Happened upon Cafe Pasta Bar on Saturday night after learning that every restaurant on Ossington had 1 + hour waits. This ended up working out incredibly well for us because this restaurant was AMAZING.
At first, our thoughts were: Italian, blah, more of the same.
But the interesting menu quickly showed us how wrong we were.
My two friends and I shared grilled octopus and bone marrow as a starter. The octopus was served cold and marinated in balsamic and sesame. It was perfectly flavoured and so tender.
For mains, we had the branzino which practically melted in my mouth, grilled ravioli (delicious!) and a pasta with meatballs and a rich tomato sauce. Everything was cooked perfectly. Serving portions were just right (maybe a bit more ravioli would have been nice but only because it was so good...)
They have wine "on tap" which includes a great selection from Prince Edward County and Niagara - prices are reasonable.
The service was great: attentive, knowledgeable, prompt and she offered us more bread.
I don't know if I've ever given 5 stars on Yelp before - this place deserves every one!