I was taken here for our anniversary and it was such a good find! To be honest, this restaurant had never been on my radar before - there isn't much hype around it and I don't think it's on a lot of Toronto hot spot lists. But Sweetheart seems to use different restaurant finding techniques/tools than I do, and I'm very glad he he came across this place.
When we walked in, I thought the ambience was nice. Simply decorated, cozy, and comfortable. We were also welcomed particularly warmly because the person working the front turned out to be one of Sweetheart's countrymen.
(Again) To be honest, I wasn't super excited when I first looked at the menu - there wasn't anything I was particularly interested in. I ended up choosing the barramundi with chraime, eggplant, lemon, and a bunch of herbs. I think Sweetheart had the lamb shank, but I don't remember for sure. We shared the fried cauliflower for our appetizer and we shared brussels sprouts as a side.
Everything was delicious. The cauliflower was really refreshing - not heavy or greasy at all even though it was fried. The barramundi far exceeded my expectations. I vaguely knew that chraime was a spiced tomatoey sauce and I was a little worried at first that it might overpower the fish but it actually complemented it perfectly. I normally don't love peppers but the spices went perfectly with the cooked bell peppers and made them surprisingly delicious. I think the fennel took away the flavour I normally dislike from bell peppers. The citrusy/fennelly sauce was also rather refreshing. The brussels sprouts were slightly charred/very caramelized and went great with the citrusy accompaniments. The portions were very good - generous without being excessive.
I'd be happy to return!