Showing posts with label arancini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arancini. Show all posts

Bar Poet (Toronto)

Shakespeare’s famous saying proclaims, “If music be the food of love, play on.”  It aptly reminds me of Bar Poet, a restaurant that blends top 40 tunes from past and present, an eclectic comfort food menu, and arcade games. And by the end, the 2-hour seating limit flies by and all we want to do stay longer.

The arancini ($15) was seriously good. Made with mushroom risotto, there’s an earthiness to the creamy rice ball that’s stronger than the cheese only versions. But add in sambal cream and chili oil and that hit of heat goes so well with the comforting starter.

Somehow, we ordered a lot of dishes incorporating chili. The NYC spicy rigatoni ($18.95), an item so highly recommended in Google reviews, was surprisingly plain: pasta tossed in a spicy rosé cream with a fine dusting of Parmigiano. While it was tasty, a few spoonsful were sufficient, I can’t imagine having an entire dish to myself.

Even the Dovercourt and Queen ‘sweet’ calamari ($19) had a zing. The menu describes the sauce as being tomato based (pomodoro aioli) but tasted like the spicy rigatoni. Regardless, it’s a flavourful dish as goat cheese, chives and pickled peppers mingles with the squid. Even though the ingredients do detract from the calamari’s crispiness.

Bar Poet is known for their pizzas (all $22). If you like pepperoni, you’ll love the Hot Rod, a pie covered with tiny pepperoni with hot honey creating a sweet, salty, and spicy bite. For me, it was a bit greasy and heavy, but likely wouldn’t bother a pepperoni aficionado.

I preferred Rob’s Favourite Pizza, which sounded like a hodgepodge of ingredients, but they work together so nicely. A white pizza made with alfredo bacon sauce, it combines pulled chicken, brie, kale, spinach, caramelized onion, hot honey, chili flakes, and Parmigiano. Despite all the spicy elements, the pizza was the least spicy of the dishes we ordered, likely the chili and hot honey calmed by the creamy ingredients. Rob knows how to create an interesting meaty pie.

The pizza crust stays dry on the bottom despite an ample number of toppings. While it doesn’t have the requisite crispiness I enjoy, there was a lovely chewy consistency and sour dough finish that makes it tasty even without dipping sauce. Additionally, I love the inclusiveness of Bar Poet’s pizza menu with pies available gluten-free as well as vegan.

Everyone raves about the tiramisu ($9). While it wasn’t terrible, it also wasn’t great. It incorporated too much cream (didn’t incorporate enough mascarpone) and not enough of the espresso ladyfingers. While the Skor bits adds a unique element, left in chunks it was too crunchy and would be better in powdered form.

We were intrigued by the peanut butter espresso martini ($19), which emits a faint aroma of peanut butter but none of the taste. A decent rendition of the drink, it’s really sugary given it’s mostly made with Tia Maria and no vodka. Ultimately, one is enough, and I was glad that I switched to their other cocktails like the white negroni ($19).

Amongst the foliage ceiling and twinkling lights, Bar Poet creates a unique environment. Somehow, amongst the blasting music and Skee ball machines, there’s a romantic aspect to makes you want to eat, drink, and play on.   

In a nutshell... 
  • Must order: pizza and arancini
  • Just skip: tiramisu

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 1090 Queen St West


Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!


Is That It? I Want More!

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CLOSED: Osteria Rialto (Toronto)


Osteria Rialto was one big, pleasant surprise. In need of a last-minute reservation to be close to after-dinner festivities, we booked the restaurant based on availability versus reviews. Their menu offers a selection of Italian staples that looked adequate. It’ll likely be a safe but forgettable meal, I thought.

My first bite into the suppli cacio e pepe ($12 for two pieces) and Rialto already brought the arancini to another level by combining it with a mozzarella stick. There was a nice cheese pull to the rice croquette encapsulated by the creamy risotto with a liberal sprinkling of black pepper to balance out the rich bite.  

A decent portion of cheese and meat arrives with the burrata e prosciutto ($25), enough for a taste each for our table of five. The 36-month aged prosciutto had a lovely savoury sweetness against the creamy cheese. And while we didn’t want any bread, they mistakenly provided focaccia ($9) that ended up pairing well with the cheese, the bread salty and fluffy served with a generous dish of olive oil.

The tagliatelle ($27) was surprisingly rich for a meatless sauce. Soft buttery squash was tossed with parmigiano and fried sage, almost melting into the chewy pasta ribbons. The dish is a hearty vegetarian alternative for the winter.

I preferred the squash pasta to the rigatoni ($28), which was a touch dry. While I liked the hint of heat in the sugo, the lamb tasted more like sausage, so the dish was too salty and greasy.

While the chicken in the pollo ai funghi ($34) could be cooked less, the thin cutlets were at least crispy and flavourful slathered in a creamy mushroom and black truffle gravy. If only Osteria Rialto offered rice as a side, the grains would soak up the delicious sauce so well.

It was difficult to decipher the background flavour in the sauce on the braciola di maiale ($38) ... it had a hint of umami that seemed out of place from what looks like a cream sauce. Consequently, the bagna cauda sauce incorporates anchovies (along with garlic), which is likely what added the umami and gave the neutral pork chop a lot of flavour. The meat was cooked well and the roasted rapini kept nice and crispy.  

Osteria Rialto tried to jazz up the insalata misticanza ($16) with a colourful variety of lettuce, including pink leaves – spoiler alert, it tastes like any other bibb lettuce. Ultimately, it’s a plain salad with a few slices of radish and sprinkling of crispy farro tossed in a vinaigrette. Nothing exciting, but if you’re looking for a traditional way to finish an Italian meal, a simple salad is it.

The dinner reminds me to sometimes not over plan a meal – there’s so many reviews and opinions that at times it gets overwhelming. Keep it simple: look for location and a decent menu, then grab a group of friends and go. 

In a nutshell... 
  • Must order: tagliatelle & suppli cacio e pepe
  • Just skip: rigatoni

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 4 Westmoreland Avenue



Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!


Is That It? I Want More!

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Myth (Toronto)


If you’ve ever frequented Danforth in the 1990s, you might have eaten at Myth. Flash forward to 2021 and the restaurant was revived with a beautiful facelift on King West by Matty Tsoumaris, the son of the family. The warm gold, wood, and cream tones made me feel I could be lying in a chaise lounger by an indoor pool. The restaurant is buzzy but in a calm way. At least, until the fire dancers performed, and the energy really picked up.

As a Toronto Life Insider member, I was there to check out Myth with a tasting menu ($125 before taxes and gratuities) offering several courses complete with wine pairings and an espresso martini. If I was feeling tired, that jolt of vodka and caffeine provided the start I needed to the meal. Ground pistachios are dusted onto the espresso martini ($20) for an interesting texture against the smooth foam, it’s different but I’m not sure if I prefer it. Note: regular menu prices are included in the post for informational purposes. Serving sizes will likely differ from what is pictured given the tasting menu format.

Beginning with an off-menu item, Matty explains it’s customary for Greek people to offer guests (even if they are strangers) something to eat when they enter a home as there’s a belief that Gods may be visiting the Earth… and you would never want to not feed a God! Our divine offering was a creamy compressed roe in a buttery tart shell. It tasted of the sea, hinting at the Mykonos inspired menu to come.

We then moved into the actual tasting menu, starting with a bite of soy-laced beef tartare served in a cone. I wasn’t expecting the amuse bouche to be sweet, but it gave the tartare a teriyaki feel that worked, especially when paired with the crispy cone that is reminiscent of eating ice cream.

Myth’s mezze platter ($35) consists of a collection of dishes, and I love that it showcases some lesser-known dips. Of course, there’s the popular hummus, which was thick and filling, but the mezze also featured a silky smooth taramasalata that has an umami saltiness to it from the cured roe. Warning to vegetarians, if I hadn’t been told there was fish in the dip, I would have never known. The roe adds a brininess to the dip without any fishiness.

If you enjoy feta, try the tirokafteri dip that uses the cheese as the base but has a hit of peppers that creates an unexpected spiciness. It goes great with the soft warm pita or smeared onto the crudite given it had such a flavourful salty kick.

While a bit cheesy (pun intended), the cheer of “opa!” before setting the ouzo on fire is what makes saganaki ($22) such a staple. The kefalograviera cheese was oh so gooey, salty, and lightened with just a hint of lemon. I just wished there was more than one piece of toasted bread to go with it.

It’s not everyday you find raw fish at a Greek restaurant. Myth uses slices of yellowtail hamachi in the magiatiko ($28) adorned with an olive tapenade that was too overpowering. If anything, the dollop of creamy taramasalata (the same fish roe dip featured in the mezze) was more than salty enough. Still, it was beautifully plated and a great light starter.

The arancini was good… less creamy than an Italian version, but also didn’t leave me feeling as full. It was smartly paired with a feta mousse, which added a touch of sauciness to the risotto but didn’t detract from the crunchy crust.

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the beetroot carpaccio, so much so that I’d prefer it to the beef counterpart. The sweet thinly slice beets were enhanced with tangy yogurt and a yellow beet mousse. Because there were so many creamy ingredients, the roasted pecans worked nicely to add a contrasting texture. Sadly, the dish isn’t on their regular menu, which really should be included as it’s a hit.

Another off-menu item was the youvetsi, a bed of plump fragrant orzo topped with an extremely tender beef cheek. The meat could use more seasoning, but the pasta was delicious and well flavoured. If anything, the olive tapenade that was too harsh for the hamachi would go nicely on the beef here.

While the lavraki ($65) was cooked adequately, it didn’t look very appetizing. I’d recommend the chef keeping the skin on and crisping it up to give the fillet a more aesthetically pleasing structure and texture. As fish goes, it tasted fresh and the main was a nice lighter change after the beef cheek. I just found the lemon in the thyme oil heavy handed in the stewed wild horta, dandelion greens that tastes like spinach, so it was a bit harsh against the neutral fish.

In retrospect, the lemon thyme oil would have gone nicely with the roasted potatoes ($16) as these were dense and would have benefited from a bright element. Too bad the sides were served after all the mains so there wasn’t really anything to go with them. If you’re a fan of roasted Brussel sprouts, the broccolini ($23) is a side with the same feel - the crispy roasted greens topped with hot pepper sauce, lemon oil, and cheese.  

For the tasting menu, Myth chose to feature a rizogalo as dessert. While the rice pudding was decent, it was too dense, so it felt like you’d eating a clump of rice versus a creamy saucy pudding. It also needed to be sweeter to satisfy. As it stands, the dish is more brunch than dessert.

Despite being opened for over two years, Myth is still going through some growing pains. Even though service was friendly, the wine pairings and sides just weren’t keeping up with the food coming out. Maybe because it’s such a big restaurant, but the various stations weren’t communicating to make the meal a fulsome experience. Who knows, maybe with some time the restaurant will eventually become a feast for the Gods. 

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 522 King Street West


Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!


Is That It? I Want More!

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CLOSED: Nuit Social (Toronto)



Sharing is caring, oh so the saying goes. Sharing is what Nuit Social wants. In fact, create your own charcuterie “social boards” dominates half their menu where diners choose one, three, or five items from meat, cheese, and olives selections to create a sharing platter. Opting for five meats ($17) and three cheeses ($13), our board was enough for our table of five to have a taste each, the meats more so than the small bits of cheese.

Of all the items, the ones that stood out were the Tyrol schinkenspeck, the salty pork letting off that faint smokiness that’s synonymous with speck, and the bresaola (extra $1), which is best eaten plain as it’s fairly neutral and the leaner cut allows you to taste the beef. Really everything we chose – Rosette de Lyon French salami, Prosciutto, and the spicy sopressata - were all solid charcuterie.


Meanwhile, the cheeses were good but when paired with the strong meats felt a little lost. Whether it was the Vermeer gouda, Rondin du Poitou goat cheese, or the Charlevoix, the mild cheeses were flavours I enjoyed but couldn’t hold up against the bolder meats.

The last third of the menu is dedicated to “social plates”, which could be renamed to “social bags” given many arrive in a rolled down brown paper sack. Some items like the crispy frog legs ($12) and arancini ($14) are understandable, since the paper helps weep away the extra oil. But, for the Buffalo Brussels sprouts ($11) it’s a little strange as you can’t really get to the pool of hot sauce settling on the bottom.

If you can get past the image of a frog looking at you as you bite into the frog legs, it really does taste like  tender chicken or, with its small size, sort of like a less gamey quail leg. They were lightly dusted and mildly salted, but I would have liked them fried a bit longer.


Both the arancini and Brussel sprouts are dishes I’d avoid – the risotto balls so crumbly and dry that it tasted like fried dirty rice rather than a creamy porcini base. That bit of melted fontina cheese in the centre helped a bit, but could hardly save the dish. As for the Brussel sprouts, it’s a personal choice as the tangy harsh Buffalo sauce drenching the vegetable is something I normally don’t like anyways.


Items that were actually served on plates (or some case bowls) were the highlight of the meal and should be featured prominently rather than being relegated as the last things on the menu. I can still taste the sweet maple soy glaze on the pork ribs ($17) giving it a bit of stickiness but thin enough that it didn’t feel like you’re biting through a heavy sauce to get to the tender ribs. And the bed of smoked macaroni & cheese it sat on was equally delicious.


Normally, I find ricotta gnocchi ($16) a little too soft, but Nuit Social’s consistency was perfectly balanced with a light fluffiness and a bit of chewiness. The cheese and cream sauce could have been really really rich, but a bit of citrus, sweet peas, and smoky bits of chicken (oddly tasted like bacon) helped to temper the decadent dish just a little. Aside from the ribs, this was my favourite of the night.


The seared sushi steak ($17) is really a flat ironed steak done rare so that the meat has a thin ring around it like Albacore tuna. For being so underdone, the beef was surprisingly tender and the liberal amounts of chimmichurri gave the Japanese sounding dish an Argentinian flavour instead. Well roasted Brussels sprouts (thankfully, without Buffalo sauce) and fingerling potatoes finished off the plate making this one of the better-rounded dish for those who don’t want to share.  


But then sharing is Nuit Social’s mantra, they “are all about social gatherings, sharing great food and conversing over delicious drinks with old friends and new friends.” Their ambiance is set up for the mission as the music’s volume is kept at a low enough so you can actually converse with your friends (new or old). This is quite different for being a west Queen West restaurant where places like Drake Hotel is a neighbour.

Since it’s opened until midnight on weekdays and 2am on weekends, it’s also a great place to gather after a night of drinking. Nuit Social definitely doesn’t serve the typical post bar eats. It’s not every day that after a night of drinking you can tuck into amazing ribs with a side of ricotta gnocchi.  

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 1168 Queen Street West


Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!


Is That It? I Want More!

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Amano Pasta (Toronto)


Amano consists of a pasta bar, café, and market. Within their small footprint in Union Station (in the concourse area close to York street) there’s a bit of everything: the “market” is really a shelf with cans and jars for sale; the café, a coffee bar, includes some takeaway items at the front; and the most sizeable portion of the establishment, the pasta bar, a sit-down dining area at the back of the restaurant.


While the menu isn’t overly long, there are enough tasty sounding options that makes deciding difficult. Their starters are relatively simple Italian staples. The arancini ($9; actually arrives with three) were decent, the best part was the molten smoked cheese centre. Yet, I found the risotto and in need of salt, so that the most prominent flavour doesn’t end up being the honey on the plate.


Nonna’s salad ($7) is a very lightly dressed pile of spring mix with cucumbers. A better salad option is the stuffed squash ($11), which also arrives with greens but also has an entire roasted squash with stracciatella, which makes it soft and savoury. Unlike the other starters, the squash doesn’t lack flavour thanks to the miso brown butter dressing, bread crumbs, and pomegranate sprinkled around.


Amano’s menu, not surprisingly, goes back to Chef Michael Angeloni’s Italian roots while blending in Canadian new world flavours. You’ll find this blend the most in the “not your nonna’s” options. The addition of the crispy shallots really makes the little ears ($19) dish pop, giving the pasta extra crunch and a zip of interest. Of course, the orecchiette is cooked perfectly and tossed with bite-sized roasted broccoli florets and plenty of cheese (white cheddar, aged gouda, and pecorino). It was a delicious main.


While you can’t taste the Dungeness crab or pancetta in the black trumpets ($22), the flower like campanelle pasta has a chewy al dante doneness and is vividly black from cuttlefish ink. Personally, I’d like the dish to have stronger seafood flavours, but realize it’s not everyone’s preference. In fact, with the healthy sprinkling of chives and mustard seeds, the dish has a surprisingly light taste.


For a more traditional option, Amano’s rigatoni is cheekily called fat tubes ($18). The beef Bolognese with parmesan is simple and not earth shattering, but hits the spot if you want a traditional hearty tomato-based pasta.


In terms of drinks, the Sophia Loren ($13) goes down way too easy thanks to the cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) and red wine, which covers the Pike Creek whiskey. It’s like grown-up sangria and works great as an after-meal cocktail.


Personally, I’d just go with another cocktail, in lieu of dessert. The leaning puff tower ($9) is really two profiteroles stacked on top of each other … that don’t even lean. They’re at least tasty cream puffs, stuffed to the brim with chocolate cream. It’s a dessert for chocolate lovers, with disks of it topping the cream puffs. It’s much better than the sweet cream ($7) or panna cotta, which tastes like Greek yoghurt - with the almond butter crumble and raspberry pieces, it’s like eating a parfait. Not terrible, but more breakfast than dessert.


I can overlook the disappointing dessert, it means more calories for delicious fresh made pasta.

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 65 Front Street West

Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!


Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:



Amano Pasta Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Francobollo (Toronto)

Francobollo Toronto

While there are tons of Italian restaurants in the York Mills/Lawrence area in North York, Francobollo stands out with their fancy contemporary décor … it’s the place to go to for a nice date night or a swanky evening with the ladies. The restaurant is also about the little touches - like the soft focaccia accompanied by a mini bottle of warmed olive oil. While storing the oil in a warm place causes it to spoil faster, this wasn’t a problem at Francobollo as the golden oil tasted bright and vibrant.


Sitting by the kitchen we could smell the arancini ($16) as it was prepared, how intoxicating the aroma can be for deep fried, smoked provolone smothered products. The arancini’s coating was thin and after breaking through we're greeted with soft risotto rice flecked with wild mushrooms and laced with truffle oil. The starter was good, especially with the hearty tomato sauce that’s thick enough so the crispy balls don’t get soggy.


The burrata ($23) was a sizeable portion, the cheese’s lovely creamy consistency going well with the juicy heirloom tomatoes dressed with basil, thickened balsamic, and olive oil. However, I could have done without the plum pieces, which were hard and somewhat sour and detracted from the dish.


First introduced as a special of the day, the lobster pappardelle ($29) has become a permanent fixture. I can see why the dish was popular: the thick egg noodles are done perfectly and the spicy rose sauce adding just a hint of heat and the perfect consistency to completely cover each noodle. Moreover, Francobollo doesn’t skimp on the lobster; with the concave dish, it’s sizeable portion of pasta as well.


Assuming the restaurant has access to fresh fish daily, they should consider adding the grilled whole orata ($39) to the menu as well.  While the kitchen will filet the fish for you, there’s something about having the meat stay intact on the bone that makes it juicier and more flavourful. So, I asked for it to be left whole and did the work myself.


The orata was nice and flaky, but since the plate was very hot, the bottom of the fish became overcooked by the time I got to it. To be fair, the kitchen already placed it on top of garlic smashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, asparagus, and rapini (to keep it from directly touching the plate). Short of removing the fish and putting it another plate when served, it’d be difficult to stop it from becoming overdone – something that would happen if you’re sharing the fish, especially since it’s a significant portion.

While my husband and I were both stuffed, we continued with dessert to keep the evening going. The mille-feuille ($9) crispy pastry and custard layers were well-balanced, but the dessert could have forgone the raspberry coulis. Meanwhile, the tiramisu ($12), although very creamy, was too sweet and didn’t incorporate enough espresso to balance out all the mascarpone.


Despite the average desserts, the rest of the meal was delicious and Francobollo has now joined the rotation for date-night dinners in the neighbourhood.

Overall mark - 8 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 1959 Avenue Road

Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
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!


Is That It? I Want More!

Other Gastro World posts similar to this:



Francobollo Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato