It’s been years since I’ve visited Mangia & Bevi for a pizza lunch. Finding myself in the area, around the dinner hour, a return visit was in order. If the restaurant was already hard to find during the day, at night, the main door is closed so you’ll need to walk past the complex on King and turn left on a small side street to reach them. For some establishments prominent store frontage is everything; for Mangia & Bevi they appear to rather serve those “in the know”.
The
restaurant can sling out hearty pizzas with crispy crusts. Having tried it
before, I focused this visit on their house-made pastas, especially after
seeing clams vongole ($22) on the
menu. The white wine garlic and leek sauce was perfect, so it was a shame that
my first bite into a clam was gritty. Sadly, it wasn’t a lone occurrence; most
of them ended up being sandy. Moreover, with the thin olive oil based sauce,
the fresh pasta soaked up so much of the liquid it became soft – my personal
preference for thin sauces is dry pasta, which stands a better chance at
remaining al dente.
A better
option was my friend’s carbonara ($21), which had a balanced richness: there
was enough creamy sauce on the chewy fresh pasta to coat it with flavour, you
could taste the pancetta and the kitchen didn’t skimp on parmigiano, but it
wasn’t too heavy. The pasta would be even better if the sauce incorporated more
black pepper.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 260 King Street East
Address: 260 King Street East
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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