Aloette Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

Located just below Alo, the #1 restaurant in Canada at the moment, Aloette is Patrick Kriss' more relaxed, low key restaurant with a retro diner feel, lower price point and surprisingly generous portion sizes while still maintaining the same great service and quality as its sister restaurant. We dined as a party of three and were so stuffed that we had to pack some of it home.

To start we were offerred complementary homemade cheese bread. It was not overly cheesy (the cheesey bits seemed to be on the crust only) and the bread itself was light and fluffy. It came with yeast butter which was rich, buttery and delicious.

For appetizers, we had the Beef Tartare ($14) and the Scallop Tostada ($14). Topped with a creamy horseradish and dijon sauce and then covered with capers, scallions and warm crispy fried onions, the tartare was a delicous mix of tangy and savoury. The beef was fresh and not too ground up making it perfect for spreading onto the gem lettuce. I really liked the different textures in this appetizer. The crispy lettuce and fried onions really added a nice crunch and freshness to the beef tartare. And to top it all off, the portion size was quite generous - more than enough for three people to share.

The Scallop Tostada were light and crispy. They were then topped with Hamachi sashimi, diced Granny Smith apples, pickled pearl onions, jalapeño and cilantro resulting in a tangy sweet burst of flavour.

For our mains, we had the Aloette Burger ($18), the Roasted Pork ($20) and the Ribeye Steak ($36). The the juicy burger comes sandwiched between two house made buns and is topped with sauteed onions, shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese mayo and fried Beaufort cheese. On the side, there's a pile of addictive double-cooked fries, a pickle, and the tangy dressing which has a bit of a kick at the end. The fries were incredibly good and we were told that it takes two days to make since they need to soak the potatoes overnight in order to remove the starch and sugars required to make the perfect crisp fry.

The ribeye was rich and buttery and glazed with a chimichurri sauce. The fresh, slightly spicy, garlicky and citrusy sauce really brought out the deep earthy flavours of the beef. The steak was topped with few sautéed shishito peppers which added a grassy, smoky and citrusy component to the dish. To finish off the plate, there was another generous serving of fries.

My favourite of all the main dishes was the Roasted Pork. It had a good fat to meat ratio and was extremely juicy and tender. The pork was the topped with , sautéed esacarole, chopped cerignola olives, and nduja (a spreadable mixture of pork, fat and chilli) resulting in an amazingly earthy, zesty and spicy flavour combination. A must have!

As sides we added on the Brussels Sprouts ($9) and Aloette Fries ($9). The Brussels Sprouts were roasted beautifully so that they were soft and tender on the inside but perfectly browned one the outside with lots of loose leaves that are nice and crispy. The sauce was a tangy sweet maple gastique with chopped walnut and whole mustard seeds giving it some interesting textures. The flavours were a mix of tangy and savoury with a little bit of sweetness from the roasting. Absolute perfection! The acidity of this also really helps to cut through the richness of the other dishes you may order!

The Aloette fries with smoked gouda hot sauce and jus, was the one dish we could have done without. The gouda overpowered the delicious fries themselves and made the fries less crispy. I think I actually preferred the fries on their own.

For dessert, we tried the Lemon Meringue Pie ($10). Personally, I found this just ok (but keep in mind that lemon meringue is usually not my dessert of choice).  The lemon flavour really came through in the pie and the filling was actually quite tart. I was impressed with the meringue which had a nice subtle lemon flavour and the sweetness of the torched marshmallows helped to balance out the tartness of the pie. Probably a good choice who prefer...

Aloette is a case study in how to create an impeccable dining experience from the moment you walk in the door.

1. The space itself is truly unique. You walk in and you instantly know you are somewhere special. It's a modern take on a classic diner and all of the details of the space are well thought out. While the space itself feels like futuristic train car the space is still rooted in clean, elevated basics--you're got beautiful leather booths, classic bar stools at the counter, and tile throughout. It's a visual delight.

