It looks like patio season is here, so I’m starting a new thread!
CaféTO has begun, so we will see more sidewalk dining again. I’m excited that there’s also some live music offered at some locations, such as The Emmett Ray on College W (which has excellent pub food , including a good shepherd’s pie)
Hope you enjoy Lapinou. The cocktails are generally very good, although they also have some nice French wines by the glass. Get the bread rolls along with the house smoked ham and then make great sandwiches. The duck confit cassoulet is also very good.
I tried the Le Diable cocktail which I liked a lot ( pictured) and the Bon Iver cocktail (not pictured, essentially a sweet cranberry whisky sour) which was fair.
It was a good place to visit with this particular friend.
I want to start revisiting other bistros with patios to compare. I used to spend a fair amount of time on King West 15 years ago. Not my kind of neighbourhood anymore. It was chaotic tonight, the other patios were packed.
Went to One for brunch on Sunday. We have found it only OK before, but we had visiting friends who wanted something near where they were staying. It remains OK:
iced latte - OK
regular latte - OK, a little cooled down
blueberry scone with lemon curd, pain au chocolat, and regular croissant (with a giant amount of butter beside) - all nice, lemon curd not that tart but pleasant
Shakshouka - two poached eggs (runny), a little feta, lovely tomato/pepper sauce, lots of challah toast (a bit overly-crumbly)
Eggs Benedict - with “artisan ham” on brioche and tasty potatoes, eggs were not runny though
Buttermilk pancakes - five big pancakes with whipped cheesecake, graham crumble and stewed blueberries - best dish of the lot
avocado toast - fine, not remarkable
Then on Tuesday we went to Figo, before the opera. It remains good, although a few things kept it from being great:
Rosalina - empress gin, Cocchi white, lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, guerra dry vermouth, cherry syrup and a lovely boozy cherry for each of us - fun, beautiful pale purple colour, floral and very cherry.
glass of 2020 Piona Gavi, cortese, Piemonte - delicious, gentle, creamy and kind of hazelnutty.
glass of 2019 Peter Zemmer ‘Rolhut’ Pinot noir, alto adige - smelled minerally, flavour was too subtle for our food though
Sea bream crudo: Meyer lemon, cucumber, extra-virgin olive oil, pickled fennel, chili - a bit overboard with the lemon and the fish itself seemed not quite fresh
Artichoke and Gem Insalata: pistachio vinaigrette (creamy), frisee, marinated artichokes, crispy artichokes, basil, pecorino, Espelette powdered on top, also capers - lovely flavour but disappointing the crispy artichoke is just a few leaves- were hoping for whole deep fried hearts, and didn’t notice any basil.
Paccheri: olive oil confit rabbit, peas, wild mushrooms, butter, ricotta - sadly the rabbit was kind of dry/tough and very salty, but the dish was not too buttery, nice basil, lovely huge king mushrooms, very good pasta.
mortadella pizza: Taleggio Bechamel, pistachio, (pickled) artichoke, ricotta Salata - nice and the acid from the pickle was helpful, but the pickles were too salty, and the pistachios were subtle. The dough was lovely though (crisp and chewy).
Chocolate semifreddo: almonds (in the chocolate coating under and around the sides), budino over top, salted caramel drizzle, amaretti (crumbs on top) - very nice.
Decaf americano - well they brought a macchiato but oh well.
My friend had wanted to try One when she was late meeting me for our planned brunch at Bar Reyna. Bar Reyna had tried to accommodate, pushing our brunch back to 11:45, but my friend was even later than that. The available tables at One were in the sun, as were the available tables at Cibo. We ate at the Duke of York, which has been better at lunch and dinner, in my experience. (It’s convenient for me , so I have given them a lot of business- the wings, the chicken pot pie, the chicken curry, the burger, the shepherd’s pie are decent) The patio is shaded, would not recommend their English Breakfast.
I had one brunch at One maybe 5 years ago, and found it just okay as well. At least it’s consistent, I suppose.
I want to try the patio brunch at Cano on St Clair W. I may also revisit Old School on Dundas W, which was okay in 2018.
