Take a
walk through TD Centre’s concourse level and you’ll encounter Mark McEwan’s domination of
the floor: the second McEwan grocery store and eatery occupies an entire corner,
walk in a bit further and his long time restaurant Bymark (a creative
conjunction of “by” and “Mark”) takes up the rest of the corner. It’s a
restaurant known for its decadent foie gras burger with a hefty price to match.
Like most of McEwan’s ventures, it’s a fine dining establishment where bill
totals easily reach $100+ a person. Hence, during Summerlicious, their special
$48 dinner menu always draws a crowd.
What
looks like mechanically processed tuna certainly tasted that way - instead of
dicing the fish by hand, the tartare arrives pulverized so you end up spreading
(rather than scooping) the mixture on the crispy wonton chips. I could have
looked past the fish’s mushy texture if it was seasoned better; too bad the
miso-ginger vinaigrette was so light that most of the flavours were from the
fish’s natural oils and the chip. Thankfully, the crisp shaved fennel salad on
the side helped to wake up the dish, if only smaller pieces were combined
into the tartare itself, maybe the starter would have tasted better.
While
the Summerlicious website describes the cod as being from "Fogo
Island", Bymark’s actual menu revises it to "Atlantic". Honestly,
I don’t care that much about the origin and I’m glad the restaurant was honest
about the fish’s source – having read Olmsted’s Fake Food Real Food, it’s
a shame how often establishments try to pass off non-authentic ingredients to
diners, I applaude Bymark for being truthful.
Arriving
as a sizeable piece, the baked cod was moist and flakey. Normally, the delicate
texture would be fine, but since the accompanying polenta was also silky and
smooth, it'd be nice if the fish was seared with the skin-on to create
a crispy layer for contrast. Unlike the starter, the main incorporated plenty
of flavour from the salty olive tapenade, rapini, and unexpected kick of chili
oil. All in all, it's a satisfying dish.
Too
bad the same couldn’t be said with the strawberry shortcake … I’m getting so
tired of deconstructed desserts! The strawberry shortcake came with the usual
elements: soft vanilla shortcake, delicious macerated strawberries, and whipped
cream. Additional crisp meringue pieces were a nice touch, providing an extra
texture and sweetness to the cake. Dutifully, I combined all the ingredients to
make my own cake, only to find the Chantilly creamy overly salty. Perhaps it
was the pastry chef wanting to play up the earthiness of the basil purée, but
it didn’t work for me. Strawberry shortcake doesn't work as a sweet and
salty dessert.
Meanwhile
the s’more’s tart was elegant and delicious. Not normally a fan of rich
chocolate desserts, I was even drawn in to take a bite of the smooth dark
chocolate ganache and ever so slightly salty graham cracker crust.
Having
previously visited Bymark for Winterlicious and a regular dinner, this was by
far the worst experience. Indeed, I understand what's served during
Summerlicious may be a modified menu with less expensive ingredients, but
looking back on the Winterlicious experience from about six years ago, it was
executed much better and was of closer quality to a regular dinner service. This
time, nothing wowed us and the dishes were passable at best.
Is Summerlicious worth it (based on my meal selection)?
Summerlicious - $48
Regular menu - $72.50 - tuna tartare* ($19), cod ($40) and shortcake ($13.50)
Savings - $24.50 or 34%
* Based on the steak tartare and cheesecake
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 66 Wellington Street West (in TD Centre)
Address: 66 Wellington Street West (in TD Centre)
Website: http://bymark.mcewangroup.ca/
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:
