Perhaps my expectations were too high. I read about Woods on a list of the top ten Toronto new restaurants of 2014; I was really excited to try it out.
My boyfriend and I liked the atmosphere. It's Rustic Chic. Distressed wood, modern lights. The tables are a comfortable distance apart. The music was a bit on the loud side, but we were sitting under a speaker.
The service was just okay. Our server took our order for appetizers and we told her we needed another minute. She didn't come back for ten minutes and we were surprised to learn she hadn't punched in our appetizers during that time.
The menu was a bit confused. Are these fancy tiny portions or is this comfort food?
We had:
The steak tartar - nice and spicy. I didn't love that it came with sour cream and onion chips.
French onion soup - Good broth. Not to cheesy, which I like, but I don't know if it would appeal to most.
The Spaghetti and meatballs - This was very tasty. Pure comfort food--I don't know how well it jived with the other dishes on the menu. Also, I don't think it was worth the $22 price tag.
Yellow fin tuna - This was not nearly tasty enough to justify the tiny portion. It came on top of a mashed sweet potato patty, which was nothing special. The tuna itself was fine, a bit on the bland side. Nothing stood out about this dish.
My boyfriend and I both agreed Woods was nothing special and we don't think we would return. Had I not read hype about it, I still would not have been impressed.