This is probably one of the most affordable Summerlicious option in Toronto. Although I was a bit disappoint by the quality and service. Lunch menu was $27 and Dinner menu was $36, so we ordered both to compare. Steak was very tough to chew and the dessert was lack of flavour. It was pretty hot day, but there was no A/C. And the server was far from friendly and almost throw the dish on our table to the point that it makes loud noise. I probably wouldn't come back, but if you really want to try, recommended dishes are as below: Appetizer - Mussels Main - Lam shank Dessert - Lava cake (all dinner menu, somewhat decent) read more

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We came to Valens on a Saturday night to try their Summerlicious menu, thank goodness we made a reservation because it was packed! Totally understandable though, since it was only $35/person for a 3-course meal, which is an amazing deal these days. We were seated at the very back of the restaurant, right next to the kitchen, literally beside the wall where the chef places the dishes for servers to pick up. Honestly, it was such an odd spot to have a table. My mom even had to duck her head every time the servers came through to avoid getting elbowed! For starters, I went with the beet salad, my mom had the Caesar, and her friends both picked the mussels. The salads were pretty standard, nothing too special. But the mussels were definitely the better choice. They came in a generous portion, and that creamy rose sauce was so delicious we all wanted to bottle it up and take it home. For mains, my mom got the lamb shank, and her friends had the steak, where I last minute chose the linguini with shrimp and salmon. The lamb shank was super tender, the sauce has a noticeable red wine flavour, though a bit too sweet for our liking. The steak was seared beautifully to a medium rare (we didn't try it, but it looked great). My linguini was tasty, though they weren't very generous with the seafood. 4 shrimp is pretty normal, but there were only a few tiny pieces of salmon :( For dessert, we all picked the tiramisu except for my mom, who went for the creme brulee. It was interesting how they served the creme brulee in a soup plate instead of a ramekin, while the tiramisu came in a ramekin. The creme brulee wasn't too sweet (which we loved), but the tiramisu was on the sweeter side. It was nice and creamy, but lacking that strong espresso flavour, probably more heavy on the Kahlua and chocolate. All in all, it was still a solid night out and really great value for an Italian spot during Summerlicious. Would I come back? Maybe... though hopefully not seated by the kitchen next time! read more

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I made a lunch reservation for 3 people at their website one week prior which was also confirmed by the restaurant. When we got there on the day of our lunch, they said they don't have my name on their list so I showed them my email confirmation. But since they're busy and don't have any available seat, we were given the table at the back close by the kitchen. We were already famished and not fuzzy so we accepted the seat given to us even though we know this is the worst table - heavily trafficked area aka the 'waiter station'. First time dining here and we ordered from their Summerlicious lunch menu which was $27 for 3 course meal. Started with the soup of the day - Wild Mushroom and Caesar Salad for our appetizers. The Wild Mushroom soup was delicious, with a wonderful earthiness and smooth creaminess you would expect in a mushroom soup. The salad is just your basic Caesar salad and tasted just right. The entrees are the star of the show. Everything we ordered from the Pan Seared Chicken, Grilled Strip Loin Steak and Grilled Atlantic Salmon Fillet were so tender and juicy. But there is one caveat though - portions are on the smaller side. The desserts are the opposite when it comes to portion sizes. They give you massive servings! The Creme Brûlée was as big as a dinner plate. I'm not really fond of the Tiramisu as I had better ones. The Cheesecake with strawberry sauce was creamy and light. Overall dining here was not bad, service was okay. The dealbreaker were the messed up online reservation and entree's smaller portion sizes. Not sure if we are coming back because of this. read more

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Nice spot, clean, friendly staff. We came here for summerlicious, and we enjoyed the meal. It started with appetizers, I had a beet salad, with goat cheese and walnuts, went down nicely. My main was a salmon with rice and veggies, my dining mates ordered the pasta and steak. We were surprised it was a ten ounce that came with this deal and we enjoyed it. Dessert was out of. A box tartufu, not amazing. The lava cake was mostly chocolate cake with ice cream, was decent. Staff were funny and engaging, would go back for more menu items read more

