowers, a cute lamp for personal lighting along with the string lights above. 4/5 for food. The plating was well done with decent flavour except for the pizza. The dough was good but overall it lacked flavour. The pasta however had an amazing flavour but also like other reviews, a slightly larger portion would be better. 3/5 for service. This is mainly because of our server. As we entered we were greeted by a lovely server and the kitchen staff all said hello with smiles as we passed by to make our way to the patio. We received a new server after we were seated and he just missed a touch of personalized attention for a higher priced point restaurant. Service was slow and for a large portion, we were sitting there waiting to be asked if we wanted another drink, twice. Traditionally when we order oysters, staff will explain where their oysters are from and what type they are. We had to ask after we had eaten them. I think this goes with most items ordered in a higher priced point restaurant, servers will often drop off the food and explain to you again what you are getting. This was not done here. Overall, we had a nice date night but agree we would not rush back for more.

An enjoyable experience overall, with nice shades in the patio. Price was reasonable, though it was on the higher end compared to other restaurants in the area. The food was good overall, though I wished the portions could be a little more generous, particularly for the pasta. Although in general, the host was knowledgeable and it was an intimate dining experience

Nothing special. Polpo was disappointing though - the octopus was canned octopus, had mushy texture and 0 flavour. Pizza was better because of the freshly shaved truffle. The dough/sauce wasn’t amazing. Pasta was average. Sufficient seafood in the sauce but weak flavour. Service was mediocre.

Relatively small but intimate Sicilian restaurant. Food is top notch and there are dishes I’ve never tried before since it’s very regional. I recommend the anchovies and the ragu. The pasta tasted very nostalgic and the sauce very similar to something my mom has made me before. It was super comforting and hearty. The anchovies were just so different and came with slightly charred artichoke hearts. The fish was so packed with flavor and unique, I can still remember how it tastes now. If you ever visit this restaurant, I highly recommend those 2 dishes.

I had never heard of this place and was in the area, so when I found it I was so excited to try. I really wanted to like this place! Everything about it seemed so promising. However, our experience with the appetizers which are usually the highlights for me at many restaurants was extremely disappointing… In short, if you don’t want to read this whole review, the appetizers were really plain. Here’s why: After going through the menu, we ordered the pesce spada raw swordfish carpaccio, beef carpaccio, and the tartufo truffle linguine as per our server’s recommendations of his favourites. I was a bit questionable on the carpaccio with raw mushrooms this just sounds kind of plain and I was eyeing the burrata instead. The rico e pepe was also another one of my preferences since it sounded different enough plus cacio e pepe is my fave and I also feel that truffle is pretty standard at a lot of places i.e. it’s hard to get wrong and I wanted to try something more unique. However, we are usually trusting with suggestions from informed staff and decided to go along with it in high hopes since everything on the menu sounded pretty good. The swordfish tasted a bit too fishy like it almost wasn’t fresh and it seemed to be lacking any other flavour as the garnishes barely added anything to the dish except maybe the tiny bits of mustard. The sauce had no taste, I think it was just oil. It didn’t even taste like anything was seasoned. I’ve had crudo before and even if it’s supposed to just be olive oil and lemon juice as the “sauce”, this time it didn’t add anything to the dish. The beef carpaccio was also extremely disappointing for what I had feared in the first place - raw mushrooms just didn’t satisfy our expectations and I felt like I was eating more of a salad than beef carpaccio. Again, no sauce or sense of seasoning on this dish. The ingredients may be good but didn’t work well together to have any sort of “wow” factor as I saw another review mentioned as well. After the disappointment of the first two dishes, the service also got a lot worse. The pasta took a VERY long time to arrive and we had to ask the hostess/SA to check on it for us. We were sitting at the bar and the bartender also hadn’t checked up on us since having the appetizers. We had to ask for more water from the hostess too because he stopped paying attention to us after ordering which was strange because we expressed so much interest in the restaurant and were talking about it with him when we first sat down. Another strange thing is that he told us Dova opened 3 months ago when I can see that reviews have been posted for this place at least a year ago - why did he lie ?? For somewhere that boasts about being in Canada’s Top 100 Restaurants, they are also very passive when placing dishes in front of us with no explanation or pride in what they’re serving, which is not a pleasant experience at a higher end restaurant … Okay, thankfully, the pasta was very impressive and lived up to a much better standard. It was cooked well and had good flavour, but like I mentioned earlier, you can add truffle to many recipes and it will instantly enhance the dish it’s hard to get truffle pasta really wrong. Because of the bad experience, we decided to pass on the dessert and just get out of here. Again, I really wanted to like this place and was really sad at how much it failed with the first two dishes BUT since the pasta was so good, I still want to come back to try the rico e pepe. I’m hesitant to try anything else, plus for the price it really didn’t feel worth it. Other than that, another good thing is that the ambience in here is very nice!

Very authentic Italian served in a happening vibe. Ambiance, service and food were all great! Only reason I went with the 4 ranking instead of 5 is that there wasn’t a “wow” moment during the meal: Most of the dishes I’m used to getting at home yah, I’m Italian and eat very well and the design of the restaurant felt a tad familiar as well. But for those who are looking for “true” Italian with an obvious focus on Sicilian dishes that haven’t been corrupted by North American influences, this is definitely a place to try!

Wasn’t impressed but wasn’t exactly disappointed either. But for a finer dining price point, I did expect more. What I did like was the friendly service, cute concealed patio and the creamy sauce that came with the broccolini! Everything else wasn’t too memorable.

Two tired British travelling friends looking for some fresh delicious food on our first night in Toronto. This place is a gem, front of house is lovely and made us feel instantly welcome and at home. Thank you for having us and for making our first night in this fabulous city so enjoyable! I also had the chef’s negroni and it was lovely, food was delicious and perfect amount of food.

Amazing atmosphere and delicious Italian food! My friend and I split the calamari appetizer, the truffle pasta and wild boar sausage pizza for the main, and the tiramisu to top it off. Service was very friendly - our waitress made us feel at home! When I was using my pizza crust to savour every last bit of our truffle pasta sauce she gave us a taste of their delicious olive oil to dip our carbs into. Be sure to reserve ahead of time to get a table on the main floor! Can’t wait to come back and taste the rest of the menu. *UPDATE* Finally came back to enjoy the end of summer back patio. Was a beautiful atmosphere on a Saturday evening to spend with our two friends. Here, we enjoyed the calamari once again, sampled the carpaccio, and between the four of us ordered the Fughese pizza, the Frutti di Mare pasta, as well as the Boar pasta. The Carpaccio and Boar pasta left us craving more of a kick - however the pizza and the seafood pasta were exquisite. Service was once again lovely, with the chef making an appearance at the pack patio to chat with patrons was a nice touch. Once again we will be back!