Quetzal

Another meal in Toronto and another Michelin-Star restaurant in Quetzal.  This modern Mexican spot on College Street prepares all their cooked food on a 28 foot wood fire.  Yes, that is right, am open flame that does not have temperature regulation.  That is absolutely amazing since the flavours and intense flavours imparted by wood fire cannot be replicated by gas or electricity.  Viv and I were excited to try the place and went for the curated menu so we could get a great overview of the menu.

The first few dishes to arrive included the Hokkaido Scallop Ceviche and Blue Fin Tuna.  The ceviche was dressed in a squid ink leche with ground cherries and topped with crispy leeks.  As much as the buttery soft and sweet scallops were the star of the plate, the super sweet gooseberries added so much to the mix.  It helped impart bursts of flavour when most of the other components were mild.   There was also some earthiness in it all with just a kiss of the sea.  Crunch from the leeks provided texture as well as a nutty brightness.

Not featured on the regular menu, the Blue Fin Tuna was quite the treat.  Consisting of big fat slices, the tuna was at its buttery best despite being the akami.  It was fresh, bright and sweet.   However, the rattlesnake chili paste did overwhelm the fish, yet it was delicious being smoky, spicy and nutty.  We found some blood orange segments and daikon underneath that helped lighten up the flavours as well as providing texture and acidity.

We moved onto 2 different dishes each as Viv doesn't prefer *gasp* lamb!  So she had the Memela that featured a base of fried masa that looked like a tart shell filled with smoked shiitake mushroom conserva, quesillo, salsa de Chile morita and mizuna topped with chicharron.  Loved this as it was both a study in textures and flavours.  From the firm crunch of the base to the airy crispiness of the chicharron, there was great mouth feel.  Then we had the stringiness of the cheese melded with the smokiness and juiciness of the shiitake.

For myself, I stated I wanted to eat the lamb despite Viv not wanting any part in it.  They obliged and sent out the Empanadas Oaxaqueñas stuffed full of lamb barbacoa, salsa molcajete, valentine radish and salsa de ajo.  This was absolutely delicious with succulent and juicy lamb that was meaty-tasting with depth-of-flavour.  Served at the same time was the Ensalata Verde with baby gem lettuce, Cookstown radishes, chayote, poblano kosho and trout roe.  This was a fresh salad with a lot of surprises.  Beyond the crunch from the radishes and chayote, we found pops of brininess from the roe.  Then, the kosho added citrusy notes while the poblano imparted smokiness. 

We moved onto another off-menu dish in the Sablefish marinated in blood orange and fall spices.   The fish was prepared properly where it was flaky and buttery while sporting a slight char on the outside.  We got some smokiness and caramelization as well as a nutty earthiness.  The addition of finger lime on top added some acidic crunch.  On the side, we found a creamy parsnip and hazelnut puree. 

Then, we had the extraordinary Newfoundland Scallops served in the half shell.  Each scallop was cooked ever-so-lightly which meant the meat firmed up slightly but retaining its buttery raw texture.  Also, the natural sweetness really came through.  It sat in a delicious green garlic butter that was reminiscent of escargot butter.  Some popcorn vibes came through with a buttery nuttiness.  I used the bread we had to soak up all of the buttery leftover goodness.

We moved onto the next dish which was the Octopus which featured a beautifully grilled tentacle.  It was smoky and well-seasoned while being tender with only a bit of chew.  It was sitting in a salsa macha which was nutty and crunchy with muted spice.  The addition of corn miso added fermented sweetness. Topping things off, we had crunchy Napa cabbage and kohlrabi.  Our last savoury item was the Mushroom & Shishitos.  Beautifully charred and blistered, the shishitos were bright and slightly sweet.  The oyster mushrooms were nicely caramelized having a smoky saltiness.  On the side, there was crema poblano which imparted some smoky creaminess. 

