Locations:
214 King Street West, Toronto
207 Queens Quay West, Toronto
www.ilfornello.com
The Queens Quay location of Il Fornello was where we first discovered the delicious Cookoothama Shiraz. With such a funny name and the child-like hand impressions on the bottle, we were intrigued. It's now a house-hold favourite.
The food is reliably good at Il Fornello; I never can complain and having been several times to both the Queens Quay and King Street locations. It's one of those places I didn't even think to review.
I love their pizzas for their unique combinations and nice size.
I love the Prosciutto and Fig pizzas.
Their pastas are hearty but for those (read: me) who like things more spicy or flavourful, even THEIR spicy is not enough.
The dishes are on the pricier end for Italian food ($15-25 for a main), and I think I prefer the Queens Quay location a bit more as the servers are not as harried, but for a pre or post-theatre meal on King street, Il Fornello is a safe choice where everyone can be satisfied.
LOCAL FEATURE: 360 Restaurant
Location:
CN Tower, 301 Front Street West, Toronto
The 360 Restaurant at the CN Tower has a magnificent revolving view of Toronto and is located more than 351 metres (1,151 ft) from the ground. The subtle rotation of the restaurant takes a few minutes to get used to but the changing landscape takes no adjustment at all! It's quite simply, stunning!
In addition to their dinner menu, they also offer prix fixe menus and as we were happy to discover, a whole vegetarian menu ! Everyone at the table was very pleased and it didn't take us very long to decide what to eat. Orders placed, we feasted on their magnificent bread basket while we leisurely enjoyed the view.
When our dishes arrived, it was clear that everything was not only exceptionally presented, but we also felt well taken care of.
CRISPY EGGPLANT “PARMESAN”
WITH BUFFALO MOZZARELLA
Piquillo peppers, beefsteak tomatoes, grilled asparagus, cherry tomato jus
$35
PAN ROASTED WILD BLACK COD
Wilted Swiss chard, preserved orange, fennel pollen, black olive vinaigrette $38
PAN SEARED FILLET OF ATLANTIC SALMON
Toasted almond and ginger vinaigrette, steamed baby bok choy, shiitake scented brown rice $35
BLACK TRUFFLE HONEY GLAZED BONELESS HALF CHICKEN
Fennel and olive oil mashed potatoes, summer squash, cider jus $35
A lovely Birthday treat!
The 360 Restaurant is definitely a special place to bring your favourite person (or people) or if your quest is to impress! And make sure you are there at sunset..it's absolutely breath-taking!
The night view ain't too shabby, either ! ;)
Highly recommended for visitors but I think especially if you live in Toronto, 'cause chances are you've taken the La Tour CN for granted! It really is a wonderful architectural and engineering wonder of the world, in our city.
Ichiban Sushi
Location:
262 Queens Quay West, Toronto
www.ichibansushi.com
When we lived in the city, one of the closest sushi restaurants to us was Ichiban Sushi; we were constantly ordering in from there (or dining in).
For reliably standard sushi, Ichiban doesn't go wrong.
Watermark Irish Pub & Restaurant
Surprise, surprise. The Boathouse Grill is now CLOSED (thanks to Qinn & Glenn for the update)! Aren't we lucky that its replacement is the Watermark Irish Pub & Restaurant; docking along the Harbourfront very soon.