Showing posts with label beef carpaccio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beef carpaccio. Show all posts

Za Cafe Pizzeria and Bar (Toronto)


Behind all the scaffolding on Bay, you’ll find Za Cafe Pizzeria and Bar. It’s a bit of a dark horse, the former Gaberdine’s white walls washed with black, although the worn bar seating remains. The place doesn’t scream warm trattoria or even minimalistic pizza joint, it’s more of an emo Italian restaurant that happens to play energetic dance beats. A great place for after work drinks but would be a shame if you left before having a bite.

Because although Za doesn’t feel like a trattoria, their food is nonetheless comforting Italian fare. The beef carpaccio ($17) lays out large slices of raw beef tenderloin that’s liberally seasoned with salt, lemon juice, and very little oil. While it doesn’t have the drizzles of aioli that typically graces a Canadian carpaccio, there’s tons of flavours from pickled bell peppers, brined caper berries, and thick shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s a rustic carpaccio and would be even better if the salt was toned down a bit.

The burrata pizza ($21) special had a similar vein, the white pizza foundation just lightly brushed with oil, so the paper-thin crust remained wonderfully crispy and light. While the base was sauceless, the pie was still so flavourful from the herb and garlic base, tons of arugula, bright cherry tomatoes, and a ball of cool creamy burrata that went so nicely with the crispy hot dough. How do we get this special to be on the permanent menu?

I’m glad we tried their house made pasta as the curly strands of casarecce were perfectly done, chewy but still soft – almost like a pasta and gnocchi hybrid. The pasta’s crevices helped to scoop up the shrimp cognac’s ($24) creamy cognac rosé sauce, which was rich but refreshing. We were surprised by the generous portion of six tablespoon sized shrimp that topped the dish, more than enough to go around while sharing.

The pesto green ($17) was also large with plenty of the basil sauce so that it seeps into the tubular garganelli. The small dollops of ricotta were a nice touch, but there needed to be more of it. 

While the seafood spaghetti’s ($28) presentation wasn’t the greatest, the dish contained a decent selection of seafood: shrimp, salmon, calamari, mussels, and clams. Like the other pastas, Za didn’t skimp on the ingredients as there was plenty of it. Often, pasta that’s fresh is best, but on the odd occasion I prefer the dried variety. For spaghetti this is the case, as I found the fresh version too doughy and soft.

Interestingly, Za uses a spicy tomato white wine sauce with the seafood spaghetti. The heat was evident but doesn’t necessarily add to the dish. In retrospect, I would have preferred a traditional non-spicy sauce instead.

The Basque cheesecake ($12) is ideal for sharing as it’s sizeable. While it was well caramelized, that slightly toasted taste wasn’t pronounced… it pretty much tasted like any other cheesecake. Perhaps it’s because the mixture was too dense, not the light creamy consistency you’d expect from a Basque.  

Za’s tiramisu ($9) was a let down. It consisted of a lot of whipped cream and cocoa powder and very little lady fingers and mascarpone. At least it was a flavourful dessert, albeit basic and without a zip of zabaglione, which is disappointing compared to their other rustic fares. 

If you can look past all the construction and darkness, Za Café Pizzeria and Bar is an ideal place for an inexpensive meal or a pre-theatre dinner prior to heading to the Ed Mirvish or Elgin theatres, a short walk from the area. Just bring a friend as deciding between pizza or pasta will be terribly unpleasant. The answer is to just have both. 

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 372 Bay Street


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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!


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Black + Blue for lunch (Toronto)

The financial core of Toronto isn’t what it used to be… it’s quieter and less hectic. Yet, I’m happy to see that restaurants are still opening, and their opulence hasn’t taken a hit. Black + Blue has made its way from the west coast and into the Exchange Tower, occupying the former site of the TSX. It’s a massive space with soaring ceilings and a grandeur that makes you stop for a moment to take it all in. Focus on the details and you’ll realize the large bull artwork on their wall is made up from hundreds of steak knives, how cleaver.

