Bestellen makes a meat-lover’s heart go a flutter with
promises of dry-aged beef and house-cured charcuterie. When the restaurant
offered both on their Summerlicious menu ($35), it became a no brainer that a
visit was in order.
The charcuterie was made for me with thinly sliced basturma, coppa and prosciutto; all
cuts where the meat and fat are distinct, not a salami in sight. Prosciutto is a commonly loved with its
large slices of leg meat. Personally, I prefer coppa as it has a richer flavour and having the fat in the centre
of the meat gives it a different mouth feel.
Bestellen introduced me to basturma, a dried cured beef. The curing process must
have involved plenty of peppercorn as the earthy heat from the spice was
prevalent. Much leaner than pork, I found the basturma
was best eaten plain. Whereas, the toasted olive oil laced bread with grainy
mustard went best with the fattier pork options: the bread's heat nicely
warming up the fat.
After such a great starter, the dry aged striploin was
disappointing – salty so that any chance of enjoying the beef’s flavour was
minimal. Being a leaner dry aged cut,
I didn’t anticipate the steak to be juicy. However, I did expect the aging
process to condense the meat’s flavours and the connective tissues to break
down so it’d be more tender than it was.
The wedges of roast potato were even more salty; I had to wipe
it against the edge of the plate before it was edible. Only the charred rapini
was spared. One redeeming quality is the kitchen did cook the beef to the exact
medium rare doneness requested.
Dessert was surprisingly good. The warm lemon and pistachio
cake a great combination – the nuttiness of the pistachio balanced by the
citrus. Also, the nest of candied lemon on top had just the right amount of
sweetness to set off the neutral cake. The chocolate budino’s texture was oh-so
silky and jazzed up with the addition of salted caramel.
Bestellen’s softly lit environment is great for dates but its
loud music makes conversing difficult. For a restaurant that encourages large
groups with a family style whole suckling pig, côte de boeuf and Sunday chicken dinners, it should really lower
the volume so that guests don’t need to shout to be heard.
A printed wine-by-the-glass menu would also be nice, even if
written on a chalkboard. Our waiter was friendly and helpful, but I felt a little
bad for him as multiple people asked about it and he had to dutifully recite
the list and answer pricing/country of origin questions every time.
From reading other reviews, it seems Bestellen does meat
dishes well (think charcuterie, beef tartare and their burger). But, it’s not a
steakhouse and this is where opinions start to falter. In the end, the
charcuterie peaked my heart’s interest, but the striploin makes a long-term
relationship doubtful.
Is Summerlicious worth it (based on my meal selection)?
Summerlicious - $35
Regular menu - $47 - charcuterie ($13), striploin ($28) and cake ($6)
Savings - $12 or 26%
* The striploin and cake were based on the cornish hen and a wild guess from me
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 972 College Street
Address: 972 College Street
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:
