Showing posts with label clams vongole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clams vongole. Show all posts

CLOSED: Mangia & Bevi (Toronto)


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.


So, while the pasta was decent, there’s a reason people go for the pizza. I wish you luck on finding the restaurant.

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 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!


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