Bar Isabel

Although Bar Isabel is a Toronto institution, I've failed to visit it the last 2 times I have been in Toronto.  Even on this trip, it seemed like another fail since all of my dinners had already been planned.  However, I was able to squeeze it in for lunch on a Saturday at opening.  I know, I know, this is not really the best time to experience all of the libations and tapas, but hey, I was able to take advantage of their lunch special as a result!  For $69.00, you get a meal for 2 that includes enough food to get you full.  Pretty good deal in my books!

This started off with Blistered Shishito Peppers with maldon salt.  Sporting a good amount of large peppers, this was a great way to ease into the meal.  The tanginess and sweetness was appealing and we didn't find any of those pesky outliers that were spicy.  Personally, I would've liked to have seen them more blistered though.  There was enough salt on the outside to added the necessary seasoning to compliment the peppers.

Next, we had the Bar Isabel "Pan Con Tomate" Tomato Bread.  This featured charred bread that was crunchy at the crust and soft in the middle.  The tomatoes on top were mild with some tang and plenty of sweetness.  It had the silkiness and slight bitterness of EVOO that provided another layer of flavour.  Of course the charring of the bread afforded smoky and nutty notes.  If I had to compare, I liked the one at Bar Raval more as the bread was charred even more so.

We had a choice between the Chorizo Iberico and Manchego Cheese for the next course, where we stuck with the chorizo.  The thin slices of sausage were fatty and nutty.  There was the usual saltiness and spiciness accented by the smokiness of the praprika.  Moving from that, we got the Patatas Bravas topped with an inordinate amount of scallions.  Firmly crunchy in little cubes, the potatoes were well-salted and then drizzled with aioli and brava sauce.  Really enjoyed this version as the potatoes stayed crunchy throughout and didn't soften from the sauces.  Nice tanginess and earthiness from the brava sauce.

For the bigger item, we had a choice of Octopus, Pork Jowl or Mushrooms.  We opted from the Maitake & Oyster Mushrooms with Cured Egg Yolk.  This was a large portion of perfectly cooked mushrooms.  There was a nice sear and caramelization with no residual moisture on the bottom of the plate.  Mushrooms were buttery and delicate where the sherry stood out.  The cured egg yolk added intense savouriness to the dish.

Seeing how we like to have a variety of plates, we added the Mediterranean Octopus with lemon garlic dandelion greens.  This was one buttery sauce with a good amount of acidity to go with the aromatics for the garlic.  The bitterness of the dandelion greens help break up the heaviness of the sauce.  As for the quarter piece of octopus, it was crispy on the outside while tender with a chew on the inside.  It was deliciously enveloped by the sauce.

So we didn't stop there as we also ordered the Picanha Steak which was cooked to a perfect medium rare.  This was buttery tender with so much meatiness and flavour.  It was salted enough that it brought out the natural umaminess oft he steak.  It was evenly cooked on all sides and was well-rested.  There was no pool of juice on the plate even after it had been pre-sliced for the plating.  On the side, some caramelized onion provided a sweet condiment to the steak.

Onto dessert, which was also included in the set meal, we were served a Basque Cake with a hot sherry cream sauce poured tableside.  What a nice way to finish this meal!  The slightly dense cake was super buttery and aromatic.  Combined that with sweet sherry cream and it was finished in a flash.  Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Bar Isabel.  Food was prepared well and tasted great.  Loved the eclectic decor and the vibes.  Probably best to visit it late at night though to get the full experience.

The Good:

- Well-prepared eats

- Good selection of drinks

- Nice service

The Bad:

- Seating is a bit tight, but it would be like that in Spain, so it is the full experience

- Would be hard to get a seat during peak times, best to make a reso

Restaurant Pearl Morissette

So when I was originally planning out which restaurants to visit while in Toronto, it was stressing me out a bit that I was going to miss out on this year's #1 restaurant in the country according to Canada's 100 Best List.  Moreover, they have been awarded one star by the Michelin Guide. Restaurant Pearl Morisette is located in Niagara region situated on a farm that is also a winery, orchard and bakery.  So I made the decision to rent a car and do the 1+ hour drive and back (each way) so I could see for myself if they were worthy of the accolades.  Let's just say right off the bat, the place is gorgeous with an old barn converted to a restaurant.  It overlooks the farm and has a setting that is both unique and vital to the whole experience.  Many of their dishes consists of components grown on the farm.

