It was our first evening in Ireland, and while wandering around Dun Laoghaire harbor, we chanced upon Toscana, which was highly recommended by a lot of the guidebooks we'd read. But this was no tourist trap. It was an authentic Italian restaurant with exceptional food and service! We were politely seated at a quiet table upstairs, and ordered drinks and appetizers. The meat and cheese platter, bruschetta, chicken wings, and other apps were so delicious and filling we didn't need to order entrées. But we did leave room for dessert, ordering two that our server recommended. My favorite was the cheesecake, but there wasn't a morsel left of either when our hungry family was done! Thank you Toscana, for making our first evening in Ireland so special. We will return! read more

Toscana - We ordered a lot of food, and enjoyed every last bit of it! - Italian Near Me - Dun Laoghaire, D

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En route to the theatre locally we came to Toscana for an early dinner. It wasn't our first choice and, it has to be said, we would have been better elsewhere. Seated outdoors in a surprisingly comfortable outdoor terrace which, no fault of the restaurant, became increasingly cold despite the valiant efforts of space heaters. Service was friendly and attentive. That's the good news. The calamari starter was very forgettable and a surprisingly ungenerous portion. My Toscana pizza could easily have come from a supermarket fridge. Generic and bland. No discernible texture or taste. My companions venison ragu may have had a passing acquaintance with Bambi but it would be hard to prove or find among the gloop. The French fries were pretty good though. No, just no. read more

Early Bird special excellent for 2. Starter and Main plus a bottle of good wine Bruschetta good. Chicken good. Shrimp/Veggie sticks good. Saw two local guys eating there. Not just tourists Easy walk from High street read more

An Italian restaurant run by Italians... yeah, that works for me. Now, readers of my reviews will know I am not a fan of restaurants, particularly Italian restaurants, that try to be too authentic, bathe everything in olive oil, refuse to serve chips.. that sort of thing. Let you not think I am a heathen though... well, not much of one anyway. I just think that such places need to make a concession to the fact that they are not, in fact, in Italy. Toscana then manages to tread a very fine line between pleasing and annoying the almighty Q, the service is reasonable, the food not at all bad and the atmosphere...well, you make that yourself and we had a fine time. Bottom line, not somewhere I would jump up and down about but likewise I would have no objections to going again..... wow, how's that for a totally vanilla review!? read more

Toscana - meh! - Italian Near Me - Dun Laoghaire, D

In a week of amazing restaurants in and around Dublin this one came in a very close second to the pigs ear.. Great service, greater food, and by far the coldest beer I have ever been served, anywhere. The deserts were out of this world. If you are thinking about going here, quit thinking and get on in there. read more

Toscana - Toscana on a sunny afternoon. - Italian Near Me - Dun Laoghaire, D

Short and simple review. Forgot one starter. Mixed up one Pizza for Mains. Forgot beer order. Forgot it was my brothers birthday. Food was average. Only one star because the table we had was really nice with a view of the sea. read more

32 eur for 1 glass of wine, 1 tea and 1 12 inch pizza. A bit pricey. Staff very nice. Service very good.

An Italian restaurant the way it should be. Great food, great atmosphere, and nice location - what else can you ask for? You have to look close to notice the place. It's located not on the main street in Dun Laoghaire - if you're passing the main pier and continue your way besides the water, you'll notice it. As Quentin mentioned in his review, this place is run by Italians so expect no Temple Bar-touristy-overpriced-bull@#$# food. We had a Caesar Salad (5.95 Euro), Crab Claws (11.95 Euro), Spaghetti Carbonara (13.95 Euro), a Cotolette d'Agnello (22.50 Euro), and Tiramisu (5.95 Euro). Both value and quality of the food was just superb. The staff is really friendly and knowledgeable and give you a warm welcome once you enter the restaurant. So if you're looking for one of the best Italian restaurants in the Dublin area I highly recommend checking out this one! There is also a Dublin location which I haven't tested out yet. read more

Maybe I was in a parallel universe when I ate here on Monday but I had a very different experience to most people here i.e. it was very, very bad. First off, our waiter was extremely strange and disconcerting: on entering, we asked for a table for two, and rather than saying "come right this way" and walking up the stairs to the upstairs dining room (which was weird enough considering the ground floor dining room had several free tables and as it was 5.00pm on a bank holiday Monday there were hardly all booked), the waiter said nothing and literally ran up the stairs - I was unsure what to do. When we eventually got to the table, the same waiter made our meal extremely uncomfortable by spending most of it standing in the landing beside us and looking at his phone/staring at us, or walking back and forth across the room by our table for seemingly no reason (never seemed to set any tables, picked up any plates, got orders or served food), while using this opportunity to look over my friend's shoulder at his phone several times. As for the food, it was bad quality, plain and simple, as well as overpriced in the extreme. My pizza was marginally above frozen pizza standard, and cost nearly 13 euro; my friend's two starters were approximately 7 euro each, and while he described his calamari as average, his polenta salad (which contained 3 miniscule pieces of polenta, a lot of lettuce and not much else) was visibly and reportedly terrible. The only redeeming factor was that the (very strange and disconcerting) waiter was pretty attentive, though it would be hard not to be with his constantly circling our table... Wouldn't come here for the food, the price or the atmosphere. Possibly my worst meal in Dublin considering what it cost. read more

So here is what it boils down to for me. The hype over the pizza turned out to be unjustified. Bland tastes. They use tinned olives on top of a vegetarian pizza. Not impressed. Other pizzas and starters on the table were OK but nothing to write home about. They are proper thin base but lacking in season and quality ingredients. Pricey for the quality. Another downer is the lighting in the room which is way too bright (at least the one upstairs). Lacks atmosphere. I am sure daytime visit must be much better if you get to sit by the window with a sea view. Location is great. The best best thing about the place is the service. Very polite, friendly and courteous. Did not see a single Italian though, mostly Hungarian and Irish staff. Nothing wrong with that but contradicts the other review... Maybe I have too many a real Italian experiences. read more

The thing that first drew me to this place was it's location. Right on the sea front in Dun Laoghaire, away from most of the other restaurants and pricey cafes. I phoned to book a table at 6pm on Saturday to take advantage of the early bird menu (which is available until 6.30 Mon-Sat) and spoke to a very friendly, polite guy - always a good start! On arrival someone met us and confirmed the booking details and gave us the choice of tables. They didn't have the early bird menu on the table but as soon as I asked for it they apologised and brought them straight over. This is the best early bird menu I've seen in a long time- 18euro for 2 courses or 20euro for 3- with a great selection. The food was very tasty, came in good sized portions and all the staff were extremely polite and helpful. Very good value for money and a really nice atmosphere - would definitely go again! read more

This place is great! As authentic as you can get in an Italian restaurant outside Italy and really top notch food! The pizza is really well made and is not too heavy at all and the pasta dishes are just fantastic! The meatballs and linguine was excellent. Definitely worth a visit read more

A pleasant surprise on the seafront and a not so pleasant surprise in my plate - that's how I would summarise our visit to Toscana one weekday evening. Having been here before about two years ago, friend and I had low expectations of the place but a nearby restaurant was full and we ended up here again. The menu had a lot of choice and we went for pizza; the pizza was surprisingly to our taste, thin and crispy. My friend had a choose-your-own-toppings while I went for a vegetarian pizza. Unfortunately, I found bits of ham in my pizza - which was totally gross. I told the waiter who didn't know what to do about it and I picked out the bits of ham. The bill came and there was no free coffee, no further apology, nothing... which was a bit disappointing. Overall, nice food, service lacking but decent prices. A-OK then. Make a fuss for me and I might rate you higher some day. read more

We celebrated a birthday in Toscana restaurant recently and it has to be the best restaurant in Dun Laoghaire. We were seated at the table looking out to sea and it was wonderful to watch the sailboats rather than facing a wall in a restaurant. There really is nothing to compare with being able to chill and watch the world go by over a few glasses of wine. The food was terrific and the service excellent, couldn't fault our experience in Toscana read more

Delicious bruschetta. That is all! My trip here was very brief, but what I did have was delicious and makes me want to go back for more! read more

Staff were really nice and food was lovely. I had bruschetta for starter, lasagne for main. My partner had crab claws for starter and said it was fresh and did not get sick from it. He also had venison steak for main. Overall a good experience. read more

We found this by surprise and had a broad group - from adventurous adults to really picky kids. The pizzas were a massive hit across the board - thin, crispy, great sauce and cheese. Service was super-friendly. We've done our share of touring through Italy and our favorite pizza place in the world is in Assisi of all places. This is up there as a top-10 -- and that's after 15 years living in NYC. Best pizza I've had in Dublin. read more

This restaurant was average to me. For the prices you pay, the food wasn't amazing. The serving sizes were small and the presentation mediocre. We got crab claws for starters and the crab wasn't fresh, one person got sick off of it. I had duck and porcine risotto for mains, the duck was over cooked and sliced too thin. It was also lost below the overwhelming flavour of porcini. Would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

Wow definitely impressed as a true foodie and someone from Boston, MA where the best food lives... The food was great! In Ireland for a few more days and I will mostly likely pay Toscanos another visit at least to try the pizza! The sea bass was ; sampled the sea food risotto as well which was also pretty good but hands down to the sea bass and starter Caesar salad! read more

I was fooled by the reviews and booked a table for lunch. The ambiance was terrible (really bad taste in decoration, music was for laughs). I got "fresh" calamari for starter, which was a few tiny calamari rings for 10 euro. Duck and Porcini mushrooms risotto for main dish. The presentation of the dish was unreal. They just threw the risotto in the dish and stuck a spoon in it. The mushrooms were half cooked, the duck was really bad quality, overcooked meat, that you had to chew for a few minutes in order to be able to swallow. When the waiter came to ask if everything was ok and i told him about the raw mushrooms (hadn't tried the duck yet), he answered that they are pre-cooked mushrooms and that's how they are supposed to be and winked. Overall, terrible, overpriced food, unprofessional stuff. read more

The best Italian on the southside by far! I always try something different and am never disappointed. The staff are friendly and attentive and the location along the seafront is perfect for an after-dinner stroll to wind down. You won't be disappointed! read more

Small, nice restaurant, recommended but the margherita pizza is meh so order ravioli or something better.

I was really surprised at my experience. Beautiful location, beautiful view out the upper windows so yes that gets the stars. But the rest was disappointing. The wine was not cold, and not great at all considering it was 7 euro. I had to ask for ice. My pizza was the so called 'healthy pizza' I chose as it listed loads of veg. Courgette was first on the list, I recall. When it arrived it was a cheese pizza.. or was it? On second glance, there was a few tiny shavings of courgette on it oh and the equivalent of possibly 1/2 a mushroom chopped finely and sprinkled. Loads of cheese. Not a healthy pizza, a scabby pizza, zero taste, i had to put parmesan and ask for ketchup (i would never do that!) was raging I could have had a milanos pizza with lovely flavours. My mom's lasagne was very average and she said she could have made better. When eating outs a treat, its just no ok to be so-so anymore. read more

I will not be back. Sludge and totally lacking in atmosphere or personality.

Really disappointed with the food and service at Toscana last night. I had the tricoloure salad to begin which was lovely but all downhill from there. Fiancé had the chicken wings (they are his 'thing') and said they were horrible and full of garlic rather than the standard spicy marinade. His pizza was worse than a takeaway dominos and my chicken risotto tasted like a microwave meal. Mid way through, the waiter came over and took one look at my plate more than half full and said 'did you like it? Too full? Ok' and before I could answer took it away along with my fiancé's pizza which had 2 slices left!! The restaurant was quiet (now we know why) so there's no excuse for this. I expect far more from Toscanas based on previous experiences but we won't be back. Such a lovely location so it's a real pity. I hope they get their game back. read more