I was taken out to George for my birthday as their courtyard patio is again open. The food remains excellent, with many flavours integrating on the plate and plenty to appeal to the eye. I won’t post every photo since we both had the 10-course menu and each of us gets different courses. We also split one wine pairing, which also had some great choices (although some occasional minor misinformation from the sommelier about grape type). There were also a few minor missteps from the servers, bringing the wrong plate to us occasionally. This is likely an outcome of the pandemic, with many of the more experienced staff having moved on and relatively new ones in place.
bread - focaccia, baguette and flatbreads - focaccia particularly delicious, with rosemary hints
glass of Baud Brut Crémant du Jura - very appley and a little nutty
amuse-bouche: ricotta with sausage, sweet potato chips and avocado, and perhaps a tamarind chili sauce
glass of Alto Adige Tradition Gewurztraminer, 2020, Kellerei Cantina Terlan - smells strongly of apricot but totally dry - very striking, really loved this wine
Crab cake, orange, raspberry, nasturtium - nice crisp to the edges
^ sweetbreads, white asparagus, cucumber carpaccio, rhubarb - perfect sweetbread, crisp on the outside, creamy inside
glass of Beaujolais Gamay - Régnié, 2020, Guy Breton, Villié-Morgon
pork belly, red beet foam, peas, Asian pear, foie gras - fatty and crispy belly, lightened by the pear and peas
glass of Chateau de Viaud-Lalande, 2019, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Grand Vin de Bordeaux (Merlot, cab franc, cab sauv) - Smoky and cherry and maybe blueberry or plum
beef tenderloin with orange hollandaise and zucchini flower tempura - good, if more straightforward
I know Dynasty is not the pinnacle of Chinese cuisine, but it does have a patio and could seat 9, which worked for my family. Food was overall good, with flavours being a bit on the too subtle side. It was a bit weird to have disposable plates when just a few feet away, separated by a glass window, people were dining with standard dinnerware. And it was all pretty pricey, which is what you get for eating out in Yorkville.
mushroom and snow pea leaf dumplings (from the dim sum menu) - quite nice, very fall-apart though
Salt and pepper squid - beautifully cooked, but a bit low on the salt and garlic flavour
Salt and pepper smelts - also pleasan
Roasted duck - great flavour all the way through, crispy skin
Cantonese chow mein - unremarkable, but good for the kids
Flat rice noodle and beef - one of the better dishes, lots of wok hay
Snow pea leaves - good
Crabmeat and broccoli - good texture, although not that flavourful
Scallops and asparagus - similarly well-executed, if a bit underflavoured
Sweet and sour chicken - another kid request, decent
Rainbow chopped in crystal fold with pork - nice but there was a predominance of sautéed onion
We tried RendezViews East earlier this week with some friends. We somehow missed this opening last year. The patio itself is fun, with brightly painted picnic tables and a great view of the CN Tower. Service is pretty casual, which was fine. We stuck with the Nuit Regular options from the Pai menu, which were mostly very flavourful. The one black mark is that it is all disposable cups, containers, and cutlery and it was not clear they were sorting for recycling or composting.
Cocktails “on tap” were simple, enjoyable, and kinda expensive for what you were getting:
Smirnoff Summer fling - Smirnoff vodka, Galliano vanilla, passionfruit juice and fresh lime juice - delicious, perhaps there was also orange juice; overall it was still very tangy and tasty
Watermelon and Elderflower G&T - Tanqueray gin, watermelon juice, fresh lime and elderflower tonic water - also delicious, sweet but balanced well with tanginess
Captain Morgan Spiced rum, mango juice, pineapple juice, passionfruit - OK, we didn’t taste much more than pineapple
Tom Yum Wings - tossed with Tom Yum seasoning and magrud lime leaves, crispy shallots, pickled serrano chili, Tom Yum oil, with sour cream and Tom Yum oil - great flavour, particularly from the lime leaves
Tom Yum calamari - tossed with Tom Yum seasoning and magrud lime leaves, crispy shallots, pickled serrano chili, Tom Yum oil, with fries and sriracha mayo - very good
Tom Yum cauliflower bites - tossed with Tom Yum seasoning and magrud lime leaves, crispy shallots, Tom Yum oil, and fries, with sweet and spicy Thai chili sauce - also very good
Green Chicken Curry - in a broth with bamboo shoots, Thai Basil, magrud lime leaf, with rice on the side - despite a fairly thin broth, rich in flavour and a good kick
Khao Soi chicken - fresh egg noodles in golden coconut milk curry with chicken breast, crispy noodles on top, coriander and green onions - wonderful noodles, lovely dish
Pad Gra Pow - Holy basil ground pork stir-fry on steamed jasmine rice with Thai style fried egg, served with nam prik nam pla sauce (fish sauce to pour over) - sweet and delicious, perhaps the best dish of the bunch
Pork neck pancake: moist and supple braised pork neck, kimchi shijimi; scallions, chili candied peanut - wonderful as always, sweet and a bit of a kick
The baos have returned in numbers, so we tried a new one and two old favourites:
Last weekend we tried Tutti Matti, which has been around for awhile but we never got to it. The patio is nestled beside the restaurant building, so it is protected from the wind a fair bit (but only gets sun at midday). Service was friendly and helpful - when we were uncertain about a wine choice, the staff brought us two not-so-small samples to compare. The food was generally very good, with a few particular highlights.
