Opened in August, Caffe Trattoria Toscana is a fairly recent addition to Prishtina’s Italian restaurant scene. On Fehmi Agani Street, Toscana shares sidewalk space with Basilico and Ponte Vecchio. Basilico offers a more high-end dining experience, while Ponte Vecchio is a cosier, smaller eatery for people who want fast and affordable pasta. In order to have some longevity, Toscana will need to provide some sort of happy medium.
First, the sandwiches. Toscana has a menu entirely dedicated to sandwiches, something the lunch crowd in Prishtina will definitely appreciate. I went on a weeknight with two friends, and we each ordered a sandwich, which comes with a side of salad. The Machiavelli, my order, was a serviceable sandwich with chicken and tzatziki sauce, if slightly heavy on the bread. The Il Donatello sandwich had a generous amount of smoked salmon, but somehow still managed to taste dry. The Toscana, an approximation of an Italian sub, seemed poor on the fillings, especially when compared to the great Prishtina deli Izzy’s, which closed last winter. I’ve heard high praises for a sandwich called the Puccini, which uses fig jam as a filling, so maybe we should have been more selective with our orders. The sandwiches we ordered ranged between 3.50 to 3.90 euros, which is a bit too much for what was on offer, even though the portions are quite sizeable.
I went to Toscana again a few days later for dinner with two friends. The Mediterranean salad was fresh and well dressed (it could have easily served as a main on its own), and the bread basket that accompanied it was also recently baked and filling. The mains however, were lacking in the same freshness and quality. The penne arrabiata I ordered didn’t have the spicy kick it’s supposed to have, and worst of all, it looks like the kitchen staff doesn’t wear hairnets: there was a single black hair in my pasta, discovered after I’d already eaten more than half of the dish. The soup of the day, a broccoli soup, was salted to the point of oblivion. The arancini vegetariano and the lasagne were only serviceable, lacking in freshness and flavour. Before we even ordered, the tone was set by the waiter, who recommended we order “pasta or antipasta” when asked for suggestions.
The salad was 3 euros, the soup of the day was 2.40 euros, the penne was 4.90 euros, the arancini vegetariano was 3.90, and the lasagna was a pricey 6 euros. After the bill was paid, the waiter approached our table and asked one of us if we worked nearby. The answer was no, but the waiter still made sure we didn’t leave without a promotional flyer advertising the restaurant’s deliveries.
I hope that the two visits I made were just unlucky flukes, but I think I’ll stick to Basilico and Ponte Vecchio for my Italian fix.
01 December 2015 - 13:05
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