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| - I dined at Drake One FIfty a few months after if opened and wasn't impressed. Although the food was alright, the service was poor and I had decided not to return for dinner, although I had at times enjoyed a few drinks at the bar.
With friends in town on a short visit, I presented them with a list of dining options for a Saturday night, and so we settled on Drake 150. Sounds so pretentious, but these friends are experienced travelers, dining often at Michelin star awarded restaurants and have standards and expectations. Natives of Toronto, they are familiar with "The Drake" and its ambiance and so I was hoping they would enjoy the experience, and that the service had improved since my inital visit.
There were four of us who dined at the Drake One Fifty. The service and food complemented the great evening we were having, enjoying each other's company and catching up.
We all had not seen each other for some time and the staff was very patient as we kept getting side-tracked, forgetting about the menu. Finally, we decided. Two of us ordered coctails (The Picadilly, and one called the Dynamic Unicorn), while the others got a head start on a bottle of wine (Malivoire Merlot, I believe). Aperol and Campari gave the Picadilly a touch of sweetness without being too strong and it sounds bizarre.... but it tarted SOOOO good with the dill and cucumber.
We started with a few appetizers: Nonna's meatballs (which didn't tasted EXACLY like my Nonna's) were light-tasting and in a simple tomato sauce. Scallops and pork belly.... um yeah! and also the bread basket whcih came with a flavoured butter, an eggplant bruschetta and the coffee-infused oil. All very good and the eggplant spread was so good we asked for more. :)
Cue bottle of wine #2.
We were quite unimaginative with our entree selection: 3 x black cod with a side of brussel sprouts and 1 x moules & frites. The black cod was services with this lightly charred gabbage - could have eaten a bowl of it on it's own!. The first was cooked perfectly. I'm told the mussels were delicious and there were plenty of them!
Rather than dessert, we decided to keep it classy and go for more booze! Me, another Picadilly (why mess with a good thing!?) and my friend had a warm drink. One friend was deciding on another "glass" of wine but wasn't into the house cabernet/merlot blend. As he toyed with the selection available by the glass, one of the servers stopped by with two tasting glasses of wines she suggested for him, LIKE SERVICE, WOAH! ...And this when he was ONLY planning on ordering another "glass."
Anyway, the suggestions were on-point and rather than one glass--we went for another bottle of wine.
Cue bottle of wine #3 : Hope Family Vineyards, "The Troublemaker" Rhone blend.
(This wine was outstanding).
Anyway, our server (blonde with dark-rimmed glases) and the support staff were wonderful: knowdegable, pleasant and patient. :) They anticipated our needs and the servie was spot-on making it a memorable experience, which may have been a little unexpected. Surpirses like these are so nice!
The food was very good and on-par with other restaurants in the city of the same calibre. However it was made that much more delicious becuase it was paired with great drinks and such precise service.
Looking forward to returning to the Drake One Fifty and a little disappointed I stayed away for so long.
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