We can't go without dessert right?  So we had the Avocado Leaf Ice Cream and the Tres Leches Cake. Really enjoyed the ice cream as it was smooth and lightly sweet.  Most of the impact came from the Saskatoon berries in the form of sweetness and the raspberry gel.  For texture, there was a mess of corn flakes on top.  As much as I feared that the Tres Leche Cake would be too sweet, it really wasn't.  The cake was super moist from the soak of the 3 different types of milk.  Naturally, the dominant flavour was the sweetness of the condensed milk.  On top of the cake, we found horchata cream which afforded some sweetness and aromatics.  For textural contrast, there was a large rice tuile.  Overall, the meal at Quetzal was outstanding.  It is amazing what they can do with open flame.  Great combination of spices that were impactful and aromatic.  Totally worth all the accolades it receives.

The Good:

- Impactful and delicious

- Well-prepared proteins

- Attentive yet not intrusive service

The Bad:

- A little strong with the delicate blue fin

- You will smell like smoke after you leave

Byblos Downtown

Staying within the vicinity of our last food adventure (Pai), we paid a visit to Byblos just down the street.  This bustling restaurant dishes up classic Eastern Mediterranean cuisine that combines new methods with traditional ingredients.  This place came highly recommended and we were super excited to dine here.  So much so, we went a bit nuts with the menu.  Our server was a bit concerned with the amount of food we ordered, but hey, "this is how we do it!".

We kicked off things with the Labneh.  Thick and rich, the tangy labneh was beautifully balanced off by the sweet wildflower honey.  Some crunch, nuttiness and savoury elements was provided by crushed pistachios.  This was great with the side of nutty barbari bread.  To literally top it off, we found tender and earthy beets.  Served in a cast iron plate, we found the Turkish Manti Dumplings sitting in a yogurt sauce with date molasses and creamy eggplant.  I found the dumplings to be delicate with a thin skin that had a slight chew.  Absolutely loved the tangy sweetness of the dish and the soft textures.

There was a whole section of Pide, which is a type of flat bread topped with cheese and other components.  This reminds me of a Khachapuri (which is one of my favs).  We ended up choosing black truffle & cheese.  As you can see, the leavened dough was nicely charred. Hence it was nutty and crispy.  In the middle, the cheese was stringy and nicely savoury.  There was just enough black truffle for some earthiness.

Even though Viv doesn't enjoy eating lamb, I went ahead and ordered the Lamb Ribs for myself.  These fatty ribs were so moist and fall-apart tender.  There was such an aromatic nuttiness from the dukkah while the raz el hanout glaze provided the classic fall flavours that naturally complimented the lamb.  It added such depth and aromatics.   There was also a bit of background spice.  Adding more sweetness was the red chili schug.  Drops of cool yoghurt completed the dish.

Wearing a beautiful glaze and charred edges the Short Rib Kebab was so flavourful and delicious.  Each piece was buttery soft while still exhibiting a meaty chew. If you look at the picture, you can see the intense caramelization. This was further enhanced by the chemen spice mix that included earthy cumin.  The pine nut dukkah gave the dish nuttiness and an extra hit of earthiness.  If all that depth wasn't enough, we found some more earthiness from the truffle yogurt.  It did cool things down a bit as well as the brightness of the mint.

As if the previous dishes weren't tasty enough, the Whole Grilled Branzino was just plain excellent.  Featuring crispy and well-charred skin, the fish was flaky and super moist.  It was already well-seasoned, but the chermoula on top gave off tangy, earthy and aromatic vibs.  To literally and figuratively top things off, there was a creamy saffron toum which added such intoxicating floral notes.

As a side, we added the Sweet Jeweled Rice with carrots, saffron, barberries and almonds.  Aromatic, sweet and nutty, this rice was pretty tasty by itself.  Ultimately, we paired it with the short rib and fish.  Went quite well as it wasn't intrusive.  We ended the meal off with their famed Chocolate Olive Oil Cake.  This was so rich and chocolatey that we really didn't need anything else added to it.  But there was, in the form of nutty tahini chantilly, sweet medjool dates and almonds.  Overall, we really enjoyed our meal at Byblos.  The Eastern Mediterranean spices offered up aroma before we dug into our plates and flavour when we did.  If you are looking for something a bit different before catching a show, this is your place.

 

The Good:

- Appealing aroma and flavours

- Nicely cooked proteins

- Balance of sweet and savoury

 

The Bad:

- Need to order more dishes to be full, even in bigger groups

- There might be less expensive options but then again, the dining room and service are exceptional 

 

Pai

Normally, I'm not a sucker for being influenced by a celebrity when it comes to restaurant recommendations.  However, when I saw Simu Liu enjoy his favourite bowl of Khao Soi at Pai in his hometown of Toronto, I thought that we should go there too!  It also helped it was only an 8-minute walk from our hotel as well.   We didn't make any resos but got a seat anyways since the place is deceptively large.

Before we got to the Khao Soi, we went for some appies starting with the Mango Slaw.  This was similar to a green papaya salad except it featured other julienned components such as carrot, red cabbage and pickled green onion.  Also, the dressing was similar too with plenty of acidity from the lime juice and tamarind with sweetness from the coconut sugar.  The crunch from the veggies was great and the aromatic crunch from the peanuts gave some relief from the tang.

Possibly the best dish of the meal was the Moo Ping (Pork Skewers).  These skewers were generously graced with pork that was super tender and juicy.  Aggressively-marinated, the pork was flavourful throughout.  The sweetness really came through in the meat whole the caramelization on the outside added intense, but balanced sweetness.   There some smokiness as well.  This was all levelled out by the savouriness as well.

Onto the mains, we dug into their signature Khao Soi first.  We chose to have this with beef and there was a tonne of it.  Although tender and flavourful, half of the pieces were a quite dry.  As for the broth, it was delicious with the creamy aromatics of coconut milk and the earthiness of the curry.  The sweetness was definitely there as well helping out balance the dish.  Noodles were al dente and soaked up the tasty broth.

We also had the Green Curry with chicken served in a fresh coconut.   There was some extra curry on the side since not all all of it fit into the coconut.   There was also coconut rice wrapped in banana leaves.   I thought the curry itself was good with the usual aromatic coconut milk, slight spice and sweet savouriness.  There was some firm pieces of chayote as well as a wealth of chicken breast.  Although chicken breast tends to be drier, I found this one a bit drier than what I prefer.   

Our last dish was the Pad Thai Goong with some extra spice on the side (which I used liberally, yum!).  This was also a great dish where the rice noodles were al dente and sauced with a good amount of tamarind and palm sugar.  Hence it was tangy and sweet while extra spicy (when I made it so).  In the end, I wanted to really like Pai, but it was hit and miss for me.  Some of the proteins were dry and chewy.  However, the flavours were really good.  So I guess your experience will highly depend on what you order and what protein you choose.

The Good:
- Impactful flavours
- Noodles were done perfectly
- Eclectic dining space

The Bad:
- Some proteins were chewy and dry

 

Edulis

Sitting at #2 on Canada's Best 100 restaurants for 2024, Edulis is also the recipient of a Michelin Star.  It is truly a destination restaurant tucked within a cozy bistro on Niagara in Toronto.  The Manager, Philip Shaw, welcomes and warmly guides you throughout the tasting menu that takes a journey though in-season seafood, vegetables and mushrooms.  Viv and I were fortunate enough to snag a reservation for this exquisite experience.

You must be quick when the resos are available and also need to prepay.  We had a 7:00pm reservation and began with the Snacks consisting of Edulis "Gilda Matrimonio" with Cantabrian anchovy, Valentine Radish with Liptauer cheese, Profiterole of Winter Parsnip & Black Truffle and Coppa di Testa of Mangalista Pork with Eggplant Sott'Olio.  A very nice introduction to the menu where we literally whet our appetites on the tangy and briny skewers with stuffed olives and anchovy.  Our favourite of the bunch was the profiteroles as the choux pastry was perfectly crispy with an airy centre.  The sweet parsnips were creamy and gave off foie mousse vibes.