Valens Restaurant - Pasta - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Overall a good restaurant. This is the second year in a row that I've been here for their winterlicious menu. They had a good selection of appetizers and a good number to of main course and dessert options. We went for our galentines day dinner and we split a bottle of red wine which was delicious. I started with the green salad and it was good, I really liked the goat cheese and peeled tangerines. The lamb shank has a delicious sauce and the lamb itself was really nicely cooked. The vegetables it came could have been cooked for longer and I thought the carrots and green beans were still pretty crunchy. But the mashed potato's were perfect. For dessert, I got the lava cake and it was really good, the ice cream complimented the cake very well. Our waiter did forget about one of the appetizers, wrote down one of the main courses wrong and forgot a Diet Coke but we were a table of 6 and the restaurant was busy so we didn't make a big fuss about it. The wait staff was apologetic and still have nice. Inside had a mom and pop restaurant vibe with antique decor. Overall it was a good meal and I would come back again. read more

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Valens has a prix fix lunch for 29$ which is a great value (only 2$ more than their Summerlicious menu) We ordered: Caesar salad, 4/5, standard but fresh, nice dressing Tuna Crostini, 4/5 tasty bites Jambalaya, 4/5 nice blend of flavors, could have been a little spicier Linguine w shrimp mussels, 4/5, pasta al dente, mussels were small Tartufo, choc/raspberry 4/5 great on a hot day Tiramisu 3/5, needed a deeper espresso kick Server was attentive, friendly 4/5 read more

We came for the Winterlicious dinner, where we could get a 3 course meal for $35. I selected the Mussels, Lamb Shank and Crème Brûlée for my meal. Everything was good, especially the lamb shank which was very tender, and the crème brûlée which had great caramelization on the top without being too sweet. Service was slightly unorganized (my food came out much later than my peers) but overall fine. Would recommend checking out their Winterlicious deals! read more

I really loved the rainbow trout, the skin was crispy and the fish was salty, the way I like it. We were a party of 4 enjoying summerlicious 3 course menu. I should have gone to dinner instead of lunch as I would have tried the lamb shank. The service was standard, we had our food in good timing. The place is getting a bit old so I think it needs some renovations or cleaning up more, but it's still decent, at least no fly was bothering me. read more

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Was recommended to come to Valens by a friend of mine and was not disappointed! Seemed like the perfect place to unwind, have a nice glass of wine, and a great meal! The restaurant was chill and relaxing and the staff were so welcoming! read more

Valens Restaurant - lobster tail, jumbo shrimp, baby spinach, red peppers, and mushrooms in a white wine cream sauce - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I would very much like to dine-in here but I already fell in love with this spot when my workplace catered from here for our training day. I ordered their "vege wrap" which consisted of grilled eggplant, zucchini, red peppers, red onions, asiago cheese, spinach, and pesto mayo. It was perfectly warm and tasty! All the flavors came together so well. For my side, I got their Caesar salad. I wish it came with more dressing but it was just enough. read more

Baldwin Street has a great selection of restaurants that have sprung up over the years. There were once even two Indian buffets, along with Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Vegan and other local offerings! Valens Restaurant is another addition offering $33 Italian prix-fixe menu and more. Come to think of it, this place might've once had an Indian buffet. It didn't take long for us to be served and for our food to arrive which was a good start. First came the PEI mussels with leeks & tomato in light curry sauce. I hadn't had seafood in curry before, but the large bowl of mussel was tasty and fresh. After this "appetizer" came the entrée: a 10oz grilled veal chop nicely seared then coated with rich red pepper bourbon sauce. It was simply delicious, and full on flavour. My friend tried their seafood linguini with mussels in white wine tomato sauce, and gave full marks too. At this point, I was not surprised by their portion size when a large plate of crème brûlée arrived for perfect dessert. Overall, quite a satisfying meal. We came ahead of a Raptors game figuring that restaurants a bit further south on Dundas, Queen and King would be packed on Friday night. Baldwin was relatively quiet and Valens only had a few seated when we arrived. It's a decent option when you're looking for a relaxing place for dinner compared to the normal hustle n' bustle of the big city. read more

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The place does not feel cozy as a bistro or classy restaurant, maybe they should add some white paper nap or something, and it can be quickly noisy (a shoebox room type thus good for a blues music bar but more difficult for a restaurant). The only reason why i cannot give a 5 or at least 4.5. That said indeed, the service is fast and nice and the food is really fresh, homemade and really good, and the menu is quite huge for such a french italian food place. Way more than just the 10 or so basic things, so you can really have more original things, and i really enjoyed how quick and hot it came from the kitchen to the table. The soup of the day was also very good. Prices are ok and adapted to the good great portions. Clearly the place to go in the street if you wish for some good continental food rather than thai sushi ramen korean mexican places in the same street read more

