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| - There is a patio at street level that is nestled between two buildings and faces the sidewalk on Keele St. There is also an upstairs patio. The place is simply decorated, but nice, both downstairs and upstairs. It's one of those places where you could dress up or go casual and still fit in. It is definitely not a dive pub.
This review is a combination of three visits over the last year and a half.
Must-have: The grilled calamari appetizer. I've ordered this each time I've been... I wish they offered it as a dinner.
My first visit was for appetizers and a beer on the upstairs patio, which started it all and when I first had the grilled calamari. I now always start with the calamari and I am never disappointed. It is grilled perfectly (over wood, I think, which gives it a wonderful flavour) and placed on a bed of baby greens with a nice balsamic vinaigrette.
One of the more memorable meals was when I ordered a dinner special which was a lobster-stuffed pasta in a rose sauce. The pasta and sauce were excellent and the presentation was the lobster head as a garnish. The portion size was perfect, even with a little bit of sharing. This night I was there as a group of four and each of our meals was delicious and the service attentive and timely. We sat inside, downstairs since they had live music upstairs and we all wanted to chat. The noise level was fine for our conversation.
Just this week, my husband and I headed over for dinner on the upstairs patio. This time, we were presented with two menus, one for "upstairs" and one for "downstairs". I found this a bit confusing. For dinner I ordered the brisket and my husband ordered the jerk chicken sandwich. The presentation of the food was great in both cases. However, the jerk chicken was a bit dry and there wasn't a lot going on in the sandwich other than lettuce and the chicken. The side of fries with the sandwich was delicious. I got 4 or 5 large slices of brisket covered in sauce with a side of mashed potatoes and a great arrangement of grilled vegetables. The veggies were really nice and included a tower of eggplant, zucchini, summer squash and carrot, artichoke, a slice of corn on the cob, a slice of red pepper. I didn't like the pickled beet that also came with the grilled veggies mostly because I don't like pickled beets. The sauce that covered the brisket tasted like a combination of tomato sauce and barbecue sauce (which was as described on the menu) but I just wasn't a fan. In hindsight, I'm not sure what possessed me to order the brisket this night since it's not something that I normally like.
Each time I've visited, the owner, who is also the primary chef, has come out to ask how everything was and give a little bit of info on the meal that someone at our table had ordered. This is a nice personal touch and he seems truly interested in the feedback.
I only live two blocks away, maybe I'll check out the live music one of these days.
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