We started off delicately with the Poached Nova Scotia Lobster.  It was a beautifully plated dish with an array of colours.  The lobster was prepared properly where it had a nice rebound but was still light in texture.  It was sweet being harmonious with the lobster & scallop consommé.  It was spiked with rhubarb juice, which gave it a nice tanginess.  Textural crunch was provided by the daikon and radish.  Floral notes were not only provided by the flowers, but also the black current wood.

Coming from a strategically gentle start to the meal, we moved onto the Carrot Crisp with scallop roe pâté and dried chili.  I found these to be spicy and earthy with a balancing amount of sweetness.  There wasn't as much brininess as I was expecting, but the harmony of flavours and textures was definitely there.  These were definitely crispy and a nice progression from the previous dish.

Now looking at the picture above, you might not be very excited about a few pieces of bread.  However, the Sourdough was made with einkorn and iron fife flour.  Hence, the bread inherently had some real sweetness and nuttiness in addition to the usual tang.  It was firm around the edges, but totally fluffy with a nice chew everywhere else..  However, the star of the show was the St. Brigid's butter which was silky and very smooth.  It had a slightly higher milk fat content and hence was more pronounced in flavour with just a subtle background tang.

Stunningly plated, the West Coast Dungeness Crab was fluffy and had all of the goodness of crab brininess.  There was some textural contrast from the crunchy fried cranberry bean crumble while the pickled garlic emulsion offered up some tangy sharpness.  The most impactful component was the hay and alder custard as it had an earthy nuttiness to it.  What was moist important is that none of the components overwhelmed the delicate and delicious crab.

Staying with seafood, we were served the Lake Erie Pickerel fried Matsukasa-yaki style.  By pouring hot oil over the fish scales, it completely crisped them up.  Unlike the one we had at Alo, the scales here were light and easy to eat.  The fish itself was super moist and buttery, cooked to perfection.  Although it was properly seasoned, the emulsion underneath was earthy and bright with the combination of asparagus, coriander, chervil and false cardamom oil.

Apparently we weren't done with the fish courses yet as the next dish to arrive was the Slow-Grilled West Coast Halibut.  It was expertly prepared where the texture was delicate and flaky.  With the honey glaze, we did get some subtle sweetness, but the buerre monté was the dominant flavour with a butteriness that was also tangy and aromatic.  We found some peach leaves on top as well as some poached hakurei turnip and green mizuna.  This greenery did give some bitterness.

Onto a vegetable course, we were presented with the Pot Roasted White Asparagus topped with Acadian Emerald caviar.  Just looking at them, they seemed to be caramelized and indeed they were.  There was a deep amount of sweetness that was quite delicious.  In addition to that, the asparagus still had a snap texture.  In addition to the caramelization, there was balancing saltiness, tanginess and brininess.  Some of it was thanks to the tender razor clams (and the caviar) which had a pleasant chew to them.

Moving back to the meat courses, we had the Back to Nature Organics Roasted Duck.  As you can clearly see, the duck was cooked perfectly and was super tender.  Fat was rendered and the skin was not flabby.  The haskap glaze was a bit salty, but still delicious.  Next to the duck, we found cucumber, green strawberries and bambi gem lettuce.  Nice crunch and brightness to lighten up the dish and toning down the saltiness.

Our last savoury course was the Roasted Pork from Linton Pastures.  If you look at the picture, you can clearly see that the pork was just barely cooked with a bit of pink on it.  Hence, it was super juicy and succulent.  Once again, the demi was on the saltier side, but had plenty of meatiness.  Morels were crispy and earthy while filled with pork and lobster mousse, which had some mustardy notes.  The horseradish leaf oil and mitsuba herb brought things down a bit with some bitterness.