2. The food and drinks are amazing. Almost every dish brings your palate to at least 3 different places. If you go in the afternoon and you're looking for a refreshing drink, don't skip the Aloette Punch Cocktail for two. It's aromatised wine, plum, champagne syrup, jasmine tea, and is wonderful and light to sip on through your meal. For food, we were ravenous so we started with the bread with yeast butter. From there we got:

-Crispy Oyster Mushrooms with XO Sauce, Lime and Ponzu -Tuna Tartare with green goddess, yuzu kosho, rice pearls, lime -Madai Sashimi with whipped green curry, young coconut, thai basil, lemon balm -Aloette Burger with beaufort cheese, onion, lettuce, pickle. Fries with bloody mary aioli -Lemon Meringue Pie

Everything was wonderful, but if I had to emphasize two, I'd say do NOT sleep on the tuna tartare--the green goddess sauce is phenomenal. With the crunch of the rice pearls every bite is heaven. Speaking of heaven, I know that having room after so many plates might sound agonizing, but the lemon meringue pie is a work of art. Ordering it a rite of passage. It is easily the best lemon meringue I have ever had. The lemon curd has the perfect amount of tang; the crust is generously thick, well-baked, and buttery; and the meringue is a fluffy joy-filled cloud. (Are you convinced yet?) I think there was even a little lime zest on top to round it all out? If you gather nothing else from this review, please let it be that you need to get this pie.

3. The service was excellent from the hostess to all of the waitresses that were super knowledgeable about the menu, quick to check in with us if we had an empty glass, and just plain fun. We had a whole bunch of restaurants and bars we had intended to visit while in Toronto, and they validated a lot of the places we put on there and provided us with some suggestions we hadn't heard of (that turned out great!) They truly know how to engage, and they made the experience memorable for our first day in the city. Couldn't have imagined it going off to a better start!

These are just a handful of the many reasons why I imagine Aloette was recently named as one of the best 100 restaurants in all of Canada. (By @CanadasBest100) Making a reservation is the best way to snag a spot here without waiting. I made one for 2 people at 1:30 p.m. on a Wednesday and had no problem being seated right away. If you're feeling bolder, you may be able to get bar seats later in the afternoon around 3ish with no wait too if you're feel like putting lunch in fate's hands!

TLDR -- If you are traveling to Toronto, Aloette is a MUST-EAT. GET THE LEMON MERINGUE PIE. Please don't let your taste buds...

I must admit, I did come here after going to Costco and eating a hot dog and wings. It must have skewed my taste buds a bit because some of the dishes tasted a bit bland. For the sake of organization I will itemize my review.

1. First came the Beef Tartar with oyster. The bread cracker thing it comes with was way too hard. The actual filling tasted kind of a faint oyster. The whole thing just tasted sour. That is all I remember. Milky and tart. I actually just chose to forego using the accompanying "toast" and just used the complimentary bread to scoop up the residual stuff in the oyster shell. 3/5 1a) The complimentary cheese bread with the whipped roasted yeast butter was very good. The bread was soft, warm, yet crispy on top. The butter had a very unique flavour that I can only describe as "marmite-ey." 5/5
2. The lettuce wedge salad bowl thing came next. When I first saw it, I was honestly confused. I did not know how to approach this thing. Using the provided knife, I did my best to carve out edible pieces without the toasted toppings flying all over the place. This was actually my favourite thing. The dressing and the toasted rice, soybeans, and other goodies was an interesting grouping. Though interesting, I would have preferred the more traditional chopped greens in a bowl approach for this dish. 4/5
3. Next came the stuff wings. What they seemed to do was to debone a wingette and then stuffed it with a chicken/meat puree and then cooked it together to fuse them. The meat was juicy and well seasoned. The accompanying garnish's oniony,garlicky tartness was a welcome pairing to the meat. Only complaint was that only 2 pieces came. 18 bucks for 2 wings made me a bit sad. 4/5
4. The burger and fries were very good. The patty was perfectly cooked, not a dry or flavourless spot. The cheese was generously placed on top of the patty. The bun was perfect. Not too thin, not too thick. Perfect moisture and temperature. The fries seemed to be pre seasoned and then fried because not seeing a single grain of salt on them, yet they were slightly salty. The oil that they used to fry the potatoes was a peanut oil I am guessing. Reminded me of Five Guys fries, only better and less soggy. 5/5
5. The lemon meringue pie was extremely tart, and the whipped cream on top was very rich. The graham cracker crust was extremely buttery. Well done. 5/5 Last but not least, the service. The service is out of this world on a different level from anything that I have experienced in Toronto. Everybody was on point. They wiped down the table between dishes when they saw that things had gotten a bit messy. They explained every dish as it came to our table. I never saw the bottom of my water glass. Kudos to the wait staff and the owners for instilling such a passion in...