| rev:text
| - Divino is located at the old Terroni location on Balmoral just South of St. Clair on Yonge. There is a covered patio outside for the summer months.
They lost one star for not returning my call for reservations. I called at 10am and clearly they don't check their messages and as I was trying to make a same day reservation, by about 2pm I called again and they took down my reservation.
Upon arriving we were promptly seated by the host - who also ended up serving us. We were served by about 3 different people as clearly the working environment is just as casual as the dining experience I had.
I came with Karl R. in tow and we were seated at the patio. We started off with Cosmopolitan and Limoncello Martinis. The bread basket showed up sometime after. When I asked the server what the chunks of orange in my bread were she said "I'm not sure actually. I think sundried tomato?". No explanation of what tapenade accompanied the bread was given either. The Olive and "Sundried Tomato" bread was quite good. Perfectly crusty on the outside and soft in the centre. The tapenade was also quite tasty. I would pass on the plain Italian Bread unless you're just really hungry!
For starters we got the Grilled Spice Rubbed Calamari with Cajun Tomato Salsa, Gaeta Olives and Balsamic Vinaigrette. This is perhaps one of the best grilled calamari dishes I've experienced so far. It was grilled to perfection and the tomato salsa had a nice sweet and sour tang to it which was balanced with the salty olives. Yummy!
Karl R. got perhaps the most difficult dish on the menu to pronounce... Casareccia served with a homemade spicy Italian sausage, rapini, garlic, red peppers, parmesan and fine olive oil. This, by the way, was a pasta dish. The pasta was a spiral pasta and was cooked al dente. However, I noticed that toward the end of Karl's meal that there was a WHOLE LOT of oil in that pasta dish!
I opted for the Seared Striped Bass served with Scallion Lemon Tomato Herbed Olive Oil, Market Vegetables (Asparagus, Broccolini & Green Beans) and roasted potatoes. The bass was nicely seared. It had a crisp skin but the fish was moist and tender. I will warn though that if you are not a fan of fish bones, that this is not the fish for you! It was not overly bony, but there were a few bones here and there. The potatoes were tasty as were the vegetables.
We decided to skip dessert as Karl loves to spend his time in coffee shops.
All in all, I would say that you get good value for your money. The food is tasty albeit the service being a tad casual. Their prices are on par with what you would pay at Moxies or Milestones, although the ingredients they use are definitely of better quality. I would come back to Divino again if I was in the neighbourhood.
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