Their prix fixe lunch menu ($45) offers diners a choice of a main with either an appetizer or dessert (some supplements required). Word for the wise: you’ll want to share the appetizers as some dishes are rich and the portion sizes would impress a Texan.

Thinly sliced barely seared beef forms a beautiful ruby base for the beef carpaccio. Dressed in horseradish crema and tangy pickled shimeji mushrooms, the two give the meat bright pops of flavour. Personally, I would have gone with either the crispy shallot or fried capers on the dish; having both seems like overkill and the oily garnishes overtook the delicate tender beef. But the slices of shaved parmesan were a great addition offering a bit of sweet and saltiness.

Black + Blue’s calamari is left in thick sticks, lovely bites of tender and meaty squid. The coating is crispy and light but also too salty so that it renders the dipping sauce useless. If you’re going to provide a condiment, it’s best to reduce the seasoning so that diners can taste the sauce.

Leave room for the mains as they are big. A huge cone of sizzling hot parmesan fries arrives with the steak frites ($15 supplement), they are deliciously covered with a layer of cheese and a bit of parsley for a fresh richness. Once again, I did find them over seasoned so with the garlic aioli (a tasty rendition) it ends up being too salty. I also had to leave the red wine jus unused as it was a bit too soy sauce and beef stock heavy to pair with the steak.

The steak frites includes a sizeable sirloin but it was cooked poorly: the medium rare is well seared on the outside but still fully rare in the middle. My husband, an excellent steak preparer, hypothesizes that the meat was too cold before being placed in the pan, evidenced by the tell-tale ring instead of a gradient doneness.

When my friend mentioned the undercooked steak to the manager, he brought over a doneness card to indicate the steak was cooked to their medium rare standard. My recommendation: print more of these cards and place one in each menu, so diners understand Black + Blue’s definition as it doesn’t appear to follow the Toronto standard.

Still, the manager was nice about it and noted they would have been happy to put the steaks back on the grill (likely not something chefs trying to time the next table would be “happy” about) and made up for the miscommunication with a plate of petit fours.

Underdone steak aside, Black + Blue nailed their service as everyone was a delight: professional and attentive without making the restaurant seem stuffy. Of course, the environment is anything but stuffy with the airy high ceilings and upbeat songs blasting from the speakers. One thing’s for sure, this isn’t your typical steakhouse. 

Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 130 King Street West


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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!


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Padella (Toronto)


Like any good Italian restaurant, you won’t leave Padella hungry. Even as we sipped on wine, a basket of freshly toasted bread and a small bowl of delicious pickled beans arrived, something that even people waiting by the bar were nibbling on. 


To avoid sounding repetitive, I found Padella best suited for people who enjoy under seasoned dishes, which allows an ingredient’s natural flavours to shine, but was too plain for me. Some restaurants add a lot of toppings to their beef carpaccio ($16), the only garnishes at Padella were well-drained capers and shaved parmigiano; even the greens were left undressed. Indeed, we could taste the beef, it just doesn’t taste like much without seasoning.


Similarly, the pan seared octopus ($16) and cannellini bean salad barely had a lick of salt so the flavours were derived from the herbed olive oil. I just couldn’t get used to the octopus’ texture, which was too soft. Sure, you may be thinking tender octopus is a good thing. Yet, when the seafood flavours disappear and the springy texture almost becomes mushy, it no longer tastes like octopus.


The clams to linguine ratio in the vongole ($19) was impressive: equal amounts of seafood to pasta. Moreover, both ingredients were prepared to perfection – the clams just cooked through but still juicy and the pasta retaining that lovely chewiness. If only the sauce wasn’t so acidic – it’s like the chef forgot he added lemon and did a second squeeze, then the person at the pass added a third helping – rendering everything so sour that even the garlic and white wine were masked. This could have been an amazing dish with a quarter of the lemon and double the salt.


Only the spaghetti carbonara ($18) had a decent amount of saltiness from the guanciale, pecorino, and parmigiano. If you like bacon, this dish is for you as Padella doesn’t skimp on the guanciale. Combined with the egg yolk, the cured pork’s fat creates a rich smoky sauce that covers the fresh spaghetti. For me, I would have like more pepper to balance out the flavours.