 

As a supplement added at the table and not part of the original tasting menu, we had the Jamón Joselito for an extra $50.00.  This was well worth it though as each slice of ham was super buttery and richly salty, yet still a bit sweet as well.  On top, we found some Picos (Spanish bread sticks) that were a bit dense. This is the best ham in the world coming from a small company founded in 1868 and based in Guijuelo.  I would agree that this is one of the best I've had and would gladly have more!

Seemingly simple but complex in flavour, the Roscoff Onion Pannacotta was delightful with a rich creamy texture.   Mildly milky, the pannacotta served as a canvas for the sweet & earthy onions.   Although there was no curry to be found in this dish, there was a faint curry finish.   I loved the addition of crunch to the mix that added textural contrast.  Of course we couldn't forget about the generous dollop of Oscietra "Prestige" caviar.  That provides pops of salty brininess.

 

In between courses, we were served the Red Fife Bread with 84% fat cultured butter.  We went for the black truffle supplement and they went nuts with it on top of the butter.  The bread itself had a nice crunch with the crust while the inside had a heavy fermented flavour.  It was densely fluffy (if that makes sense).  We didn't go easy with the butter and that made all the difference in the world.  It was creamy and a bit gamy with lots of truffle woodsiness.    

One of our favourite courses was the Wild Red Sea Bream that was lightly cured and sandwiched in between sheets of kombu.   The slices of fish were supremely bright and naturally sweet with a kiss from the sea.  With Buddha hand citrus, we had all the acidity and fragrance the fish needed.  We had a bit of licorice finish from the fennel seed but also some slight brightness and bitterness from the cardoon.

Keeping the hits going, the Dungeness Crab was a beautiful dish where the main ingredient was allowed to shine.   Fluffy, briny and sweet, the crab sat in a sweet macadamia cream that featured crab butter.  It was full of umami and of course, crab flavour.  This made the flavour profile extremely crab-forward (which would've been the point).  We found some wild bears garlic finishing off the dish with delicate aromatics.

If crab and sea Bream wasn't a seafood treat already, we had the Just Shucked Mahone Bay Scallops next.  These were lightly poached in dashi that firmed them up but left the scallop raw.   They were buttery and naturally sweet.  This sat atop fermented aji verde which was bright, herbaceous and slightly spicy.  We had some Ontario ginger and pickled ramps which added bite and tang.

Moving onto something a bit different and more robust, we had the Smoked Eel "Schnitzel".  We found a piece of eel that was coated in breading and fried until golden brown.  It was crispy and aromatic while the short-finned eel itself was firm (like it should be) and lightly sweet.  Underneath, we found some white asparagus sitting in a stinging nettle vichyssoise with mustard seed mignonette and red wine reduction.  This was a fairly mild dish overall.

The next course featured diced BC Spot Prawn Crudo in saucy bomba rice with Mangalista sobrassada spread.  I thought the saucy rice was the best part of this dish as it sported concentrated flavours of prawn shells.  It was super briny, aromatic and pleasingly salty.   There was some meaty spiciness from the sobrasada that provided depth.   However, the delicate spot prawn was lost in all of this.  The good news was that the texture was as still there.

Our last course was the Dry-Aged Mangalista Pork with hedgehog mushrooms, cabbage sausage, roasted apple, celeriac & mushroom puree and cider sauce.  The pork was absolutely delicious where it was barely cooked through.  Each piece was juicy and succulent with natural sweetness.   The mushrooms help add some woodiness and the apple and cider sauce provided sweetness and slight tang.  really enjoyed the roasted pork rib on the side.  Such succulent and well-seasoned meat!  

