I had this urge to socialize and play therapist with a coworker friend of mine, who lives near the mall, and many other options closed down their patios to simply focus on indoor dining, so my friend chose this place as other patios were all booked, if not had a longer wait time and/or not fully sheltered
Location: 5/5
Amble parking lot, Clear Signage, Accessibility, Close to a Major Mall and Highway, Cineplex, and multiple stores or attractions to go to nearby and proximity within Scarborough itself!
Ambience and Decor: 4/5
One of my favourite patios thus far! I love how it sheltered us from the heavy rain last night! The entire patio is well lit with simple fairy lights. There are heaters and plexiglass dividers for each pair of tables, flower pots for extra colours and a cute jar with dry pasta inside and a QR code on its lid for their menu.
Heated. Sheltered, Colourful and Well lit? Yes please!
Food quality: 4/5
PEACH MANGO BELLINI 2.25 OZ $10.95
Refreshing! I love the bolder flavours of peach and mango paired with the subtle flavour of cassis (black currant liqueur). The drink needs to be drank a bit slowly, so as to let the icy purée melt more.
NAKED Mozzarella Board $16.50
Our server totally up sold us this mozzarella charcuterie board, but I liked that he described all of the various options to us.
This San Marzano tomato jam was more tart and richer in density and flavour than other tomatoes, so it was a lovely spread for the slices of focaccia. The EVOO and sea salt were nice additions.
The mozzarella itself was a pretty dense ball of cheese that my friend had to really dig into to eat. It never melted and kept its shape throughout the dinner.
6oz MEDITERRANEAN SALMON $27.99
The elevated mix of saltiness, bitterness, and sourness of the dish all mainly came from the layered olives, lemon dressing, basil oil, and fried capers. The beans added some carbs to the dish to make it more filling, not that it was entirely needed.
Medium rare is the best I'd say, neither dry nor overly moist, the dressings and oils added to the dish not only helped in packing a ton of flavours to it, but also to retain its moisture throughout the meal. If you like bitter, sour, and salty food this would definitely be a go-to!
They did have a decent variety of seafood and vegetarian options in their menu, so I was pleasantly surprised by that.
Value: 4/5
The prices were all reasonable and where it should be. Portions wise, this place totally filled me up and is worth every dollar, because of all of the ingredients used. Definitely, did not expect to be so full when I did not order too much food. We had split the mozzarella charcuterie board. My drink was mostly a slush..., but the white beans in my salmon main, did make it a denser meal.
Service: 3.5/5
At the time of arrival, due to the heavy rain, there was only one group of 3 outside and another pair who just showed up minutes before we did... shouldn't have taken over half an hour to wait or get a table when the patio itself was practically EMPTY!
Worst part was not everyone had an umbrella with them, so some had to wait inside their car... ugh if it was not for my coworker friend, I'd have went elsewhere...
Their roof only covered a few people in the line, while the screener/greeter register parties of 2-3 guests at a time inside a small sheltered storm door area right outside the restaurant... yup, I am only eating here once during the pandemic...
I have been to dozens of restaurants for indoor dining since the vaccination passport became the norm and this was my first time having to wait so long and in the rain, too... places much bigger and fuller, too. I think they need to improve or speed up their hosting service.
There were only 4 tables outside even at the end of our meal, the server came to serve us all at once to save the hassle of going in and out as often, which was understandable, but one of the patrons had to go in the restaurant to find our server, because she did not want to wait over 10 minutes just to be served water...
Ken, our server, was quite charming and made some good recommendations for us, besides some small talk, so that's where the extra 0.5 in service is for.
Overall: 4.2/5
Ironically, this is still the best review to date that I've given them. I'd rather terrible or let down experiences here before, twice in fact.
Due to the fact that it's so well located, with decently priced menu with sizeable portions and decent food quality, and wider selections of food, and an attractive patio, I can understand why this place is still quite popular enough for patrons to go through all this hassle just to get a table here.
I can see myself coming back here for simpler socials and date nights, so hence I gave this place a 4 star. This is a decent place for group dinners without breaking anyone's wallets and now that their menu is more extensive, my pickier friends can come, too. read more