647 351 1200  |   $12-$17 Pizza & Pasta

Haven’t heard of Strada241? Neither had I ten minutes before I decided to go check it out. The Rubino brothers, of Rain and Ame, opened this spot up in the center of Chinatown last week, and I happened to spot it on Toronto Life. It was close to work and I was in the mood for pizza, so naturally I walked over with a couple coworkers to sample the menu.

Photo Credit: blogTO

Food

Simple tends to be very revealing and the menu here is very straightforward: antipasti, salads, a good pizza selection, a few pastas and some salumi/cheese options. You can’t hide behind a lot of these dishes, either you get them right or you have a super mediocre restaurant on your hands.

First up, selected the zucchini fritti served with fresh parsley salsa verde. Presentation here was awesome, with each slice spiked on it’s own nail coming out of the board. It tasted great too: the light crispy breading with perfectly done cuts of zucchini and that bright, savoury sauce worked well.

Both my friends ordered paninis and really enjoyed them, but oddly, they seem to have been removed from the most recent menu posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page. In case they make a return appearance, the pollo cacciatore sandwich (above) is delicious, hearty, and highly recommended.

The other panini we ordered, a mozzarella, tomato, lettuce, and pesto sandwich is clean yet satisfying as well. Just look at that bread. There’s a bakery on site that also serves a number of goods out front, which you might have guessed anyways on the basis of the bread alone.

The final main had to be pizza. I went with the Zia Rita, topped with a beautiful tomato sauce (so delicious when done this well), great spicy salami nduja, roasted onion, rapini, parmigiano, and mint. The crust was pretty tasty as well, and had a good mix of chewy and crispy.

We also ordered a side of cold rapini with a lemon vincotto dressing and some frisee. I’d never had cold rapini, but that lemon kept it real bright and I found myself coming back for more. That said, thought it could have used something else to contrast the level of bitterness just a bit more.

After a great meal, it only made sense to go with dessert. My choice was the ‘Limone’, a cold lemon custard of sorts topped with an almond crumble, ribbons of fennel and a touch of fennel frond on top. The pairing of fennel and perfectly balanced sweet/tart lemon was terrific. Throw in the textural contrast of the biscotti-like almond crumble, and this was one hell of a dessert. Highly recommend it.

Service and Ambience

Insulated from the hustle and bustle of Chinatown, you’re more or less transported when you walk in. High ceilings, tons of brick and wood, and a very open concept make this a great space. The front area with coffee and sweets kind of reminds me of Dark Horse just down the street actually.

Our server was also good given the newness of the restaurant and the changing menu. Our waters were always full, she happily offered her recommendations, and was really cheery throughout.

The Reco?

I was so impressed by this place and will definitely be back. There’s a bunch of dishes I’d re-order and I also can’t wait to try the baked goods up front and the ongoing changes to the menu. It’s not the most ambitious food in the world, but it’s hard to find it all executed this well.

Other Reviews? 
 blogTO   |    dine.TO

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Oct 9, 2012

416 977 0999  |   $3.50 - $9.80  Small Plates

I’ll start by saying this review is way overdue given that I’ve written almost 70 of these since last September. If you’re a reader of the blog, chances are you’ve already been to Guu because it’s massively popular and has been since it opened in 2009. I’d been a couple times before, but finally got around to going again, taking some pics, and thinking about what I’m eating. Here goes what you already know.

Photo Credit: blogTO

Food

The menu is a collection of 48 Japanese tapas nestled into categories like apps, cold dishes, deep fried, oden (slow cooked hot pot), grilled, and rice & noodle. The variety is impressive and, from my experience, you’re not likely to get a dud if you close your eyes and just pick items at random. That said, we decided not to do that, and instead picked what looked interesting.

Of course, you have to start with a ‘big mug’ of Sapporo by virtue of its novelty. It’s $9.50, looks about the size of a pitcher, and makes you happy. Good value. 

I’ve also heard good things about the cocktails here, and at $6-$7 each, why not try one? (note: ordering the big mug is a valid excuse)

We started with the gyu shabu salad on the recommendation of our server, which is essentially very thinly-sliced beef warm beef on greens with an exceptional black sesame dressing. The salad greens and peppers were fine, but the tender beef with sesame combo was a definite winner. 

Next up, deep fried octopus balls with tonkatsu sauce (delicious) and karashi mayo (a Japanese mustard-mayo). It’s kind of hard for these not be awesome; the two sauces are savoury and sharp, and the hot inner-octopus, while a bit chewy, was a good complement. Overall this is a very unique flavour combination for most North American palates. 

Next up was marinated octopus with wasabi stem and nori wrappers. Octopus was much more tender here, and the I liked the idea of wrapping your own little bites. However, the wasabi stem is powerful. I’m not an enormous wasabi fan, so I got a little blown out by the dominance of the flavour. 

Next up was marinated jellyfish, a first for me. It comes to the table looking like a clear rice noodle, but upon further inspection it’s clear this is something different. I’ll say it doesn’t really taste like anything; the marinade and salad is what you’ll taste. I found the jelly fish tough, rubbery, and arduous to chew even with a marinade that may have tenderized it.

Next up, we came back to traditional flavours with bacon-wrapped scallops and enoki mushrooms, a soy sauce and more karashi mayo. These are going to be tasty no matter what, and the added sweetness from the sauce with a little bit of mayo was delicious. I don’t understand why only half of them are stuffed with enokis though. Leaves some folks at the table wanting more.

We then jumped into the deep fried section again with prawns and mayo. This dish is really quite basic, but lets the seafood shine. The prawns were juicy and perfectly cooked with a thin, crispy batter and some spicy mayo. 

As I went through the menu, it became obvious that mayo was on a fair number of these dishes. Not sure if that’s a Japanese preference with fried foods or just a Guu-ism.

Another deep friend item we ordered was egglplant with sweet miso sauce. While tasty, I was missing the crunch you come to expect when you read ‘deep fried’. Parts of the pieces were sort of crispy, but there isn’t any batter, so the sauce made the majority of them quite mushy. Conceptually, deep fried eggplant sounds like a great contrast between crunch and mush, but the contrast just wasn’t here.

Next we grabbed buta kimchi bibimbap with ground pork served in a sizzling stone bowl. This was great once we let our rice crisp up and gave everything a quick mix. I think we were hoping for a higher ‘stuff’ to rice ratio though.

We finished with a pseudo-dessert as opposed to something on the menu: deep fried brie with mango and blueberry sauce. Suffice to say this was an indulgence. 

We found the textural contrast we were looking for here for sure, and the two sweet sauces with the fatty goodness over top made me promise myself that the next day would be a ‘salad day’.

Service and Ambience

The ambience here is particularly novel for Toronto (or at least it was before the copycats). The room is bustling with hungry folks at communal tables, happy to no longer be waiting in line, all of whom are greeted in unison by the kitchen and waitstaff both when they enter and when they leave. 

Photo Credit: Toronto Life

Service was also pretty good, given how hectic the restaurant was (and usually is). You get the feeling the staff have gotten used to the high-paced environment.

Our food came out reasonably quickly, as is to be expected with tapas, and our server was happy to make a recommendation when we needed her to.

The Reco?

You already know you should go to Guu. For most of us, it’s the first time we’ve tried many of the dishes, and more often than not they leave you quite satisfied.

Yes, you’ll need to wait at least 30 minutes in line most days, but plan ahead, put your name down, kill some time, then enjoy one of the more unique dining experiences Toronto has to offer.

Other reviews:
 FoodiegatorJ     |    Cafe Joie

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited August 12, 2012

647 352 7476   |   $10 - $22 Mains

Where in the city can you find a beer menu like this? I counted 99 on the menu online and found several of my favourites including Schneider Weisse. I’m truly a sucker for wheat beer and it looked like some effort was being put in to avoid settling at mediocre ‘pub food’. For those reasons and more, I dropped by this spot just before Spadina on King West.

Photo Credit: David Ort, Post City

Beer

Before we talk food, let’s talk beer. This place is all about it.

