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| - I'm in a foodie book club (that rocks) and our "leader" is a food writer for Metro. As such, I assume that, when we meet each month to talk about our book, we'll be meeting at places that are exceptional. King Street Social Kitchen may not warrant the adjective "exceptional", but it definitely warrants the moniker "darn good"!
Food: I had the Tom Yum Kung soup and the Dark Chocolate tart for dessert. The soup arrived in a giant cassoulet-like dish, complete with top, and was piping hot. The broth was good and not overly salty. The poor shrimp, however, had either been severely overcooked prior to their arrival or severely suffered from having to wait for all 12 of us to be served, because they were seriously tough. I would have liked it to have been a little chunkier (considering it was $8 for a bowl of soup) with fewer (what I think were) mushrooms, but it was decent. My friend ordered the halibut and said it was way overcooked and served with very dry rice.
The dessert, however, was probably one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth! It was a divine dark chocolate tart with caramel inside and dusted with sea salt! Delish! The crust was perfect, the gooey part of the tart was caramel-y and chocolate-y, and the sea salt and cinnamon gave it a perfect yang to the yin of the sweet. It was, naturally, served with berries (which drives me bonkers -- a little creativity, please), but just push those aside and revel in the deliciousness of the tart. I would go back just for that tart. In fact, I'm drooling on myself just thinking about it. :-)
Decor: KSSK is sufficiently modern, as you would expect a new resto in a newly renovated Hyatt hotel. It's downstairs from the lobby, is large, open, and comfortable while maintaining its hip vibe.
Service: the service was okay, but there were 13 of us, so hard to tell. I was so parched from lack of water refilling (another typical Toronto thing) that I almost choked to death. Then, as per usual in Toronto restos, it took *forever* for them to bring our bills. THIS I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!! (/rant)
Overall, KSSK was good and I'd probably go again with a smaller group. It was comfortable and I have high hopes that the mains might be better the second time around. Worth a shot, for sure.
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