Gin rhubarb spritz - very nice, fresh, light, prettily pink. We then had a glass of Garganega Meroni, Verona - lovely, crisp, a little fruity - and a glass of Tiberio, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo - blueberries? purple, nice.
Porchetta di Maremma: slow roasted suckling pig with tuna mayo, arugula, deep fried shallots, toasted sourdough - not particularly tender and moist, but lots of pork-y flavour, nice sourdough bread.
Polpetta Finta: eggplant ricotta “meatballs” with smoked mozzarella, pizza dough. This is the dish to order here: flavourful, hot, light and tasty, with melted mozzarella over top, tangy tomato sauce. The secret weapon is a whole pizza-worth of baked pizza dough - moist and chewy, with smoky crust. This dish could easily be a main in terms of quantity.
Costole di Manzo: short ribs, beer, oranges, honey, rosemary, smashed potatoes - lovely sweet citrusy sauce, fall apart meat, though a bit dry at the edges, with three medium sized rosemary potatoes done perfectly.
Pappardelle: braised brisket. The other dish to definitely order: al dente noodles, braised brisket sauce with lots of caramel and umami notes, a little basil, finished off with some cheese.
And then we tried Marked on Tuesday, which opened last year I think. The patio is right on John, so it is not a quiet setting. It should be protected from the rain due to the overhang. Service was friendly, if relatively uninformed (e.g., thought mahi mahi was tuna). We resorted to our phones to decipher aspects of the menu, which covers much of South America for inspiration. Food was overall good to very good - certainly enough wins to warrant a return visit.
Marked Pisco sour: El Gobernador Pisco, Campari, Manzanilla Cherry, passion fruit, lemon, egg white, Moondog bitters - delicious, tasting like grapefruit (though it had none) + tropical.
Yucatan Slam: Cazadores Blanco tequila, watermelon rind, jalapeño, prickly pear, lime, basil, western Haskap bitters - amazing, with salt like margarita and a lovely kick, also beautifully pink.
Dios Mio - Johnny Walker red label scotch, bulleit rye, gosling’s rum, amontillado sherry, Kalani coconut, cacao, banana, Demerara, arabica coffee bitters - very nice, like a chocolate old fashioned.
Roast chicken Coxinha - Brazilian chicken croquette with huancaina sauce (potatoes, peppers, queso fresco and things) - two croquettes, crispy outside, moist and tasty inside with a smooth sauce that was a little cheesy, with sweetness from the peppers. Served not quite hot - perhaps it sat a bit before pick-up.
Marked ceviche - mahi mahi, avocado, sweet potato, Peruvian corn nuts, leche de Tigre, corn sprouts, and sweet potato chips. The presentation was nice, arriving unmixed and allowing you to mix and marinade to your preference. Very fresh, light, with a multitude of textures and flavours.
Spicy chicken wings - malagueta hot sauce, Aleppo, tempero baiano, cilantro crema - 4 flats and three drums, green sauce and red sauce, really good, medium spicy, nice amount of char.
Picanha - juicy and medium-rare Ontario sirloin, Marked house rub, three sauces: piri piri (vinegary), chimichurri, (minty, our fave), house bbq (sweet and smoky).
Biro biro (forgot the pic) - fragrant basmati rice, chorizo, black beans, crispy shallots, cassava, in its own iron pot. Really good, especially the crunchy bits stuck to the pot.
Latin Mess: coconut namelaka, sponge, passion fruit curd, coconut foam, passion fruit ice cream, almond brittle tuiles. A bit all over the place. Passion fruit ice was great though.
OG Churros: cone shaped churro, chocolate soil, candied cocoa nibs, milk crumb, dulce ice cream, chocolate sorbet. The churro was perhaps overcooked and a bit oily. The chocolate sorbet was fantastic, very dark and not too sweet. Note that this is a giant dessert, easily enough for two.
Which patios (with good food), downtown or in the Financial District, could handle a group of 8 at lunch, with tables set far enough apart not to feel crowded?
Has anyone been to The Rabbit Hole?
Are all the patio tables at the Queen and Beaver 2 tops or 4 tops? I’ve only been seated at a 2 top, in 2018, and can’t remember if they had larger tables. The patio seemed small.
I visted the Rabbit Hole - once.
Probably my worst meal during COVID - it was actually inedible!
Did post on Chowhound, but I didn’t keep a copy of my post. And I hope I’ve erased all memory of the details.
Actually do recall the ‘Yorkshire Pudding’ (that was the listing on the menu) - without doubt the worst I’ve experienced.
The Q&B has two patios, one street-level and one outside the upstairs lounge. I’m reasonably sure they have 4 tops, but I haven’t been on their patio so far this summer. The upstairs patio can get baking hot during the day, in case you are looking at lunch.
Jump has a very nice patio, good (if pricey) food.