I’m not a connoisseur by any means, but I’m fairly confident there are at least a handful on this list that you can’t find in any other restaurant in the GTA. It’s comprehensive to the point of being obscure, which is kind of fun to be honest. You could keep coming back just to try bottles at random.

I ordered the Denison’s Weisse (never heard of it). More or less like a Weihenstephaner, but apparently made in Toronto. Learn something new every day.

Food

The food menu itself is a little all over the place to be honest: Italian, Mexican, an entire mussels menu, oysters, schnitzel, and chili among other things. You can either look at it as (1) all your favourites or (2) what on earth is this place doing?

I decided to reserve judgement and jump right in.

We jumped right in with some bar hop pops (above), essentially tempura-crusted meatballs on a stick with a parmesan marinara sauce. The batter was pretty thin and lacked crunch, but I found the meatballs quite flavourful. That said, $9 for four the size of Ikea meatballs isn’t what I call good value.

Next up were two orders of mussels, one of the lager & jerk persuasion, the other a green curry and lemongrass version. Both had bold and aggressive flavours that partially overwhelmed the mussels, but were particularly awesome for dunking the limitless supply of bread. 

For my main, I went with the pork schnitzel with mac & cheese and greens (above). I was hoping for a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it fell short in a lot of areas. Mac and cheese was overdone and mild in actual flavour, greens were overdressed, and the schnitzel was a bit too thin so it dried out. A bite of all together was a bit better actually, but every element could have used improvement.

Even though I was full, I acted against my better judgement and ordered the beeramisu (above) because it sounded fun. My biggest complaint about tiramisu is usually that it’s not light enough, so one made with a porter wasn’t likely to impress. It was definitely heavy, but you could pick out the beer which is a positive.

Service and Ambience

One thing I really like is the location of this place: situated on King West just outside the entertainment district, but you don’t have to walk all the way to Portland to find something worth walking into. It’s also got a little patio that makes for great people watching.

I really liked our server. He was friendly, easy-going, and checked back on us frequently to ensure we had everything we needed (bread refills especially). I think part of the charm of this place is that it’s not ‘trendy’. If that’s something you don’t like about Bier Markt, I think you’ll like it here.

The Reco?

If this place didn’t have a killer beer menu, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it very much. The food was decent, but disappointing on more than one occasion. Even though that usually prevents me from recommending somewhere, I’d probably go back and try out more beer and give another dish a shot. Worst case, at least I get a great brew. I’m fine with that. Cheers.

Other reviews:
 Caroline’s Culinary Delights

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited July 12, 2012

416 551 6362   |   $3-$12 lunch rolls, $9-$19 boxes

I’ve eaten a lot on Baldwin Street. Having tried almost every spot of interest, you start wondering about places of no interest at all.

My coworkers and I have consistently walked past ND for one reason: the sign yells everything but “we have excellent Japanese cuisine!”. We’d walk down the street to Etsu for our sushi fix, completely ignorant of the quality that lay right before our eyes. Thankfully, I came across blogTO’s very positive write up and decided to walk in one afternoon for lunch. See how it went…

Photo Credit: blogTO

Food

We just popped in for lunch, so I’ll call this a mini-review since I’m sure their dinner options are more ambitious. 

The lunch menu itself won’t wow you with anything really different; a few apps, udon dishes, bento boxes and rolls are you options. The difference comes in the quality of what arrives at your table.

I know it’s silly, but I’ll start with edamame. Most of us enjoy these absent-mindedly, but I’d swear these were ‘fresher’ than usual. Couldn’t really tell you why or how, but they just were.

After having polished off all the beans, the mains arrived. The first order was a vegetarian box with crispy agedashi tofu, veggie-filled maki, and a great seaweed salad. The presentation was meticulous (shards of nori over the tofu) and all the elements on the plate were beautifully executed. I’m usually not a huge tofu fan, but the textural contrast was dead-on.

Next up was a spicy salmon roll with avocado, crispy tempura bits, and scallion. I’m guessing you’ve had your fare share of of spicy salmon rolls, but here are the little details that shine: the rice falls apart when it hits your mouth, the salmon melts, and you can actually pick out the flavour of the scallions. It’s still just a spicy salmon roll, but I can’t imagine it being done much better.

I decided to go a bit more ambitious for my main and went for the Spicy Rainbow roll. The layering of tuna, salmon, and butter fish with tempura prawn, and avocado running through it called my name on the menu. I put the first one in my mouth with a nice chunk of ginger and it was delicious. 

The heat comes from spicy oil drizzled atop that builds as you make your way through the roll. Without the ginger to contrast, I think it overpowered the fresh fish a bit. That said, the textures are excellent throughout and the portion size was also good for a $12 roll.

Service and Ambience

The room itself is pretty bare bones and is surely not meant to be the focus of the experience here. It’s also pretty evident because there are rarely large groups of people inside. With some more positive reviews and a new sign, I could see this place picking up many more loyal customers.

Photo Credit: blogTO

Our server was very pleasant and ensured our water glasses were filled throughout lunch. Unfortunately, it was necessary because (1) there’s no A/C and (2) it took about 30 minutes for the food to come out of the kitchen in a pretty empty restaurant. You can tell your food is made to order, but I wonder if there’s any more than one chef in the kitchen.

The Reco?

I struggled between 2.5 and 3 stars on this, but I think it’s important to promote excellent food even in the presence of some negatives during the service. I used to call Etsu the best sushi on Baldwin, but I’m comfortable crowning ND as the new champ. I’ll be back.

Other reviews:
 blogTO

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited June 20, 2012

647 343 4698   |   $6-$9 Snacks, $9-$12 Plates

Fun new concept: Someone tells you there’s a new spot opening up serving Singaporean street food! Sounds really interesting right? We thought so. For a little Dish Duel reunion, Stella, Amy, Jess and I met up at Hawker Bar in hopes of getting through the vast majority of the menu. We succeeded…in record time too. Read on…

Photo Credit: Karolyne Ellacott, Toronto Life

Food

So let’s put it this way, we figured we could take down most of the menu here between the four of us. That ended up not being too tough, but at the lightning pace the dishes were flying out of the kitchen, the whole thing’s a bit of a blur. We were constantly trying to get plates off the table to make room for new ones, so let’s just say this won’t be the most detailed review ever.

We started with the Son in Law Eggs (above), basically soft boiled eggs that are deep fried and glued to a leaf with chili jam. The yolks explode in your mouth - WARNING: if you don’t eat this in one bite it’s going to get all over you - the texture-mix is cool, and the chili jam is yummy.

Next up were pork skewers with peanut sauce. The pork was moist, the peanut sauce was a bit mild in flavour, but I like the larger nut pieces for texture.

These chicken wings were also pretty good, but I wanted them to be punchier. The chicken was moist, but I kept wanting them to be the wings from Foxley. If not saucy, be crispy or spicy. I didn’t find they were either.

I was disappointed by the chicken laksa (above). I’ve never been to Singapore, but I thought it was supposed to be spicy or pack a really nice flavour punch. To me, it was a bit muted and reminiscent of a lot of OK curries I’ve had before.

The chili crab had more of the chili flavour from the son in law eggs and the chicken wings. Even though it was a familiar taste, it was more intense and I’m a sucker for crab so I liked it.

The whole sea bream with lime, ginger and soy was OK. I liked the crispy outside, but I thought the fish might have been a bit over for my taste. The sauce on the plate was pretty tasty though.

This was probably my second favourite. The rendang curry was nice, but the ultra tender oxtail stole the dish. It literally melted. You could complain that it all sort of became mush, but that would be over-analyzing the whole thing.

This was another dish that I just didn’t get. By this point in the meal, there had been a lot of chili, ginger, and soy. This dish is essentially plain rice and plain (albeit juicy) chicken with three sauces: chili, ginger, and soy. It tasted like everything else we’d eaten so far. The puree of ginger needed a different delivery device too: the squeeze bottle doesn’t really work.

Then we moved onto dessert. This one was a shaved ice kacang (above) that had some sort of red bean paste on the top that was pretty much all you could taste. I had no idea what it should have been, but looking at the Wikipedia picture left me wanting more.

The meal did end on a good note though. These banana fritters had great, hot crispy shells, with ooey-gooey banana stuffed inside. Couldn’t place the ice cream flavour (red bean again?), but the cold-to-hot contrast did the job.

Service and Ambience

This place is little. I think I counted roughly 23 seats including those at the bar, so you’ll likely be waiting if you don’t go early. That said, it’s cozy and the big windows typical of these new Ossington spots are always welcome on sunny days. 

Photo Credit: Karolyne Ellacott, Toronto Life

On the service, I’ll say two things: (1) our server was friendly, hospitable, and attentive, and (2) the speed at which the food came out was ridiculous. When a group of four orders ten dishes, there’s no way it’s all going on the table with tea cups, water glasses, and side plates. Add that to the fact that we’re all blatantly taking pictures of the food, and there’s just no way all ten of those dishes should come out that quickly.

I think we all enjoyed the food significantly less because we were very rushed, to the point of it being uncomfortable. We wanted to taste the food at its best, but it’s hard when dishes are sitting out in a culinary traffic jam.

The Reco?

The food’s not bad here at all. And some dishes (crab, eggs, rendang, fritters) were actually quite good. I’d have liked a little more variety in the flavours, since a group of four can eat most of the dishes in one sitting. All said, the dining experience just didn’t work for us and the enjoyment of it all suffered as a result. I can’t recommend it based on that.

Other reviews:
 National Post  |    blogTO

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited May 11, 2012

416 504 9669   |   $12-$15 Pizza and Pasta  

I’ll be the first one to admit I’m wary of ‘trendy’ new Italian restaurants in King West. As the area gets more and more saturated with restaurants, I get increasingly skeptical. A friend of mine said she’d enjoyed her last visit, so I brought of bunch of friends to check it out on a Friday night.

Photo Credit: Toronto Life

Food

The menu features everything you expect to see: fritti, insalate, antipasti, pasta, pizza, a few mains, and contorni. The variety is solid and the prices are surprisingly reasonable across the board which is refreshing given the area. 

We started with smoked eggplant and prosciutto on three large crostini (above). I don’t know if it was the campfire scent coming from the nearby pizza oven, but there was smokiness here and the simplicity of it was appealing and delicious.

Next was the calamari (above), which is always a good test. Definite pass with really tender, lightly battered rings. The roasted garlic aioli on the right tasted great too.

What I really didn’t understand was the pickled cucumber and jalapeno salad in the middle along with the balsamic reduction. The presentation was confusing since I was eating the calamari ‘chips-and-dip’ style, so I had to cut up the salad and use a fork to combine it all…at which point the flavours just didn’t make sense to me.

Another ‘gotta try’ item was the arancini (above). I order them every time I see them because I’m always in search of perfection. Even when they come up short, it’s hard to make them taste bad. To me, it’s gotta be thin and crispy on the outside filled with a 1/3 melted cheese, 2/3 risotto mix.  

These had a thin outer layer, but no crispiness. The inside wasn’t cheesy enough, although the mushroom and fontina risotto had good flavour to compensate.

For the mains, the table had two pizzas. The first was their classic prosciutto (above). For those of you who like crispier/floury crusts, this will be to your liking. I was also fond of the tomato sauce.

The other pizza was the Da Dee with thin slices of sweet potato topped with spanish onions, lots of crispy kale, and some cow milk mozzarella. It was pretty tasty, but I felt like the bitterness of all the kale wasn’t quite balanced with enough salt or cheese. 

We finished off with two pastas: a mushroom fettuccine and rigatoni with lamb shank. I thought the fettuccine was passed al dente, but what it didn’t lack was earthiness. It’s packed with portobello, oyster mushrooms, porcini AND truffle paste. That plate needed a green or something because that was intense.

The rigatoni was well-received around the table and the lamb was tender and not particularly gamy. 

One last thing, the dessert menu is pretty limited and there’s no beer on tap (only a few bottles available). The wine menu is quite extensive though and there’s even wine on tap. I had a cabernet sauvignon-malbec blend that was simple and fruity; it’s pretty good value too at only $1/oz.