Just before we hit the sweets, we were presented with a Beef Consommé with a wealth of edible flowers on top.  The broth itself was full of umami and natural beef flavour.   This was seasoned well and there was some earthy root veggies underneath.  They were still a bit crunchy, which was a nice texture.  Normally, I would expect a sorbet of some type as a palate cleanser, but this acted as one in a savoury manner. 

So onto dessert, we had the Fraser Valley Rice Tartlet with marinated strawberries and black currant leaf rice pudding.  Being made of rice, the tart shell was lightly crispy and had some toasty notes.  The herbs on top were noticeable and the with the flowers, we got some floral aromatics.  The rice pudding was sweet and creamy while the strawberries offered up some tanginess.

Our second dessert was the Salsify Mille Feuille with a salsify tuile, marinated apple, black koji pureé and toasted oat chantilly.  I found the whole thing super light with crispy tuile.  The apples offered up some extra crunch albeit a wet and sweet crunch.  I found the sweetness to be on point.  The chantilly was airy and really, eating this dessert was very easy.  The creaminess was also equally aromatic from the toasted oats.

Our third dessert was a Toasted Sourdough Ice Cream Sandwich.  This was a nice little bite with creamy and smooth ice cream accented by the rich and nutty brown butter caramel.  Extra crunch and sweetness was provided by the candied sourdough bread.  We really got Danish cookie vibes from this!  Finally, we were presented with some Madeleines with whiskey and miso while dusted in allspice sugar.  These were so fluffy and light while the fermented flavour of the miso really came through whereas the whiskey was beautifully subtle.  When it was all said and done, we agreed that the meal at Pearl Morissette was special.  From the converted barn to the lovely farm setting, things were already unique before we even got to the food.  The whole experience, including the personable service, reflects its one-star Michelin rating as well as top spot in Canada's 100 Best Restaurants.

The Good:

- It is about the whole experience

- Excellent food

- Superb service

The Bad:

- A bit out-of-the-way for most people, but worth the drive

Fat Rabbit

Seeing how Pearl Morissette has captured the #1 ranking in Canada's 100 Best Restaurants for 2025, we knew a car rental was in our future.  So we made our way out of Downtown Toronto to the wine country for our tasting menu out on the farm.  However, we weren't going to do the 1.5 hour drive just to do one restaurant right?  For lunch, we headed into St. Catharines to try another restaurant on that list at #97.  Fat Rabbit is its name and a butcher shop is its game.  However, they also house a restaurant in the same space that allows you to pick your custom steak (among other things).

Even though we were only there for lunch and looking forward to a tasting menu for dinner, we went all out and started with the Crispy Humbolt Squid.  This was an excellent dish where the squid was super tender while having a slight chew.  The thin batter was definitely crispy and seemed to be almost not there.  That made each bite an airy experience which made things not as heavy as it appeared.  The batter was also beautifully seasoned where it didn't need anything else but a slight squeeze from the slice of lemon.  However, the side of scallion mayo was the cherry on top as it provided a bright, yet richly-flavoured hit.

Looking at the menu, we knew we had to get The Cheeseburger.  Freshly-ground meat prepared to medium, this thick patty was juicy, meaty and well-seasoned.  It was topped with a thick slice of gruyere as well as caramelized onions, pickles and dijonnaise.  The soft bun held everything together where the dijonnaise had a nice tanginess that helped offset the richness of the beef.  The pickles took that one step further while adding crunch.  We couldn't forget about the caramelized onions as it provided a rich sweetness.

We got a side of Crispy Potatoes to compliment and oh boy, was that a great decision.  These slices of what I believe were Yukon Gold potatoes were lightly crispy, but ever-so-creamy and moist on the inside.  This textural contrast provided a great mouth feel and kept coming back for more.  These were properly salted where they enhanced the natural potato flavour.  On the side, we found garlic mayo which was creamy and aromatic.  There was also some bomba to add a bit of spice to the dish.

