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| - Was sent to Toronto on business for two weeks and found this place. I was so impressed I went twice. The food was, on average, EXCELLENT. I would consider giving this place 5 stars had their drinks not been so abysmally awful.
While not everything on the menu is a home-run, the food is truly top-notch. At times, the food is stellar. The service is fantastic: attentive, but not so much so to be annoying. Ambiance is great; the decor is tasteful and classy while deftly avoiding pretentious. You can tell they worked hard on creating a great dining atmosphere. The waiter said this place has been open for business for 6 years (as of June 2011) and couple this with the fact that the restaurant does not get great foot traffic (it's kind of out-of-the-way on a low-foot trafficked side-street) they must be doing something right.
The drinks, unfortunately, are awful. They have a tremendous martini list. From memory, they may have ... 20 martinis? 25 maybe? With names like "Cuban Kiss" and "Salsa Dancer" they sound quite amazing. Unfortunately, they are HORRENDOUSLY watered down. Don't think of me as someone who insists on strong alcohol, because I'm not. When I say watered down, what I mean is that there's no flavor. True, you don't taste alcohol. You also don't taste flavor as well. They are 2oz to start with (i.e. 4 sips) but they taste like semi-flavored water. They could very well be the worst martinis I've ever had in my life.
They boast the "best mojito this side of Havana", as voted by the Toronto Star. I come from New York City, and can say with certitude that this is NOT the best mojito this side of Havana. In fact, it's not a particularly good mojito. It's an OK mojito. It mostly suffers from the same problem that the martinis suffer from: it's watered down. Not only is it not very alcoholic, it's also not very flavorful. Less water, more rum, more sugar, and the mint needs to be muddled more.
On a side note, if the owner reads this: please disable automatically playing music on your website. It might seem really cool to you, but it's very 1995, and websites that automatically play music just plain suck. Annoying as hell.
OK, so on to the food.
The bread they serve gets an A. It's a perfect bread for tapas. Kudos on serving it warm!
Stuffed Mushrooms: B+
Very good. Would've preferred them to be slightly more spicy. Maybe a bit more garlic. I think another reviewer commented that they were very good, but totally forgettable. I think that's a good description.
Spicy Potatoes: B
Reading through the reviews, I noticed this was one of the most tried dishes, and it's unfortunate because it's one of the weakest dishes. There's nothing spicy about these potatoes. They should be called "Not Spicy Potatoes". They have good flavor, but are a bit on the dry side. They need to be more garlicky, but even more importantly, they need to be less dry. If the chef reads this, please throw in some more olive oil. Throw in some more cooked onions. Anything to make these potatoes not so dry! You have a perfect bread, and if there were more sauce/liquid, these potatoes could be a B+ (of if you decided to make them spicy as well, an A-). As it stands, you should definitely skip this one.
Spanish Meatballs: A-
Spectacular. One of my favorites. Great flavor, great consistency. My only criticism is that they needed to be served with a bit more sauce. I asked the waiter for more sauce, which he happily brought, but it was obviously tomato sauce, not the sauce the meatballs were cooked in. If the meatballs came with more sauce, they could easily be an A.
Spanish Sausage in Red Wine: A+
Perfection. Spicy chorizo. Copious sauce, perfect for dipping their phenomenal bread in. Great garlicky spicy flavor. It's their best tapas. Do not think of coming here and not ordering this one!
Lamb with Lemon: A-
Excellent. Lamb chops which are just the right size for tapas. The meat is tender and very nicely flavored. I'm not a huge fan of cooked pineapple, but the pineapple was not overwhelming.
Garlic Shrimps: A+
As with the Sausage in Red Wine, this is the perfect tapas. Four large, expertly flavored shrimp in copious sauce, perfect for dipping with their phenomenal warm tapas bread.
Marinated Seafood: B+
Very good. I wish it had more juice for dipping like the garlic shrimp did. I don't remember any scallops or shrimp, but it's entirely possible that my wife ate them. (I just asked and she said she ate shrimp, but doesn't remember scallops)
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