Our holiday dinner was cancelled due to Covid. In lieu of dinner our department ordered us food from the $23 Prix Fixe Lunch Menu (appetizer, main, and dessert). We provided sticker labels with employee names and a list of their orders. VALENS was able to package over 40 lunches, labeled and delivered warm. I enjoyed the food. I chose Greek salad, Steak and Tiramisu. Note: I have rounded molars and did not find having a hard time chewing the steak. read more

Valens Restaurant - STEAK - Grilled strip loin with red wine demi glaze sauce, served with mashed potatoes and steamed seasonal veggies. - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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My friends and I came on a hot summer evening looking for a place to eat on Baldwin St. There wasn't much of a pull to go to any other restaurant and Valens looked inviting with the patio doors open and all those customers on the patio. We started off with mussels to share and then I had the seafood pasta. I should have thought this through more thoroughly since my dish came loaded with mussels but I wasn't complaining, it was great with all those mussels. It was definitely too much pasta for me to finish so my friend and I both doggy bagged our dishes. I may go back to try their prixe fix menu another time. read more

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I've been to this location three times. I like that they have a fixed price menu. E we usually go for the fixed price menu. This includes a steak, muscles, and dessert. It's reasonably priced and delicious. read more

Great great find. Hidden gem. Food is amazing and inexpensive. Great prix fix offerings. Staff is courteous friendly and attentive. Love the PEI muscles and the pasta. Don't pass up the Tiramasu read more

Valens Restaurant - P.E.I Mussels in Curry white wine - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I came here for winterlicious last year! The dessert was definitely the best part From their winterlicious menu I got the Deep Fried Spicy Chicken Ravioli, Fusili Pasta, and the Lava Cake. There was only 4 pieces of ravioli but it was so filling and a bit too heavy for me. The pasta was good, you get a ton of mussels and half a lobster tail with it. The lava cake was just a brownie, not a lava cake, and was a bit too sweet for me. The tartufo had a very subtle mocha flavour but I like it that way! Overall, decent value for the price, since the portions were huge. read more

Valens Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Ordered from their $28 prix fixe menu. They have it all year round. Got mussels, medium 12oz T-bone steak, and chocolate lava cake. They do not skimp on the portions. You get this massive plate of mussels. Well, they are mussels I suppose so a full plate doesn't mean that much, but there were at least a dozen there. The curry sauce that came with it gave it a nice flavour. The steak was alright. It was a cooked a bit more than I was expecting, and some parts were kind of tough or chewy. The mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side were pretty good. Lava cake was satisfactory. Others had ordered creme brulee and it came in this massive soup dish, which was interesting to see. Overall, I found it alright. If you're looking for a nice place to enjoy dinner this is an option. Then get more ice cream next door. read more

Review for their $28 Prix Fixe Dinner Environment: Located near Chinatown and the Kensington market, Valens is at a really vibrant spot near lots of restaurants and unique shops. The restaurant has a covered patio at the front and more indoor seatings at the back. The patio is only good for groups of 4 or fewer, and since we reserved for a party of 14, we ended up split into 2 big tables indoor. Food: I got the Mussels to start. I was surprised by how big the portion was when the server brought me my food and I really liked the unique paring of curry sauce with the mussels. For main, I got the T Bone Steak cooked medium rare. Once again, the portion was massive, but the meat was more cooked than I would have liked. Also, the meat was too tough that I struggled I cut the meat. As for my dessert, I chose the Creme Brulee. It was the largest Creme Brulee I've ever seen! It was literally served to be from a soup bowl. However, the cream was thicker than I would have like. Service: I think the server got slightly annoyed of our big group lol, but that's understandable. She offered fresh pepper and cheese to be sprinkled on the dishes, and came over every once in a while to check up on us and add water read more

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We went there for the $18 Summerlicious lunch. The tables were crowded inside. They had a patio area, but we sat inside. The washroom is single and the floor was wet. They should clean it before opening for service. Happy: The company that I had lunch with. So definitely not the food at all!! Soup - salty and warm. I like it hot (temperature wise). Entree - the risotto was sweet which was unexpected. I just ate the shrimp of it and left the dish untouched. It had a certain spice that I didn't like. My partner also didn't like it. The dishes were not hot eaither. Dessert - a plate for a creme brûlée???? I've never seen that before. The worse is that it was not soft and silky and the hard sugar on top was not great to taste either. The worse dessert in my life!! Verdict: Indeed I'm never going back!! Even if it's for free. Definitely was still hungry!! read more

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I've been here several times over the years due to work events, usually for lunch. They are use to the lunch rush, and there are often several large tables that come for work lunch. If the group is larger than six, there is automatic gratuity for the bill. They have a good 3 course lunch set that many people get, since it ample amount of food for the price. I recently came for another work lunch and skipped the lunch set for one of their veal paninis. It came with a nice side salad and the sandwich itself was quite large. I could have easily ate only half for lighter lunch, but decided to stuff myself full with the full sandwich. The meat was well seasoned with ample tomato sauce but I did run across several tendons in some bites. My coworkers swear by the risotto and the lamb shank! read more

Had Summerlicious here with a friend. I ordered the mussels for appetizer, and it was the worst appetizer I've ever had at Summerlicious. The mussels weren't fresh - they tasted fishy and it seemed overcooked as it didn't immediately slide off the shell. I got the steak as main and it was okay. The restaurant had a patio but generally it is very small and one of the waitresses seemed frazzled at times and she just put the bill on the table without asking us if we would like the bill split or not. She was too abrupt and not attentive enough. I don't really recommend this restaurant. Not coming back. read more

Review for $18 summerlicious lunch menu Recommend dish: anything for starter, lamb shank for main, creme brulee / lava cake for dessert I went here for summerlicious because my friend highly recommends this place. However, I only find certain items on the menu worth the price. I ordered lamb shank for main and I found it worth it. However, my friend order smoke salmon which has such small portion. Maybe ask the waitress for advice when ordering the dish. The food here I found it is ok. I like the dessert the best. The creme brulee come in a big plate. The lava cake tastes pretty good. I would recommend eating here for summerlicious if you order lamb shank for main. read more

Valens Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

the food is just OK. i ordered the risotto and my boyfriend ordered the cajun olive oil linguine. overall, the food didn't taste that "italian" if that makes sense.. the cajun olive oil sounded unique but just tasted like bland noodles. the risotto was on the saltier side + tasted like simple wet rice with some veggies mixed in. just seemed like i could make this at home if I wanted to. did not meet my expectations but the food wasn't bad either. read more

The $26 prix fixe lunch menu is amazing value for money - I had the soup (mushroom), the risotto and the crème brûlée; and each of the items were generous portions, and tasted great. The risotto of chicken, fig and sun-dried tomatoes was a particular highlight - both for being different to usual, and for its great taste. My partner had the burger, which was simple but tasty, with generous portions. It's a bit of a dated look and feel, service was friendly and attentive; this is a little gem worth returning to. read more

My friends mentioned that they had a good experience with this restaurant so i wanted to see what the fuss is about. I went for their preset menu. $28 for 3 courses. For appertizer i ordered PEI mussels with leeks and plum tomatoes in a curry sauce. A large plate of mussels came pretty quickly after my order and i was pleasantly surprised by the generous portions. Loved the flavours of the mussels in the sauce. Highly recommended! For my main course, i decided on their 12 ounce T-Bone steak with red wine peppercorn sauce that came with mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies. Everything was tasty. Unfortunately the steak was over cooked to well done when i requested for medium. My friends who ordered the same entree had the same issue. The wait staff did not come back to make sure how our food was, so we couldn't give any feed back. For dessert, i ordered teramisu. It was really good and you can truly taste the alcohol in the light mixed. It could do with a little less sweetness, but i guess that is the nature of desserts. But still, i enjoyed it. Valens is definitely on my list of revisit. I hope somehow the chef will take more care with cooking the steaks in the future, and that the wait staff can be more attentive. Other than that, Valens is good. read more

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I came here during the winterlicious event. The restaurant is decently size for such a neighbourhood. Close to chinatown on spadina and dundas, this restaurant is located in a very boutique area of Toronto. They do dim out the lights so it is dark inside. For the appetizer, I ordered the salad with prosciutto. Out of the whole appetizer menu, this was the best one to choose from. It included melon, spinach and olives. It was a great combination and almost felt full from it. For my main dish, I ordered the lamb steaks. The sauce was nice and the lamb was ok as well. It wasn't mindblowing but it wasn't bad either. For the dessert, i got the fruit yogurt parfait. It was a more artistic dish. It was pretty good but it wasn't big at all. I left satisfied for the price/food ratio. I would visit again. read more