For our choice of steak, we went big with the 29oz Aged Ribeye from the display case.  This was thick cut and took 30 minutes to prepare.  When it did arrive, it was a sight to behold.  Charred on the outside and perfectly medium-rare (closer to rare, just how I like it) on the inside, it was what we were looking for in a premium steak.  This was $68.00 per pound which would be around $122.00 for the steak.  Not bad for so much meat that was cooked properly.  It was also well-seasoned with kosher salt allowing us to eat this without any need for any condiments.  It was juicy and tender with a slight bite.

To compliment our steak and also get some veggies, we opted for the Turnips with picobello, bottarga and beurre blanc.  These turnips were cooked-through while still being firm with a crunch.  Natural sweetness was the initial hit of flavour, but then we got some bitterness and slight sharpness at the end.  The creamy beurre blanc helped add some luxuriousness while the bottarga afforded saltiness.  Overall, we quite enjoyed the Fat Rabbit and were glad we stopped by for lunch.  Interestingly, another couple was there, also taking pictures, and then we saw them again at Pearl Morisette!  I guess we weren't the only ones with this idea of hitting both restaurants!

 

The Good:

- Just well-prepared food

- Love that you can pick your steak

- Great service

 

The Bad:

- We enjoyed our meal but unless you are on your way to Niagara or another spot, I wouldn't necessarily drive out 

 

Alo

In March, when we were in Toronto, we had enjoyed a delicious meal at Aloette on Spadina.  Its approachable menu with well-crafted eats made us curious about their bigger and older sibling upstairs.  Alo, which is headed by Executive Chef Patrick Kriss, dishes up modern French fare that is globally-inspired.  So this time around, we made resos.  The dining room is simple, yet elegant, leaving the emphasis on the intricate dishes.  Service is focused while at the same time, not intrusive.  Even before we got to the food, the whole outfit exuded Michelin-Star quality.

Now, we do need to get to the food and they offer a blind tasting menu for $225.00 per person.  Reservations are a must as I was barely able to get one where we dined at 8:45pm. We started with a trio of canapés including the Spot Prawn Tartare topped with prawn shell mayo, Thai lime and pomelo.  This was a bright little bite with sweet spot prawn that was amped further by the briny mayo.  Hits of acidity was provided by the lime and pops of sweetness from the pomelo.  Great way to whet our appetites!

The next was the A5 Waygu Tart with masutake shoyu while topped with Osetra caviar and purple shiso.  Loved the textural contrast of the crispy shell with the buttery wagyu (surprisingly not chewy despite the uncooked fat).  The use of shoyu was percise as the beef flavour still came through and was complemented by its umaminess.  Of course the caviar added pops of salty brininess while the purple shiso provided earthiness.  The last bite was a Foie Gras Parfait done with apples 3 different ways.  First method was the puree with apple calvados, second was the apple gastrique done with brandy and last was a disk of granny smith with an upper leaf cress.  This was a study of contrasting textures with the crispy exterior giving way to a creamy and rich silkiness inside.  There was a certain sweetness complimented by butteriness and only slight liver taste.

Our next set of dishes consisted of a Bluefin Tuna Tasting with all 3 cuts including Akami, Chutoro and Otoro.  With the leaner Akami, we found it wrapped around cucumber and radish sitting on yuzu relish and black vinaigrette.  Due to the lack of fat in the akami, the impactful vinaigrette did the heavy lifting in terms of earthiness, tang and umami.  Loved the crunch from the veggies.  The Chutoro sat on a piece of crispy nori, tapioca and miso barley.  Since Chutoro is buttery and sweet by itself, it didn't need much to be good.  Hence, the simplicity of the compliments allowed the fish to shine.  Only a bit of sweet and tangy notes came through as well as some earthiness.

