Best restaurants in Toronto Downtown core in 2017

BYBLOS

11 Duncan St., 647-660-0909
Associates Charles Khabouth (king of clubs) and Hanif Harji bring us dazzling Mediterranean cuisine. Eastern Mediterranean. No hummus ‘n’ pita here. Instead we find striking octopus with fingerling potatoes, chili vinaigrette and preserved lemon, uber-crispy bread salad with hardly marinated veg, lamb ribs that sell out most nights (and for good reason), a healthier salad of beets with yogurt that has no right to taste this great. Two desserts stand out: Flourless yogurt cake, a combination between cheesecake and panna cotta but lighter and more appetizing than both. And deep fried pastry cream with strawberry fragments on top. To entice us further — for the Khabouth/Harji mandate is enchantment you can find — everyone makes an entrance at Byblos, down the pale cream stairway to the pale buzzy room that discusses metaphorically but not actually of a seashore on a Greek island.

THE HARBORD ROOM

89 Harbord St., 416-962-8989
The most yummy bistro in town is a gorgeous deep coral room with schoolroom lights and lazy ceiling fans, it’s only difficulty being that everybody else knows it also, so it’s constantly crowded and the servers are diverted. However, the food is scrumptious. You can still find amazing soups and hamburgers, their supernal brick chicken and excellent octopus remains — fabulously tender juicy chicken pressed to intensify its flavour. Chef Cory Vitiello has recently veered towards the Middle East, deliciously. Borani fried house-made pita chips. For dessert I favour the ethereal ricotta doughnuts to dunk in puckery lemon curd that is creamy.

BESTELLEN

972 College St., 647 407 4227
It’s grown into carnivore nirvana, dry- aging beef till it melts in your mouth, making charcuterie that is dainty, and delectable sides. Saussicon second and their sopressata are dry salamis, each spiced differently, both as addictive as Lays chips. Even haters of boudin noir (blood sausage) is going to be converted by the mellow soft sausage. The Ontario burrata is, in addition, quite great — about as creamy as it gets. Nevertheless, the big deal here is côte de bœuf — steak slit from the rib, together with the rib bone attached. It’s merely served for two, will set you back over a hundred dollars (based on the marketplace price), and it’s incredibly flavourful — and soft. Deeply sexy.

FOXLEY

207 Ossington Ave., 416-534-8520
Tom Thai, chef/owner of Foxley, is talented and enthusiastic, a seafood that is lifelong maven. We’re grateful that he still slaves nightly in the kitchen and notably gaga over his various scintillating ceviches. All-Natural scallop ceviche is sweet/tart/hot thanks to kumquat, grilled soy and jalapeño. Chef Thai makes sweet love to uncooked baby kale with shallot chips and shaved pecorino. Even this kind of commonplace as black cod gets more flavour bang thanks to the aroma of truffle oil, at Foxley. Only downside is no bookings. Go at an odd hour, sit at the bar or give them your cell number and go wait at a Ossington pub.

SOLO SUSHI YA

291 Davis Dr., 905-898-6868
One of the top Japanese restaurants in Toronto is in Newmarket. Place in the control of sushi artist Jyo Gao. His omakase is almost overwhelmingly pleasurable. There are frequently several types of shrimp that is raw, from differing depths of water and therefore with distinct tastes. Mr. Gao slits uncooked sushi fish on the diagonal for amazing flavour and texture; he sources sweet, almost crunchy, wild white clams from Eastern Europe for sushi, and the freshest smoked mackerel. His sushi rice is ridiculously fine, the rice grains moist and warm. Deep fried tofu becomes poetic topped with a flurry of shaved bonito that is smoked. Inhale.


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CAVA

1560 Yonge St., 416-979-9918
Cava’s kitchen goes from strength to strength. Chef Doug Penfold (who now juggles Chabrol as well) continues his meat supremacy — His jamón is dreamy, his charcuterie impeccable. He adds whimsies to ensure it is sing. He still makes pintxos of fantasia -roasted figs and lightly pickled sardines, and the time honoured favourite fried eggplant with bonito flakes, puckery tomatillo sauce and melted fresh cheese. But chef has added non-meat treats to get a broader audience. Reddish fife wheatberry salad with argan oil and parsley, pomegranate, pistachios, pickled cauliflower is loaded with flavour, as are broiled king oyster mushrooms with fab flavourings. And what a chile punch in shrimp ceviche. No wonder the place is packaged despite its banal location.

AUBERGE DU POMMIER

4150 Yonge St., 416 222 2220
The lovely French country cottage for the foie gras and truffle set, the Auberge is fiercely dedicated to la grande cuisine — but having a light touch. How divine a second server pours intense cream-free seafood bisque onto the perfectly charred scallop (with chicken liver parfait and snow crab) that the first man set down. Or which they serve Ontario farm-raised fresh shrimp with tender octopus. They bring back duck à l’ orange from extinction, anointing ruby-red duck breast with orange that is charred and nicely balanced orange sauce. Fresh Newfoundland cod gets an uptick from Champagne sauce and really snazzy boutique mushrooms. Difficult to find another eatery with enough devotion to do a hot souffl. These days it’s orange souffl and we’re singing the Marseillaise, when they pour on the warm Grand Marnier chocolate ganache that is white. In summertime la belle France is recalled by the veranda.

THE DRAKE HOTEL

{1150 Queen St. W., {416-531-5042|416 531 5042}
{Unlike|Contrary to} other hipster {venues|sites|places} that flame out, the Drake {remains|continues} Toronto’s {rock-solid|rocksolid|rock solid} epicentre of cool, where {skinny|skeletal|lanky|scrawny|scraggy} 30-somethings in {lots|tons|bunches} of black {perennially {pack|package}|{pack|package} that is perennially} the {{big|large|huge|enormous} {bar|pub}|{bar|pub} that is {big|large|huge|enormous}}, {especially|particularly|notably} the upstairs {terrace|patio} in summer. And shocking but true, the dining room is {really|very|actually|truly} {good|great}. Their sushi is {both fresh and creative, {real|actual} crab maki|creative, {real|actual} crab maki and both fresh} and {fab {spicy|hot} tuna sashimi|{spicy|hot} tuna sashimi that are fab}. The {usual|most common|typical} bistro {fare|menu} is there are {competent|qualified|capable} — {{burgers|hamburgers}, lobster nachos|lobster nachos, {burgers|hamburgers}}, mac {’n’ cheese|n’ cheese that is ’}. But {stray|wander|roam|ramble} {from the|in the} {trodden {path|trail|route}|{path|trail|route} that is trodden}. {Let them|Enable them to} make you rich seafood chowder with {{perfectly|absolutely|totally} cooked lobster and scallops|scallops and {perfectly|absolutely|totally} cooked lobster}.{ Or seared tuna with warm watercress.|} {This is|This can be|That is|This really is} an ever-{improving|enhancing} kitchen. But {skip|bypass|jump} the pies, whose stodgy crusts do no credit to the {world|universe} of patisserie.