This review is for 21patio. It's the outdoor patio restaurant at Old Mill Toronto. Our team got together in a safe and gorgeous venue for lunch after not seeing one another in 1.5 years.
It's definitely better seeing folks in person than over Microsoft Teams. I also enjoyed being off work for half the day!
I was the first person on my team to arrive. The last time I was at Old Mill was over a decade ago. The condominium and underground parking lot were new to me. In the past, it was a vast outdoor lot that was free. Not anymore!
I used a credit card to pay for parking. The maximum rate during the day is $12. You pay first, place the receipt on your car's dashboard, and you're good.
The entrance to 21patio (21 denotes 21 Old Mill) is directly across from the parking lot. The interior looks the same, with wooden panels telling you where various rooms and such are.
I checked in with a nice man. He directed me to his female counterpart. She asked whether I wanted to hit the patio or wait inside. I did the latter.
I found the women's washroom. It was classy and fancy. It was clean and nicely maintained.
I headed back and sat on a nice comfy bench. Sure enough, my manager, who had picked up a team member who doesn't drive, showed up. We all decided to hit the patio, with the rest of our crew trickling in.
We were under huge umbrellas on a hot day. I liked that we got paper menus.
It was a company-sponsored outing. It meant that we all went crazy.
I ordered the XOXO botanical spritzer in peach orange blossom. My boss wanted to split his No Boats on Sunday peach cider with me. Our server was highly attentive and gave me two glasses. I split my drink up. They were refreshing. I actually liked the spritzer more because it was crisp and had less sugar.
My main was the east coast lobster roll sliders with a side salad. I eyed it from the start. The sliders were a new spin on classic lobster rolls. My manager was looking at how I was going to eat them, which I found odd. I enjoyed the rolls, with a mixture of decent chunks of lobster meat, and chopped green onions, celery, and seasoning. Each bun was perfectly toasted, while soft.
I had a choice of fries or salad. Salad is my vice these days. This one was seedy, with pumpkin seeds and mixed seeds. There were bits of goats cheese that I enjoyed with the leafy greens, and crunchy carrots and cucumbers. The balsamic dressing was flavourful. I was sad when I ate it all.
It then became a family feast. We ended up sharing a lot of our food. I tried a crispy wing. Our newest member of our team was eating them with a knife and fork. Not me! I'm all fingers. It was delicious.
My colleague who doesn't drive ordered cauliflower bites and crispy truffle parmesan fries. I sampled a bit of each. I am not a big cauliflower bite person. It was spicy, but the sauce always ends up making the once crispy batter soggy. The fries were amazing. Truffle oil is the best. They were cripsy with a light batter around each fry. My former intern-turned-employee loved them better than his regular fries that he basically ate most of the truffle ones... haha!
I had friends on either side of me. To my right was my friend whom we've met a few times during this pandemic. She ordered the skirt steak with frites. I learned that she's a prime rib person, as am I. She liked her meal, but wished that her steak was prime rib.
It was so much fun taking photos of everything that we had ordered. None of my colleagues found that weird because they are used to me. I had to explain that to our newest member, who ended up fuelling my passion!
Dessert became a sharing session. We got the following items:
- Cremoso
- Peach bellini tarte tarin
- Limone
- Strawberry gelato
I sampled the first three. The cremoso was decadent. I loved the dark callebaut chocolate. It had a brownie torte, espresso, cream, marscapone ganache, and the best candied pecan that I have ever had. OMG. Get. It!
I also loved the peach bellini tarte tatin. I ended up dividing one into four and serving others. The caramelized peaches with rosemary and honey all work nicely. The pastry was so flaky and enjoyable. Did someone say prosecco wine reduction? Yes, please! It had dulce de leche ice cream that was creamy and heavenly!
I love lemon and had high hopes for the limone, but it wasn't meant to be. I love tart lemons and this one wasn't tart at all. The tart had a sweet almond and coconut base, which I enjoyed the most. The lemon cream was boring. Why was it so yellow that it likely lit up in the dark? I liked the berries that came with the tart desserts.
I wish that I had room for the icewine gelato. Instead, I gawked at the strawberry gelato that our newest member got. She handed it over to me to take pics without my asking her. Yay, conditioning!
I paid our bill on the company card. It worked!
Great staff, food, and patio. Highly recommend.
(339) read more