Onto dessert, we ordered 2 of them including Niagara Baby Gold Peaches sitting in vanilla crème Anglais and raspberry sauce.  This was a simple dish, but was truly a refreshing way to cleanse the palate after all those fabulous courses.  But the real dessert was the Dark Chocolate Layer Cake with Soma kokoa kamili chocolate, Niagara apricot preserves and hazelnut praline. Oh this cake was so rich and chocolatey while being only purposefully sweet.  This was lighter than it appeared and was super fluffy.  Loved the crunch from the pralines on top.  As you can see, this tasting menu was a lot of thoughtful and well-prepared dishes.  Really great experience, especially with the personable service we received from Philip.  We can see why it is ranked so high on Canada's Top 100 Restaurants.

 

The Good:

- Outstanding service

- Good use of fresh Canadian ingredients

- Delicious

 

The Bad:

- Super hard to get a reservation

- With all the supplements and wine, it can get pretty expensive 

Rol San

Last time I was in the GTA, we had rented a car and hence, made it to Dragon Boat Fusion out in Richmond Hill.  Well, they have since closed and now it is The One Fusion.  This time, we decided to stay within TO and sans auto.  Therefore, we took a stroll up Spadina to Rol San ro get our Dim Sum fix.  They have been serving all-day Dim Sum since 1994, so hopefully it would be good?  I guess we were about to find out...

It was quite busy during lunch rush and we actually had to "dap toy", which is share a table with strangers.   Haven't done that since the 1990's!  We put in our order and had the usual Ha Gau (Shrimp Dumplings).  They were a bit small and featured a medium thick dumpling wrapped.  It was fairly dense and chewy.  Inside, the shrimp filling was good where it had a nice bounce texture.  It was lightly seasoned being sweet.

As for the ying to the yang, the Siu Mai (Pork Dumplings) were all pork, rather than the pork & shrimp mix we see most of the time.  Despite that, the dumpling was of a good size and the pork filling had a good rebound while being tender.   I found that the seasoning was on the milder side and we needed some hot sauce to elevate the flavours.  I liked how they added fish roe after steaming.  This meant they looked more appealing and had pops of brininess.

We also got the classic steamed Beef Meatballs atop bean curd skin.   These were also modest in size with a considerable mix of cilantro and green onion.  Hence, there was inherent flavour to the meatballs including some meaty sweetness.   Really enjoyed the fried bean curd skin underneath as it was appealingly chewy.   Of course we had some Worcestershire sauce on the side for dipping.

Onto the offal part of the meal, we had the Steamed Chicken Feet as well as the Bible Beef Tripe with ginger and green onion.  I thought the chicken feet were plump and featured softened cartilage.  This was the ideal texture in my opinion.  However, it was under-seasoned and needed more salt and/or soy.   The Beef Tripe was tender with food hits from the ginger and green onion but could've used more salt too.

Featuring the same shrimp filling as the Ha Gau, the Shrimp Spring Rolls were decently-sized.  Unfortunately, the outside wheat wrapper was not as crispy as we would've liked.   It wasn't too greasy though.   As for the filling, it was still moist and had a meaty snap texture.  It was fairly well-seasoned with a balance or sweetness and saltiness.  This came with sweet & sour dip, which was good, but we preferred dipping it into Worcestershire instead.

We ended up ordering 2 more dishes including the Chicken & Mushroom Rice Noodle Roll.   I don't recall ever having chicken in this dish before but it was not bad.  The ample chicken filling was moist and tender.  There was some enoki mushrooms strewn throughout.  There was some sweetness but also a sour finish.  Not sure where that came from, but it wasn't a big deal. As for the rice noodle, it was soft with elasticity.

For dessert, we had the Baked Egg Tarts and they arrived looking a bit pale.  We found the egg filling to be silky and just sweet enough.  However, the puff pastry was not flaky enough.  Rather, it was touch doughy and firm. Overall, the Dim Sum we had at Rol San had some ol' school vibes to it.  I guess we should've expected that from something located in Chinatown and not in the burbs.  However, it was still decent and worth visiting if you were in the area.

The Good:
- Decent eats
- Staff were fairly nice
- Relatively inexpensive

The Bad:
- I mean, you can get better elsewhere
- A bit busy and you may have to share a table