Côte de Bœuf — Restaurant in Toronto

Came in as a solo diner around 1500 and was seated immediately. Ordered the beef tartare with toast entree and iberico pork secreto main.

Environment: Indoors dining area is very small, 2 2-seat tables, 2 4-seat tables, and 4 bar counter seats. Dimly lit by tealight candles with no fan and no AC, it was not busy when I went but I can imagine it being very stuffy with more people (outside on the small 2-table patio, the sun was burning with no breeze so that wasn’t a better option).

Service: curt and brusque. Water jugs are self service at each table so I didn’t interact with them much, but a friendly smile and welcome would’ve gone a long way. Duly paid 18% tip for their minimum effort.

Food: Beef tartare: tender and refreshing. I enjoyed the tart flavours and cool temperature of it on my tongue, especially in a hot stuffy room. Baguette was toasted in duck fat, perfectly crispy and savoury. It was my first time trying beef tartare, very reminiscent of raw lean tuna. Iberico pork secreto: Horrendous disappointment. The pork and sauce(?) had no seasoning, not under seasoned, just had none at all. Red flags were raised at first sight with how loose and translucent the sauce was, but the watery blandness of both meat and sauce was shocking. It was like they took the effort of searing the meat for colour, then washed it off with tap water and placed it on the plate sopping wet. I don’t understand how this plate made it to my table. It’s clearly a quality piece of meat, looking beyond the blandness I could see that it had good intramuscular fat, and while not meltingly tender, I could split it at the fat veins with my fork with small effort. It truly did not need much more than a little salt and pepper to shine, but it seemed like the chef forgot to season, and even worse, taste their food before sending it out. The peas were the most flavoursome element of the dish, and that fact made the watery bland pork feel even more insulting. Pomme dauphinoise on the side is fine, light and pillowy inside with a thin crispy crust. A little squeeze of lemon and it scratched my fish and chips itch. I did notice that the kitchen staff changed shifts while I was there, so perhaps the terrible bland pork reflected that carelessness. But it was still a $50 plate, same price as it would be during peak hours. If they are unable to provide consistent service and quality control then they should just close in the lull between lunch and dinner hours.

2 dishes plus tax and tip came to just under $100. I have no problems paying for quality ingredients, and they do publish their menu with prices on the website, but I walked out feeling sad and cheated by the...

Really really really bad experience I had at this restaurant.

From the moment we entered, we were left with no greeting or assistance. It wasn’t until we raised our hands several times that a female server finally approached us—reluctantly and with a clearly dismissive attitude. Throughout the ordering process, she made us feel extremely uncomfortable with her cold demeanor, condescending glances, and what appeared to be racially biased behavior. We even had to ask multiple times just to get water, and despite being served wine, no water was brought until we requested it again.

We ordered beef tartare, white asparagus, and a steak. The beef tartare was served first, and we finished it entirely before anyone even came to clear the plates. After waiting around 15 minutes, a polite male server with glasses noticed and cleared the table when we reminded him that we were still expecting more food. The asparagus came shortly after, but then we waited another full hour with no sign of the steak—and no one checked on us once during that time to update us or ask how things were going.

At 10:45 PM, after waiting well beyond a reasonable time, we approached a staff member to ask about the steak, only to learn that the kitchen had not even started preparing it. The original server who took our order was nowhere to be found all night—we had to flag down random servers just to get basic service.

When we finally decided to cancel the steak and asked for the bill, the same female server who originally took our order reappeared. Instead of apologizing, she told us their restaurant follows a “first come, first served” policy and that other tables needed to be prioritized because we had ordered more dishes. Frankly, that logic is baffling—since when is ordering more food a problem for a restaurant? She even claimed that we hadn’t finished our previous dishes, which is simply false; the empty plate had been sitting untouched for an hour. Are guests now expected to wash their own plates or hand them over ceremonially to receive their next course?

This was, without exaggeration, the worst dining experience I’ve had anywhere in the North America. For the first time in my life, I left without leaving a tip, and this is also the first time I’ve ever felt compelled to write a complaint. I sincerely hope no other guest has to endure what we did. Please take this feedback seriously and take steps to address the service quality and...

This place has been on my restaurant bucket list for the longest time! Unfortunately, it was raining that day and the canopy didn’t provide great protection, so there were raindrops splashing onto the table. I’m still grateful for the outdoor seating though, because who knows how long the wait would be without it. I ordered:

Steak Frites 10oz et sauce au poivre AAA dry aged striploin, French fries, peppercorn sauce

Tartare de bœuf au couteau Steak tartare, egg yolk, toast

Roasted bone marrow Parsley, lemon, fleur de sel

The steak frites was aged for ~20-25 days and served with peppercorn sauce (loved the peppercorn here) and some mayonnaise which tasted like the one used in Vietnamese sandwiches. Fries were crispy and different than the typical ones I’m used to. Overall a good dish, but the cut was too lean for me and not tender enough.

Beef tartare was great; amazing flavours and the texture was wonderful like a nice pâté spread. I especially liked the peppercorns they used here. I’m just wondering why the meat is not that pink….it tasted fine though and I’d order it again next time.

Bone marrow was good too. You can probably get the same at different restaurants too, but the lemon wedge they gave here gave a nice zesty taste which made a difference.

I’d want to go back to try the more premium cuts of steak, as well as other dishes and appetizers (i.e. the escargot), but it’s just so hard to get here since it’s so far from the downtown core and the roads here are so small and hard to get to by car or public transportation. On top of that, the restaurant itself doesn’t take reservation and has limited seating.

Regarding the service, everyone online have stated that there is a waitlist, but when I came, they told me there wasn’t one and that I would have to come back later. I asked them if I could just stand and wait if no one’s in line. They said there were two groups ahead of me, to which I asked how they knew that if there was no waitlist. Only then did they show me there’s a line several steps away (didn’t see it cuz Ossfest made everything so crowded). I mean, I don’t mind waiting, but it seems like they don’t care to...