What is considered fine dining is so relative, depending on one’s interests, budget, experience, expectations.
I don’t do tasting menus very often. The price point for the handful of tasting menus I’ve eaten over the past 6 years is quite low as tasting menus go. The most I’ve paid is around $150 CAD per person before tax in Toronto, when some tasting menus run $230/ person and Kaiseki might cost $475 CAD/ person. $1 CAD = $0.73 USD / 0.54 GBP lately.
That said, the majority of restaurants where I eat most of the time, which would be considered upscale casual, bistro level or a nice restaurant but not quite fine dining, by most people I know on HO, would be considered fine dining by most people I know who aren’t foodies. It’s all so relative.
I’ll probably never get around to paying for a Manresa-type experience. I don’t really want to spend more than $200 CAD in Canada on myself in one sitting right now. With inflation going the way it’s going, that might change sooner than later.
I might make an exception to my budget if I was dining somewhere where food is inherently more expensive than it is in Toronto, such as Geneva or Stockholm. I probably would also splurge in NYC, Paris or London. That said, I usually keep my budget in NYC to less than $100 USD per meal, when I choose a fancier meal.
Lucie, a French restaurant that offers fine dining in Toronto, will be changing to a more casual dining approach in May, after the chef who has been working there moves back to France. My friend and I will try their $170 CAD set menu, which is the less expensive and shorter menu offered, in a few weeks. This will be the most expensive set menu I have eaten in Toronto.
Prices have been creeping up with inflation.
My afternoon tea with mediocre service (that is an understatement ) at the Shangri La hotel cost around $108 before tax. The scones and pastries were top notch.
A contemporary Middle Eastern tasting menu in Toronto in January 2026 cost around $120 CAD before tax. The food was delicious. Friendly and fairly informal service, which was pretty rushed. The room was a back room with no windows. The tables were close together. The waiter asked me to push my chair in so he could get by. Crowding me, but whatever- this room is too small for 2 rows of tables. No coat check, so people’s coats were on the back of chairs, and it’s tight for people to squeeze into their seats. I would say what I ordered was more of a 3 course meal, with 3 combo plates, which were delicious, but it wasn’t exactly a fine dining tasting menu or a fine dining service experience. At least for me, since this is relative! I will go back for the food, maybe on a weeknight. My point is, it’s a nice restaurant, with a tasting menu, but it is not Fine Dining.