Service and Ambience

From an interior design perspective, I really liked the grunge/loft feel. My guess is it used be a garage (there’s a big garage door at the front). Much of that ‘bricks and mortar’ style remains, and all the sunlight that seeps through from the front really lights up the place on a nice day. There’s a patio out front too, but it doesn’t yet have a liquor license if a drink in the sun is what you’re in the mood for.

On a busy Friday night, the staff managed to hold a table for six of us by turning two tables sideways. The improv was smart and worked for us. Our server was also knowledgeable about the menu and called all the women at the table ‘senorita’ (most of them enjoyed this). 

The Reco?

Toronto has yet another casual but authentic Italian restaurant that you’ll probably enjoy. Nothing on the menu wowed, but it all tasted reasonably good and the service along with the ambience charmed me. Couple all that with the fact the prices are reasonable and the location is central, and it’s a decent choice downtown.

Other reviews:
 blogTO  |    Foodies Inc.

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited May 4, 2012

416-971 4000    |    $4.75 - $12.75 full sandwich square

When I first heard there’d be a new gourmet sandwich shop opening up close to work that served Ravi Soups, I had to walk over that very same day. I love Ravi Soups and wanted a second location as close to me as possible, this was the next best thing. Check out my thoughts below.

Food

So the shop concept is that nearly everything is pre-made and pre-packaged, but super fresh and with gourmet ingredients. This includes sandwiches, salad, soups and sweets. The sandwich menu online is extensive, but not all are available every day so you roll the dice a bit if there’s something specific you want.

First off, two Ravi Soups are available daily in this middle serve-yourself island area (above). Variety-wise, it’s probably close to what your work cafeteria offers, but the difference is they’re damn good. You’ll also pay for it though, a medium isn’t that big, and at $6.95 it’s not particular great value.

The same can be said for the sandwiches unfortunately in my opinion. The cheapest full sandwich is $4.75 (a nutella and hazelnut sandwich), but all are made on square whole wheat pieces of bread and most are served cold in the fridge section. Most of the options with a protein start in the $8-$9 each range.

One friend sampled the lemony tuna above with tuna, lemon mayo, cucumber, watercress and pea sprouts and enjoyed it. She found it particularly lemony, so kudos on the naming convention.

Another friend had the best-selling Brick Lane Chicken (curry chicken, raisins, cashews, mango, spinach). She really enjoyed it and it smelled delicious to the rest of us.

I ordered The Roast, one of the two warm sandwich features of the day that had roast beef, horseradish and grain mustard aioli, onion confit, portobellos, brussel sprouts and gruyere. It was definitely tasty, but I was looking for more sharpness from the horseradish and mustard. Also, at $11.75 for just the sandwich, I was still hungry afterwards. I would highly recommend introducing some heftier bread options to make the sandwiches more substantial given the price range.

HOWEVER, because I mentioned how hungry I still was the co-owner Jordana brought over some chocolate and peanut butter sweets, which was much appreciated. Love it when people go that extra little bit out of the way!

Service and Ambience

Because of the DIY nature of the place, it runs on two folks in the front of house so on a busy lunch day I can see it getting pretty hectic if folks have questions or there’s a build up at the register. Fortunately, when we were there it was a bit after the rush so all ran smoothly.

My only feedback would be that the warm sandwich took something like 10 minutes to assemble and was the only order at the time. Again, during a busy lunch hour, that kind of turnaround time could cause some frustration for customers.

The Reco?

The most important part is that the food tastes good. The sandwiches are tasty, the options are unique in the area, and the staff are really friendly. These things alone make it worth a try.

What makes me hesitant to come back is the concept. To me, if I’m grabbing a quick soup and sandwich, value definitely comes into play. If you don’t have a big appetite but want something more interesting this is your spot. If you’re pretty hungry come lunch hour, maybe not.

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Mar 8, 2012

416-927 0222    |    $16-24 mains

I’m guessing you’ve never heard of Bruda unless you’re an avid reader of Toronto Life or following Dish Duel. This place just opened at the end of last year and is still relatively unknown in the Little Italy area. The ‘European’ menu looked interesting to me, invited them to participate in Dish Duel, and next thing you know we’re there tasting a bunch of stuff. Here’s the rundown:

Photo Credit: Post City

Food

The menu is deemed European, but from the average observer I’d just say its eclectic. The starters range from crispy spring rolls, to bisques, to back ribs; mains cover most proteins you could want other than beef (so don’t come looking for a steak frites). 

We started with the duck confit spring rolls (above) with crushed peanuts and sweet and sour sauce. Cool concept, nice crunchy exterior, but I found the duck kind of indistinguishable and a little dry inside. Duck confit screams moist to me and it wasn’t there. Good thing there was some sauce.

Next we had the bourbon braised back ribs (above). They came off the bone pretty easily, which was a good sign and the sauce worked well. Couldn’t quite place the taste, but not overly sweet and definitely not conventional. The issue again was dryness of the meat, which luckily had sauce.

Our first main, entitled New World Carbonara, was my favourite savoury of the night. The inclusion of a healthy number of chanterelles was the difference maker. Accompanied by serrano ham and a gooey duck egg, I quite enjoyed this. The papardelle may have been a bit thick for some people and the amount of egg white and shape wasn’t particularly appetizing. Generally though, good dish.

The final was the Dish Duel pork tenderloin dish. My ‘judge’s take’ for the competition went like so:

Moist pork wrapped in bacon is always a good way to start a dish. Stella and I referred to it as the ham you wish you had at thanksgiving. Also thought the flavour of the coffee and fig reduction was on point, just needed a tad more of it. Didn’t understand how the gratin and veg tied in though, so those weren’t quite as memorable.

For dessert we tried two dishes. The first was an assortment of their three ice creams. To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember two of them (I guess that means they were forgettable?). The third you should just get three scoops of: jamaican pumpkin with pine nut brittle! So good. Had more of a paste texture than ice cream, but who cares. Loved it.

Then came the smoked chocolate tart with sour cherries. Looks ordinary, isn’t though. I’ve never had smoked chocolate and I clearly had no idea what I was missing. The flavour was genuinely smokey, and when combined with sour cherries was surprisingly delicious. 

Service and Ambience

There aren’t necessarily a lot tables, but the room feels spacious with the high ceilings and spacious benches. Also, really liked the wooden tables, couldn’t tell you why though. Just want them. The walls were admittedly a little bare and could use a few more pieces of art in my opinion. 

Photo Credit: Toronto Life

It was a pretty slow night during the week so service was understandably speedy and attentive. Don’t really have too much more to say about it, but met the two owners Victor and Neil: both nice dudes. 

The Reco?

Little Italy has become incredibly competitive for new restaurants, so for that reason I can’t say I’d make a point to come back to Bruda if I were in the area for the next little while. Would give it a few more months and some menu cycles. The apps and mains had a few flaws, but I’d likely drop by for some dessert. Gotta have some of the pumpkin paste and smoked chocolate. I’ll end with that.

Other reviews:
  blogTO     

 Posted by: Jacob, Visited Feb 12, 2012

416-368-1920   |   $16-23 mains

I’d heard some good things about Harlem, and hadn’t really had any riffs on ‘soul food’ before. Figured this would be a good spot.

Photo Credit: Food Junkie Chronicles

Food

The CD shaped menu lists a variety of starters and mains, many of which actually sound tasty. Most items have a southern/cajun spin on them. Was especially tempted by jambalaya, braised beef short ribs, and jerk beef meatloaf.

In the end, we decided to start with some ‘harlem crisps’ I would liken to a cross between pita chips and bubbly samosa batter. The two dips were avocado ginger hummus and spiced walnut pate. I thought both could have used some salt as the flavours fell a little flat and the flavour of the crisp muted the dips. For me, the dips didn’t pass the ‘I would buy that again at Loblaws’ test.

Photo Credit: Christina Truong

After much flip-flopping I ended up selecting fried chicken and waffles with collard greens. The pic above is a variation that has a salad and gravy. The fried chicken was crispy, not overly greasy, and the chicken was moist - mostly dark meat. Also had a scotch-bonet-corriander-lime syrup drizzled over top that I thought could have used more heat (writing scotch-bonet is a promise of ensuing heat). I think I got citrus, sweet, and a pinch of spice though. As for the waffles, lukewarm and soft, and the collard greens side was under-seasoned and felt mailed in.

My friend ordered the blackened catfish served under a shrimp and crab etoufee sauce with collard greens and basmati. The fish was flaky, but ‘blackened’ implied a crispy quality that was lost under all the sauce. That said, sauce was good. Again, the sides were an after-thought.

Photo Credit: Food Junkie Chronicles

We finished the meal with candied plantain (above) and mango cheesecake. The plantains felt like part of a dish. We actually thought it would work well in a bread pudding or breakfast muffin. Sauce was quite sweet, but that wasn’t a huge problem. 

Cheesecake was OK, somewhat heavy, and tasted like a cremesicle. 

Service and Ambience

We went early on a Thursday for dinner so we were the first in the restaurant, and not too many people joined in. Service was attentive and polite throughout, food came as ordered and in good time. 

Photo Credit: Harlem Website

The vibe there is very ‘small jazz club’, especially at night with the lights down. I expect it would have felt more authentic with one of their live music acts and a packed house, so I can’t really comment.

The Reco?

As much as the menu intrigued me and the fried chicken satisfied, there were too many things that just weren’t executed well. I probably wouldn’t return to Harlem.

Other reviews:
Toronto Star   |     Food Junkie Chronicles

Posted by: Jacob, Visited Jan 12, 2012

416-504-1992   |   $12-30 entrees

Visited Bettola, its conjoined semi-twin earlier in the year and decided to give the Osteria try…just to say I’d been to both. Classic and simple is how I’d describe it.

Food

Here’s what I wrote for Bettola below. I’d write this paragraph again for Osteria almost verbatim:

“Menu reads like a run-through of Italian flavour combinations 101. There’s really nothing you haven’t seen before if you’re familiar with the cuisine. I wouldn’t say it’s a ‘twist on traditional’ kind of place.”

Outside of the frequently tweaked menu, the switch of pizza for proteins, and the location slightly north of the other, these places are quite similar.

We started with a selection of five seafood antipasti (above). From left to right: tuna tartare was better sans oily chip, octopus salad was fresh and not chewy, battered shrimp tender juicy, oyster was forgettable, and calamari + radicchio was a nice combo. Overall a pleasant little grouping, but $20 for the simple and very small portions didn’t quite seem right.

We then moved onto the mains with a potato gnocchi and bistecchina (grilled tenderloin, above). Both were well-executed. Potato gnocchi with tomato and basil were fluffy and flavours were clean. Bistecchina melted in your mouth, served classically with arugula, balsamic and cherry tomatoes. 

The two of us finished admittedly hungry, so onto dessert we went for the Dolcetto Fondente (dark chocolate hazelnut cake/pudding served in a cup topped with a zabaione sauce, above). This way my personal favourite of the meal. The cake was perfectly dark and gooey, and especially delightful with some hazelnuts tossed in for some crunch.

Service and Ambience

Service was uneventful and friendly. I’ll give credit where it’s due though and thank our server for recommending the dulce at the end. Much appreciated.

Like Bettola, I liked the look of a space that felt both rustic, simple, and modern at the same time. Open ceiling, geometric graphics on wall/placemats. I very much enjoy this style and think it works well for the Terroni franchise generally.

The Reco?

In the area, its probably a good idea to head here for a guaranteed pleasant Italian meal. I don’t think you’ll be wow’d necessarily and I questioned the portion sizes a couple times, but I did enjoy the food for the most part. I do feel dumb for not actually ordering the Ciceri e Tria (traditional Pugliese stew). It’s probably really good…let me know. Cheers.

Other reviews:
Toronto Life    |     blogTO   

Posted by: Jacob, Visited Dec 23, 2011