Being the fattiest cut, the Otoro was wrapped around uni with some hot sauce and a marigold leaf on top.  Since it was so fatty, it melted in my mouth and had the taste of the sea combined with the sweetness of the fish.  With Hokkaido uni in the middle, it doubled-down on the brightness of the sea as well as the intense inherent sweetness.  Loved how they dialed down on the compliments to this dish as the otoro could totally stand on its own.

Sporting a lovely shade of orange red, the piece of Kinmedai was hard-seared skin side with the scales.  Inside, it was medium-rare and served with a champagne sauce and foam on top.  Some snow pea leaves dressed in wasabi, salt and wasabi oil finished off the dish.  Loved the crispy skin but the scales were a bit hard to eat.  The champagne foam was buttery and bright while the salt level of the dish was precise.  The fish itself was buttery soft.

Staying with the seafood theme, we had the Dungeness Crab with poached egg yolk, pureed buttered spinach, black truffle, smoked butter and shaved cured quail's egg yolk.  It was finished off with a scrambled egg emulsion.  As much as there was a lot of components in this dish, the delicate crab was not lost amongst them.  Fluffy, slightly briny and sweet, the crab was at the forefront while the silkiness of the egg provided texture.  Only a background bit of truffle and smokiness came through.

My favourite dish of the night had to be the Nova Scotia Lobster with shiitake mushrooms, 3 different types of seaweed, dashi broth and finished off with the Koshihikari rice.  The sliced lobster was barely cooked through.  Hence, it didn't even have a chance to become rubbery.  In fact, it was buttery soft with the unmistakable essence of lobster.  There was a lot of umaminess due to the mushrooms, seaweed and dashi where flavours were bordering on salty.  We also found a bit of nutty smokiness.

Moving away from seafood, we had the Hudson Valley Duck with morels stuffed with duck mousse, grilled white asparagus, ramps and basil ramp pistou finished with mustard cream.  Cooked to medium, the duck was tender while maintaining a pleasant meatiness.  Once again, we found umaminess with earthy notes and brightness from the herbs.  The morels were at their woodsy best with a springy texture.  Inside, the duck mousse was a bit meaty and totally duck-forward.

For our second meat course, we had 2 different versions since I'm the only one that wanted lamb.  So for mine, I had the New Zealand Lamb with an Ontario lamb roulade with pistachios.  The lamb sat atop a salsa verde consisting of cilantro, tarragon and parsley.  It was finished off with a lamb jus seasoned with the salsa verde.  Accompanying this was asparagus, fava beans, goat's milk yogurt and citrus jelly.  As you can see, the lamb was perfectly medium-rare and succulent.  Perfect seasoning on the meat.  The roulade was nutty and had a beautiful muted gaminess.  Due to the heaviness of the meat, the salsa verde was exactly what it needed to brighten things up.  

The other dish was the A5 Wagyu Ribeye and Rib Cap.  This came with grilled maitake mushroom, pan-seared ginger, beef jus seasoned with wasabi.  On the side, we found pickled mustard seed, freshly grated wasabi and hot Japanese mustard.  Yah, this A5 was legit as it melted in our mouths.  Lots of beefiness and we could adjust the sharpness of the dish with the mustard and wasabi.  The rib cap was a bit meatier, but due to the fat, it was so flavourful and beefy. Both dishes came with bread and cultured butter from Normandy.  The bread was light and airy, yet with some structure.  However, the star of the show was the creamy and totally beefy-tasting butter.

From these heavy dishes, we moved onto dessert with the Loquat & Matcha.  We found some creamy matcha ice cream that was balanced in terms of bitterness and sweetness.  The tang and stone fruit vibes from the loquat compote was a nice compliment.  More brightness was thanks to the Meyer lemon as well as the sparkling sake and elderflower foam.  Next, we had the Rhubarb prepared 6 different ways with a Greek yogurt parfait   So this was less of a sweet dessert, which was fine by me.  Lots of tang and acidity from all the elements.  I couldn't even keep track of all the forms of rhubarb, but some did stand out.  One was the vanilla rhubarb salsa and the rhubarb pieces poached in simple syrup.  Aromatic with tangy sweetness and some crunch. Finally, some ginger and lime gelée afforded some contrast to the predominantly rhubarb forward dish.

