People may rave about dinner service in this latest new joint in the ever-changing Leslieville restaurant/brunch scene. But although the menu offerings are the same no matter what time it is, I find the experience at Eastside Social seems quite underrated compared to other places around here you and most others could go to for a weekend daytime stomach fill. Get past the emptiness; let's get nautical, nautical.
Nothing's fishy about it; the quaint nautical themed decor everywhere anchors the restaurant's emphasis on light seafood and Maritime-themed fare, without making you feel like it's a seafood restaurant-great for those like myself who aren't big on choking on oysters, as well as those that do. Arrrrg, Eastside certainly makes for a decent choice for a classy date night meal setting, because who the hell wants to go to a greasy dump seafood joint for a date?
The freshly smoked trout (smoked in-house) puts all those supermarket frozen smoked salmon stuff to shame and is a must-have for any smoked fish fan-the flavours are just smokin' fresh and heavenly! The Yorkshire pudding poutine ($15) was fun to eat (a demi-glace is used in place of the requisite gravy, offering an different kind of beefiness). Service was very warm, all that is missing is more people to fill the seats on a Sunday afternoon.
{TTC: take the 72 bus or the 501-2-3 to Queen/Carlaw}