Padella’s tiramisu ($8) was equally rich with generous amounts of mascarpone cream, making for a moist and decadent dessert. If only it had a stronger espresso flavour it would be even better, but still left us satisfied.


The cozy restaurant was packed on our Monday evening visit. From the number of people speaking to the staff, I could tell there are a lot of repeat customers and this is a neighbourhood joint. The friendly environment and respectable portions were great, I only wish the flavours were better. Luckily, aside from the vongole and octopus, the others are an easy fix with a dash of salt and pepper, something that can easily be accommodated by asking for some shakers. 

Overall mark - 6.5 out of 10



How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 1967 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!

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Padella Italian Eatery Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

CLOSED: Pick 6ix (Toronto)


Pick 6ix is Drake’s latest hospitality venture in collaboration with Montreal’s Chef Antonio Park. Having lived in South America, Canada, and Japan and coming from a Korean background, you can see Chef Park’s multi-cultural influences on the restaurant’s menu. In a single dinner I sampled dishes from all the countries!

He seems proficient in creating recipes from each of the geographies as the three stand-out dishes, for me, varied from Korea, Argentina, and Japan. The best was the 8-hour braised kalbi style short rib ($38), which I’d expect from Chef Park’s background. The slightly sweet soy marinade is bang on in terms of flavours and thickened to form a glaze on the meaty rib. It was moist and tender, but you could still taste the beef.


Pick 6ix’s beef empanadas ($18) reminds me of a meatier Jamaican patty in an empanada shell. The filling is lightly flavoured with Argentinian spices and goes especially well with the chimichurri sauce, which adds a tangy herby bite.


The spicy salmon maki ($12) was simple but delicious: the rice thinly layered and brimming with salmon with a significant dollop of spicy kewpie on top. So flavourful that you wouldn’t need the house-made low-sodium soy sauce.


Although the soft-shell crab maki ($18) was still good, I would have thought there would be greater interest with so many ingredients - avocado, tobiko, mizuna (a Japanese mustard green), and pickled radish. In reality, all I could taste were the leafy greens until the soft-shell crab kicked in, at the end.


The fried rice ($26) combines the Chinese staple where the chicken and shrimp is presented almost teppanyaki style, layered on top. Everything arrives in a hot stone bowl with a fried egg and sauce drizzled over top, a nod to bibimbap. It was decent and a good option if you just want a main meal.


We didn’t know what to expect with the choripan asiatico ($18) but all the dishes elements – sausage, guacamole, kimchi, mustard slaw, salsa creola and crispy shallots – sounded enticing. Look out traditional American hot dog, the choripan asiatico is an extreme version of one. Through all the crunchy textures the spicy sausage heat shone through, the heat further amplified by the gochujang spiked ketchup accompanying the fries. It is a rather heavy sandwich, so this is best for sharing.


The pork gyozas ($16) were fine but seemingly plain compared to the other dishes. While the meat filling was tasty enough, it could have incorporated an unusual element (perhaps kimchi) to give it more interest. Moreover, they’d be even better if they were pan fried (instead of deep fried) as I love the contrast between the chewy dough and crispy crust, a small nit-picky personal preference.


Although beef carpaccio ($19) is known for being thinly sliced beef, it would help if the kitchen overlaid the slices for this dish as with the dwarf peaches, olives, puffed quinoa, crispy wild rice, carrots, and plum emulsion the beef became lost; all I could taste was crispy rice with sauce. Overall, aside from this one miss, the other dishes were as I expected: good interpretations that were satisfying but not out-of-this-world.


Similarly, the décor was swanky, as anticipated, in a cool retro way. While the furnishings look great, the tables aren’t exactly designed for dining – the large booth style ones along the sides makes sharing plates difficult and the small ones in the centre have so little room that sharing would be impossible. Oh well, maybe none of that matters… after all, the city loves Drake.


Overall mark - 7 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 33 Yonge 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: