Awai first launched as a vegetarian
restaurant offering tasting menus without a price – customers eat as many
dishes as their stomachs can handle and set their own price. After a number of
years, they decided to scrap the concept citing diners felt awkward figuring
out the “value” of food offered. Instead, the restaurant now offers menus in
5-course ($48 Sunday - Thursday; $62 on Friday & Saturday) and 7-course ($75 Sunday - Thursday, $95 on Friday & Saturday) options – still in a plant-based format.
I’m happy to see the creamy mushroom
soup stayed on the menu as it’s something Awai creates beautifully. The smoked
porcini and cauliflower soup gets a kick from jerk spice, but is still silky
and decadent with puréed mushroom pieces and truffle oil. My only complaint was
the portion wasn’t big enough.
A coca flatbread also makes an appearance,
a chewy bread prepared in their wood burning oven so there’s a smoky essence.
That evening it was topped with a white cauliflower and truffle cream sauce,
which would have made it similar to the soup, but in the flatbread there was a
tangy herb drizzle for differentiation. I love the big chunks of artichokes
topping the bread, but could have done without the chewy figs – although for
those who like a sweet, savoury, and sour element, it does work.
Cauliflower continues the meal with
pieces of it mixed with sous vide beluga lentils and a potato string nest. The
deep fried potato balls were so hard that they’re impossible to bite through –
instead, I resorted to breaking it up with my hands to mix into the lentils.
Overall, the dish was too fussy with textures that didn’t exactly work with
each other, the miso and lemon vinaigrette a little off with lentils, and the
temperature too cool.
Luckily, the last savoury course
ends strong with a tortellini filled with sunchoke, amaretto and almond butter.
It’s a lighter dish with pea foam topping the butternut squash. Pasta is
another item that Awai does superbly, the dough thin but still chewy. The only
slight flaw was the snap peas didn’t have their ribbing removed making them
difficult to chew through and detracted from the otherwise crunchy vegetables.
Before dessert, we added on the
faux-mage cheese board ($25) - we’re told all the vegan cheese is made
in-house. While I’m not a plant-based cheese expert, I’m told by a friend who
eats it regularly that there are much better options available for sale.
Overall, we found the texture - whether it be the cheese ball, cashew-based
blue cheese, or the truffle cheese made with almonds – tasting like spread. So,
it felt less like you’re having cheese with crackers and more like flavourful
hummus.
Two desserts were presented at the
table for sharing: on their own not the greatest but worked well together. The
coconut butter pudding had a rather odd texture since instead of being being
dense it was very fluffy. The chocolate ganache was understandably rich and
dressed with a lot of cocoa powder so it was overpowering solo. Once blended
together, the two desserts were better balanced and reminded me of a tuxedo
royale cake.
With a set procession of dishes, the
meal did seem longer as there was a lag between each plate – perhaps the
kitchen’s way of timing a 5-course and 7-course meal to similar durations. True
to its purpose, I enjoyed not having to conduct a strategy session amongst the
table at the end of a filling booze-filled meal. The process of settling the
bill and leaving was definitely easier and less labour intensive. Mission
accomplished.
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 2277 Bloor Street West
Address: 2277 Bloor 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:
