Review Tortellino D'Oro Restaurant - Glenhove Road - Johannesburg

21st of February 2010

On this warm and humid evening, we accidentally passed by Restaurant Tortellino D’Oro by car and decided to make a stop. We have a good excuse now to dine out and order fantastic wine to accompany our dishes. Indeed, my blog. Ready to review my second restaurant in Johannesburg and together we march in (in Feb).

First impression at the entrance:

• Beautiful laid tables
• Funny earplugs waiters
• Lovely Shop in the back
• Good light in venue
• Nice music
• Too close to the parking area

Tortellino D’Oro(means Golden pasta shaped as a belly button)started with an Italian Pasta and Delicatessen Shop years back. The Italian delicacies on the shelves and in the fridges are keen to make you hungry, even if you were not. People walk in an out the Shop to buy themselves lovely Italian dishes, pasta sauces and homemade pasta to prepare at home. Quoted from the website: ‘Whether it's fettucine, trenette, panzarotti or regular lasagne you're after, all our ready-made meals are of the highest TORTELLINO D'ORO home made quality and freshly made.’ We decided to stay and sat down between the Restaurant area and the Shop. Our first mistake.

The waiters were not looking after our table. After a while, we both agreed our bizarre waves to draw the waiter’s attention were exhausting and stupid. They were not capable to see our empty water glasses, which we had to fill up ourselves. Worst of it all, like Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City said, “Why have we ever stopped drinking this?” Honestly, the fucking wine was as warm as a toast in the dessert in Morocco. That is why we stopped drinking it Carrie. Ice cubes please. Bizarre wave again.

Our Aperitif was Champagne with warm toast, zucchini, a beautiful dressing and red pepper that ‘waited’ for their first consumers a bit too long. The Champagne was warm and the toast was very soft which I found a pity, like rain during a romantic picnic.




 We shared a starter that was delicious: Insalata Pere e Formaggio.  Must say, this herb salad with pear, gorgonzola, parmesan, marinated mushrooms and almonds truffle dressing was divine. 100% recommended.


Peter ordered Risotto ai Funghi Porcini (mushroom) and I ordered Summer Pasta (with pesto, rocket and Rosa tomato). All pasta is homemade and fresh but the dish was literally drowning in oil. Please do not go there if you are on a diet, or maybe if you worked you ass of in the Gym that morning like I did (well, sort of).

Summer Pasta

Dessert we shared: Ricotta Cheese Tart with Vanilla ice cream. Especially the vanilla ice cream, freshly made at the restaurant, was heavenly. We were in the mood for the special dessert on the menu. When we asked our waiter about it (after some bizarre moves again) the waiter told us they did not have a special dessert that evening. ‘What about tomorrow?’ I asked. ‘He was not sure,’ he said. Gee.

The cheese tart made up for that but still, take it of your menu then. After our bottle of wine was finished, we got for the bill and agreed it was expensive.

I found it difficult to compare the two restaurants because their style, ambiance and service is from another level, but it was only 250 ZAR less than our experience in Le Canard. Made me think about the value for money.
By the way, my review is taking into account that both (and in future all restaurants) have differences in style, history and quality. Maximum score is 5 and that is what I set as an objective when I enter a restaurant.
That objective is set up differently for Le Canard than it is for Tortellino D’Oro. That said the score is:

Overall experience?
Okay.

Value for money?
No. Too expensive for an average evening.

Food            3/5
Service        2/5
Ambiance    3/5


Overall review
2.6

Warm regards,

Abigail Summer