Finally, we were served Petite Fours including a Canelé, Macaron, Chocolate Bonbon, Peanut Butter Cup and a Pavlova.  It wasn't as if we were hungry anymore, but we couldn't pass these up.  The canelé was textbook with a crispy smoky caramel crust and a tender custardy centre.  With a delicate, but crisp shell, the mini-macaron was soft and chewy.  It was floral due to the orange blossom and apricots.  Filled with a coffee ganache filling and tiramisu flavoured, the bonbon was sweet and aromatic.  We also had a peanut butter cup filled with spicy mango and passionfruit curd.  These were so up my alley with tangy sweetness with a kick as well as a crunch from the peanut brittle.  On top, we found a vanilla chocolate cremeaux.  Lastly, we had a coconut pavlova with coconut cream that was sweet and tropical-tasting.  Some shishito added another flavour element to the dish but it was subtle.  Wow, I have to say this tasting menu at Alo exceeded my expectations.  For the #3 restaurant on Canada's Best 100 Restaurants, it certainly did not disappoint.  Not only was the food expertly prepared and utterly delicious, there was a lot of it and we went away happy and full.

The Good:
- Precision in execution
- Professional service that is not pretentious
- More than enough food

The Bad:
- It is pretty dark and if you don't have the right table, you won't be able to see your food clearly 

DaiLo

Oh I've been trying to get to DaiLo for quite some time.  We were in Toronto when it was in its infancy, but didn't get a chance to visit.   In fact, I missed it once again earlier in the year while we were in town.  However, this time, I made a reso so we would finally dine there!  Meaning "Big Brother" in Cantonese, DaiLo is headed by Chef Nick Liu.  His French influences on Asian cuisine are evident while still honouring the classic dishes he grew up on.  Seeing how many items we wanted to try on the menu, the best solution was having their Premium DaiLo's Choice tasting menu for $155.00 per person.

This started with an Amuse Bouche consisting of a Tom Yum Custard.  This little gem was only a taste of what was to come, but it was a loudspeaker of a beginning.  Silky and light, the egg custard was merely a blank canvas for the classic Tom Yum flavours including a hit of bright lemongrass and the tangy brininess of kaffir lime and fish sauce.  Some spiciness appeared from the chili oil and of course the usual bite from the galangal.  We found some smoked tomatoes, butter poached shrimp and pickled chilis which added more layers of impact.

Something a bit out of left field, we had the Spanish Tortilla with sesame crème fraîche, Kaviari Osetra Caviar and chives.  This was a beautiful rendition of a tortilla with tender pieces of potato sandwiched in between fluffy egg and onion.  There was a ever-so-slight nuttiness coming from the sesame crème fraîche while the salty brininess of the caviar provided that umaminess for the little bite.  Sure, this wasn't Asian, but it was beautifully executed.

One of my favourite bites of the meal was the Crispy Octopus Taco.  This was pretty ingenious with a thinly sliced piece of jicama as the "taco shell".  This totally kept things light and fresh.  That was necessary since the red braised pork belly was sinfully delicious.  The richness of the meat melded perfectly with the equally tender octopus.  Providing some spice and depth was the sambal aioli.  Once again, the bright crunch of the jicama really balanced things out.

Moving onto the next item, it could very well be an Amuse as well since it was a one-biter.  The Smoked Trout Pomelo Betel Leaf reminded me of the Thai Miang Kham which literally means many things in one bite.  However, this one had different components such as cold-smoked trout, lime leaf, lemongrass, shallot, nut crumble, puffed rice and coconut caramel dressing.  Lots of things going on here, but the textural crunch from the ingredients provided a nice mouth feel.  In addition, the lemongrass really came through while the smokiness came on a bit later.