Valens Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Went on a work lunch with 14 other people. Great value for the food. Huge portions. Lots of options to choose from too. My only complaint is that they started bringing the bills and charging us as we were having dessert. I was half way through my creme brûlée and I had to stop eating to pay my bill. Would have been nicer if they waited 5-10 more minutes before doing that. Other than that, it was a good experience. I liked the food. Staff were good too. Will be back when I'm in the area. read more

Valens Restaurant - Creme brûlée - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

The place needs a little bit of renovating. Restaurant is little bit old styled. Sadly, the washroom looks more updated than the main floor. Anyhow, let's talk about the food! The food here is great! Had mussels and escargot and they were really savory. For main, I ordered the rack of lamb. The lamb portion I thought was really small. Their osso bucco though was huge so I thought that was a little bit unfair. Booooo. Just kidding! Desserts were pretty generous too specially the brulee. Service was less energetic but I guess it's probably the weather. read more

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A small restaurant located on Baldwin street a few minutes north of AGO. I came here last Winterlicious and all those I invited really enjoyed their meal. This year was good but wasn't as good as last year. I reserved a table for 1:30pm on a Sunday and the table wasn't ready until 20 minutes after. So we had to wait outside in the cold for a table to be free. Once we got in the restaurant, it was packed like canned sardines. Was hard to have conversations with others at our table because the noise was too loud with all the diners at the restaurant. The staff looked overworked but were still attentive at providing service for our meal. Food came out really fast around 10 minutes to get all our appetizers. Entrees and desserts came out quick as well after each course. They definitely didn't want us to stay too long. Some food items were better than others but nothing I tried was memorable. Deep Fried Spicy Chicken Ravioli with truffle pesto mayo. Had good flavours with a crunchy exterior and a hint of spice which I liked. The ravioli filling seemed overpowered by the exterior seasoning and truffle pesto mayo. Wild Mushrooms on Garlic Crostini topped with shaved grana padano cheese. Portion size was a tad small and tastes wasn't special unless you are an expert into the fine flavours of mushrooms and cheese. Fusilli Pasta with half-lobster tail, Atlantic salmon, mussels, and spinach in a rosé sauce. I enjoyed this entree a lot. The lobster was a little overcooked but tasted fresh. Size was decent considering the price of the Winterlicious. Mussels and salmon went well with the lobster. Pasta was cooked to how I like it and sauce was more tomato than cream. Strawberry Cheesecake. Was a standard cheesecake with strawberry syrup on top. Not too sweet and crust was good. Warm White Chocolate Lava Cake with vanilla ice cream. Was cool seeing steam around it, but there was no white chocolate lava inside. Tasted overcooked and seemed more like a chocolate brownie with ice cream on top. Most dishes the portion size was good and for $18 it was good value. This is a good place to go if you are hungry and want a none fancy/casual dining experience. read more

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A cute family style Italian restaurant. We came on a weekday night so it was quite empty. Service is good, but the food took a little long to come. I had the seafood linguine and it was an amazing deal! It was around $20, but was a large portion with plenty of seafood. My friend got the 3 course menu - curry steamed mussels (huge portion, but the curry was not strong enough), a T bone steak (huge potion cooked beautifully with a generous side of mashed potatoes and vegetables), and a chocolate lava cake (the contrast between the hot cake and cold vanilla ice cream was pleasant, but the hot itself was a tad overcooked. There wasn't that oozing chocolate centre. This place is a hidden restaurant! The prices are cheap for the amount of food. $30 for a 3 course dinner with huge portions, where can you find that! read more

Valens Restaurant - Seafood linguine with a ring of mussels, 4 tiger prawns, baby clams, and calamari - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Service was not good. There were two servers on the floor that day at around 1 when I came in. They kept talking to each other by the bar and didn't seemed to notice me as I waited for my order to be taken. Took 15 minutes for them to arrive after I tried to make eye contact with my server (he was busy talking to the other staff and not really attending to the customers) and after waiting for him to give me the menu. Food arrived about 15 min after I ordered my lunch. Thankfully it didn't take too long for the food to come. Food as a whole was good and filling. Overall, the lack of service really put me off and discouraged me from coming back. read more

This is a decent place to go for your summerlicious/winterlicious fix. For $28, the dinner portions should leave you full, although I found the taste to be really memorable. Something to note: my friend ordered her steak rare and pretty much got it 75% cooked. When we told the server, she was very accommodating and cooked it "blue" which was basically the steak seared on the bottom and top. Unfortunately, I forgot her name, but she definitely deserves a S/O! PEI Mussels: more on the salty end, but a very gracious serving! Free Range Supreme Chicken: decent chicken, nothing really memorable except that it was not dry. I really liked the veggies that came with it though. Tiramisu: also, not bad at all. Nothing that really pops, but a nice sweet end to a meal. Overall, I would say the food is a 3/5 - nothing that stands out, but hey, nothing wrong with it either. The extra star is definitely for the accommodating customer service given to my friend to make her dish just the way she wanted it; especially during summerlicious. read more

Valens Restaurant - Tiramisu with berries - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

A rarely-busy resto in Baldwin Village. Use this to your advantage as it's a decent place to go on a date. The lighting is dim, the atmosphere is "smoove" (marble top tables, easy listening on the airwaves), and the service is just attentive enough. You won't mind if you're only one of a few couples in here. Valens's menu is centred around Italian fare but they have a variety of different cuisines represented. Their wine list is made up of options from mostly Niagara and California, and they also offer basic cocktails. I wasn't knocked out of my seat. For dinner I enjoyed a lamb shank ($22) with mashed potatoes and roast vegetables a butternut squash and almond soup to start ($6). The name of the soup sounds better than it actually was. I felt like they might have even used a chicken stock as the base (can't be sure though). At any rate, it wasn't in my top ten butternut squash soups list. The lamb shank was meaty, tender, and a sizeable portion. Really enjoyed the peppercorn gravy it was served with. Other than that, I think Susan G nailed it in her review: "a quiet place with no wait on a Saturday night" that serves reasonably priced and good food. Obligatory Title Pun: Table for TU, BRUTE? Menu Readability: Very plain. Serif typeface. Probably Roman. Need to mention: Valens (328-378), was a Roman Emperor who led his army to a catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Adrianople. What this place teaches me about myself: It sounds weird to say I'm boning up on my Roman history, doesn't it? read more

I like the atmosphere (busy but not loud on a weekday evening) of Baldwin Street. Almost all restaurants along the street have patios. They are small but comfortable. Picked Valens because its $22 prix fix menu attracts me. I ordered the smoked chicken and sweet potato soup as appetizer, rack of lamb for main course and lava cake with whipped cream and vanilla ice-cream for dessert. Ended up, I was very satisfied with my meal: - Very affordable price. - Very friendly and attentive service. - Good food though the portion is way too big for me. The soup tasted good and was freshly made...very hot. The lamb meat is very tender. I have been craving for lava cake for a while and it did not disappoint me:) I deducted one star because of the drink I ordered from the cocktail list. The Blue Hawaiian is a bit too sweet. The washroom located in the basement is clean and tidy but the deep stairsteps killed me while I was wearing high heels lol. read more

Valens Restaurant - Good quality rack of lamb. The meat is tender and the presentation is nice! - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Made reservations here for Winterlicious with a friend for Saturday. It was only a few days before, so I was happy they fit us in. Sure seems like they messed up the reservations though, because when we got there they couldn't find the reservation. Happily, they sat us anyway in the busy restaurant. I saw a party of 2 come in later and overheard that they had a reservation but there were no tables. Ours was a 4 top, so they ended up pulling the second table away so they could sit the other people. Another large group had come in afterward that were waiting for a long time before they got a table. They appeared annoyed after awhile so I'm guessing they also had a reservation and the restaurant screwed it up. Despite being happy that they sat us, that happiness quickly dissipated as we waited way too long to get a drink or have our order taken. The waiters walked by and looked directly at our table and then would walk away. A couples times I saw them looking around the room to see if anyone needed anything, but they did not come over to take our order. I sure felt like we were more of a nuisance than anything. Someone finally came by and brought us water (after a table that had come in after us got their water, placed their order and got bread). We weren't asked if we wanted something else to drink though - it was just a quick, drop off the water and leave. Quite awhile after that we finally placed our order. I ordered the salad - it was good, but nothing spectacular. My friend got the soup and said it was really good, but only warm. For the main I had been craving risotto and was going to get it and at the last second changed to the lamb. Boy was I ever disappointed. From looking at other people's plates, the risotto didn't look great, but probably better than the lamb. The lamb was way overcooked. The vegetables on the other hand were under cooked. I was trying to cut into one as well and it was so under cooked it flung out from under my knife and got sauce all over my new sweater. I was trying to dip my napkin into my water to get the stain out of my sweater. I saw some of the waiters looking at me, but did they offer assistance, some more water or napkin? Nope. Just ignored me. Now with this awful review, some might be asking why I would give this place 2 stars. While I was not pleased with my experience, nor would I come here again, for the amount of food we got, the meal was only $15. More importantly though, the apple blossom dessert...that was the saving grace. After a quite awful meal, that apple blossom finished off the meal with a smile. It was nice and warm. The crust was delicious and the scoop of ice cream on top was perfect. read more

I came here for lunch during Winterlicious. I must give credit to Valens because their menu is on the cheaper end ($18 for lunch) yet they still offer lamb shank, veal, lobster w/ pasta--some "high end" dishes. Despite the nice selection, I found the experience to be very....meh. I ordered the mushroom crostini with grana padano cheese on top. The flavours were there... but was nothing spectacular, and I wish there was a little more than 3 pieces. My friend told me they offered an escargot crostini last summerlicious; wish they hadn't replaced it with mushroom. I had a bite of my friend's Deep fried chicken ravioli. It tasted quite dry and resembled a chicken nugget more than anything. For my main course I ordered the Veal Osso Buco with tomato sauce and red wine. I found it quite tough and dry, and the sauce did not have any red wine taste to it. It was pretty disappointing. I had a few bites of my friend's lamb shank (in the same sauce) and although it was more tender than my veal, I still felt it was missing that "off the bone" tenderness and yummy lamb taste. Lastly, I had the warm white chocolate lava cake. This was quite good; the white chocolate centre and vanilla ice cream really balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate cake. It was also very wam and soft, but it seemed like it was heated last minute in the microwave. It was still a nice finish to the meal. Overall, the food was quite mediocre and since the tables were all very close to one another, I felt very cramped during my dining experience. Although they had a cheap menu, I don't know if I would visit again if they continue to serve this menu. Perhaps I will try their summerlicious next time since I've heard their mussels are quite good. read more

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Valens Restaurant is a decent new(ish) (almost a year now, but new compared to the other Baldwin classics) restaurant with a variety of cuisines but an overall Italian feel. I went here for dinner on a Saturday night, and the place was surprisingly absolutely empty! Have way through our meal, another group came in, but that was it. Because of that, I'm not sure how much longer Valens will last... That being said, the food wasn't bad at all. I started with a lobster dip (oo so delicious and unhealthy), and had the Rose Fusili as my main. We has a few people make minor changes to our meals (mine, shrimp instead of chicken, another, no mushrooms in the paella), and they were easily able to accommodate us. The prices for the place seemed about right, with the app being $10, and my main at $14. The service and atmosphere was also quite nice, it looks like a nice, upscale place (without really high prices) and our servers were quite friendly and attentive. Overall, this place is good, but nothing special. If you're with an indesisive group with a large variety of tastes, it could be a great spot because it doesn't really have a "focused" menu, or if you're looking for a quiet place with no wait on a Saturday night. If you're in the area, you could do worse than Valens! read more

Valens Restaurant - Delicious lobster dip! - Italian Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Made reservations for Winterlicious, walked into Valens and we were seated promptly. The two servers working were incredibly friendly, helpful, fast and overall very pleasant. They would check up on us often and we were taken care of very well despite the restaurant filling up quickly throughout our meal. They were very knowledgeable about the menu and all the various components of the Prix Fixe options. The appetizer was fresh and delightful, entree was cooked to perfection and very tasty, and the dessert came out piping hot from the oven with a creamy delicious vanilla ice cream scoop! Ahh, it was all very lovely. We will definitely be visiting again soon. read more

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Came here for Winterlicious for it's appealing and cheap dinner menu - although you get a lot in terms of portion sizing, the quality isn't the best. They started with giving us some bread with oil and balsamic vinegar, but the bread was quite heavy and would have been better warm. I chose the mussels, steak and creme brulee for my dinner. The mussels could have been cooked a bit longer, but the sauce was good and had hints of Asian spices. The steak was good too - my only problem was the lack of consistency. Three of us asked for medium steaks and only one was a true medium, the others were well done and medium rare. The biggest issue was the creme brulee. Although it's an extremely generous portion, it tasted more like curdled eggs while the barely carmelized top didn't pass the crack test. I really want to like Valens; the menu was promising but the delivery was lack luster. read more