I wish Yelp gave half stars because Mistura is a 3 and 1/2 star restaurant. A friend had selected this restaurant after hearing so much hype about it. I checked the reviews on yelp and was prepared for a 5 star meal.
The restaurant itself is pleasant. The staff were friendly. The decor was contemporary, however it felt as if someone had converted their house into a restaurant so it had a cramped feeling.
The booze selection was great. Martinis ranged in price from $12 - $15, which is a pretty standard price for a decent restaurant in Toronto. The wine selection was good, but of course it had high markups. The bottle of white wine we ordered was around $60.
We shared 2 appetizers between us; Bufala con Panzanella (Tomatoes and Mozarella) and Beef Striploin Carpaccio. One reviewer spoke highly of the Tomato & Mozzarella appetizer. Although it was good, I think it's hard for a restaurant to screw up such a basic Italian dish. The Carpaccio was something new for me to try. I'm not a fan of meat that tastes like flesh ripped straight from the animal and that's what Carpaccio is, rare meat. I can't judge the restaurant for serving a dish how its supposed to be served, so I can't say much about this dish other than the overpowering truffle taste it had.
For my main course I had the Galletto Ripieno (Cornish hen and vegetables wrapped in pancetta). The dish and presentation was good, but there was so much pancetta that the dish felt overly salty.
For dessert we split the Warm Soft Center Chocolate Torte. I was pretty loaded from the martini and bottle of wine so I can't really judge this dessert. You could have served me a bag of M&M's at that point and I would've thought it was fine dining.
The overall meal was good, but I think the hype is what ruined it for me. I've had just as many good meals at Il Fornello on Church Street, and for a third of the cost! (The whole meal cost over $300 at Mistura).