Visited Patria last Saturday evening with a good friend. Having lived in Spain for 3 years, he wanted to take me to a place with authentic Spanish food. Now when visiting any great restaurant, 2 things are especially important to me: The service and the food. I can eat in a dump if you give me a smile and great food. With that said, Patria is chic and has a great atmosphere.
To start with the service. Our server Ellen was the high point of the evening. A great smile, on-point recommendations and timely service. She had us laughing & checked in regularly to make sure we were good. She is without a doubt one of the best servers I've experienced in Toronto which says a lot as I am eating out 5 or 6 times a week.
Now to the food. We had the following items with comments beside them:
Goat Cheese + Orange Blossom Honey + Walnut + Fig
- Really super tasty if you love cheese - highly recommended
Roasted Cauliflower + Crispy Jamón + Garlic Chips + Almond Sauce
- Our server actually recommended this dish and so glad that she did - was absolutely outstanding - top appetizer we had for sure
24 Month Salt-Cured Jamón Serrano
- Was good, but I buy cured ham at the local deli regularly so not necessarily best value for money - great if you don't buy at the local deli like I do
House Baked Bread + Fresh Tomato + Olive Oil
- We had this and another baked bread with cheese on top. Both of them were heavenily and so reminiscient of Spain. This is such a regular dish and one of my favorites. I would come back just for this.
Octopus Dish (Can't find on their menu)
- this was a tasty appetizer that had a pepper sprinkled over it.... was delicious, not a lot of food in the dish, but tasty
Wood Fire Roasted Rib Eye + Roasted Garlic
- This was probably the only disappointment - while it was OK, it was a bit fatty and for the $68 price tag, there are simply a lot of other good rib-eye options in the city. Wouldn't recommend this dish given the above.
Anyways, overall would recommend this place to anyone looking for some Spanish inspired food. Next time I am back I will try the Shaved Fennel + Radish + Manchego + Crispy Artichokes as artichokes were one of my favorite dishes living in Spain (unfortunately missed it on the menu last Saturday).