Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 35 Tank House Lane
Website: http://clunybistro.com/
Type of Meal: Dinner
Be prepared to take in the sights as you step into Cluny’s
dining room. Wrought iron and light posts comingle with black & white
gingham and creamy wood furniture. The end product leaves you feeling like you’re
dining on a Parisian patio (when sitting in the middle) or in a bistro
overlooking the patio (if sitting on the outskirts). For further details, including pictures, about their atmosphere check out #Parv's writeup.
Even all the dishes are charming with beautiful embroidery
and a subtle “Cluny” embossed on them. Their Winterlicious menu ($35) offered
many great dishes at an affordable price. The tomato and saffron braised
calamari arrives hot in a stainless steel pot, wonderfully fragrant and soaking
up the sauce’s flavours. Normally, I have calamari grilled or fried, but
braising it changes the texture leaving it very tender and almost juicy.
I could have done without the tasteless fennel but the sauce
of tomato and stewed peppers was delicious. It was perfect for dipping piece
after piece of soft bread into.
The beer braised beef cheeks encapsulated so much of what I
enjoy. Tender, flavourful beef that’s hearty and makes you want to close your
eyes to savour the juices. The subtle zing of horseradish that hits you in an
unexpected way. Roasted celeriac and beautifully caramelized brussel sprouts to
calm the meatiness of the dish. And the plump grains of barley which provides
just a bit of contrast against the softness of the dish.
Perhaps it’s due to the richness of the beef cheeks but the
BBQ steelhead trout was very bland in comparison. The fish was flaky and moist
but lacked seasoning; the almond sauce merely seemed non-existent. The
flageolet beans was also fairly lackluster and could benefit from some bacon.
Only the roasted carrots showed any promise with their natural sweetness shining
through.
A quintessential French dessert is the light as air
profiteroles. At Cluny, they are filled with a rich chocolate and roasted
hazelnut chantilly and arrives with warm chocolate sauce that you can drench on top
of everything.
Thankfully, Cluny didn’t inherit the snooty French service
attitude, everyone we dealt with was friendly and warm. But, what I loved most
is when a restaurant offers a drink pairing with their Winterlicious menu. For
an extra $20, a small light ale accompanied the calamari, a full glass of red
wine helped wash down the beef cheeks and a dessert wine to sip
after polishing off the profiteroles.
Cluny was certainly the Winterlicious highlight for me this
year. With its lovely location in the Distillery District and the promised
patio outside, I can’t wait for the weather to warm up and to go back for some
brunch.
Overall mark - 8.5 out of 10
Is Winterlicious worth it?
As a special feature to the Winterlicious blogs, I will attempt to calculate the savings being offered (based on my meal selection).
Winterlicious - $35
Regular menu* - $47 - calamari ($13), beef cheeks ($24) and profiterole ($10)
Savings - $12 or 26%
* In Cluny's case it's pretty hard to deduce the potential savings as most items aren't part of their regular menu; prices are based on the snail cassoulet and hunter stew
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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!