In addition to the Tom Yum Custard, the Soft-Shell Crab Banh Xeo was another off-menu item.  This featured turmeric-battered crab sitting on a betel leaf and lettuce while complimented by pickled bean sprouts, chili oil and sambal vinegar.  This was inspired by their recent collaboration with Montreal's Street Monkeys.  I found that the soft shell crab was super light with a crispy and earthy batter.  That crunch was reminiscent of the crisp banh xeo texture.  In addition to this, the bean sprouts provided the veggie crunch as well as some acidity. 

We were served 2 items next in the Sweet & Sour Pork Hock as well as the Vietnamese Phaux Beef Carpaccio.  The 2 large nuggets of pork hock were nicely marbled giving it a meaty texture with intermittent butteriness.  Lots of crunch on the outside while the fat was full of umaminess.  The accompanying sweet & sour sauce had a light viscosity but still clung onto each cube beautifully.  It was appetizingly tangy with just enough sweetness.  As for the beef carpaccio, the meat was buttery soft while exhibiting rich beef flavour that wasn't as sharp as I would be expecting from a 90-day aged ribeye cap.  There was spot-on pho flavours including meaty saltiness accented by star anise and cloves with background sweetness.

Next, we were presented with something that was a bit odd at first.  I really didn't know what to think of it, but alas, it was described as the Bonito Potato Espuma.  Okay, so it was a potato foam of some sort and the best part, it had bonito in it.  Hence, it was briny and full of umami.  It was super light and airy while the exhibiting an appealing smokiness.  If that wasn't enough, we found a piece of anchovy on top with some chili crunch. That afforded even more briny saltiness and some spice.

We finished with the small plates with a pair of dumplings including the Pea Dumplings and Hakka Brown Wontons.  The pea puree filling was absolutely money with a creamy sweetness that was elevated by the rich brown butter.  The dumpling wrapper was super thin and delicate while retaining a chew.   As if that wasn't enough, there was some creamy bone marrow to make the duck bacon dashi nage extra rich and silky.  We found some chanterelles, pea shoots, peas and summer truffle in the mix to add woodsiness and some freshness.  As for the Wontons, they were filled with tender and juicy pork.  They sat in a mix of house XO sauce, toasted sesame oil and almond crumble.  The result was something quite nutty, briny and somewhat spicy.  Although I we enjoyed these, this was probably the most "ordinary" dish of the meal.

What we had next was genuinely awesome in the Singapore Chili Lobster.  It was truly a masterpiece consisting of a decently-sized lobster bathed in a nutty, spicy, briny and savoury sauce.  The addition of peanuts and lemongrass really gave this a SE Asian punch that was finger-licking good.  The lobster itself was live before cooking, hence, the meat was bouncy and sweet.  Sandwiched in between the pieces of lobster, we found fried noodles doused in the same sauce.  What a nice crunchy snack of sorts in between pieces of lobster.  On the side, we were served some Gai Lan with black garlic tofu dressing, oyster mushrooms chips and chili oil.  This was a fairly simple preparation but the steamed gai lan were still crunchy and were fully seasoned by the umaminess of the dressing and the nutty spiciness of the chili oil.

As a palate cleanser, we were served an Aloe Vera Sorbet with pickled ginger.  After the spicy lobster, it was very much welcomed as it cooled our tongue and got us ready for the Olive Oil Cake with a white chocolate crémeux, caramelized white chocolate and mango.  This was a nice fruity and light way to finish the meal.  The cake was ever-so-moist and the sweetness was just right.  Nice contrast of textures.  Overall, the tasting menu at DaiLo was really good and we weren't left wanting for any more food.  Nice array of dishes that were mostly unlike each other and kept things interesting.  Sure, DaiLo isn't the shiniest new thing in TO, but it is still a solid choice amongst all of the great places to dine at.

The Good:
- Good combination of elevated dishes and rustic ones
- Impactful flavours
- Wonderful service

The Bad:
- Some dishes were bordering on salty, if not salty