Edulis Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

Edulis is ranked among the top 100 restaurants in Canada. I think it deserves the spot, it was a great experience and I will be returning.

The Menu: The menu is a pre-fix menu and the dishes are not listed on the printed menu on the tables. Our host told us the dishes are frequently changed and there is a completely new menu approximately every 3 weeks. You need to be comfortable with not knowing what you're about to pay for.

There are two options you can order, a 5 course and 7 course for $65 & $85 (the prices have since gone up). We were told that the amount of food is roughly the same as the portions will be adjusted down for the 7 course meal, although you will try two extra dishes, so ordering the 7 course meal solely for the purpose of getting more food may not be a feasible option.

To start they brought out stuffed olives, house-made bread and butter.

The seven courses we tried are briefly below: Sashimi Shredded snow crab White asparagus and morrel mushroom Georgian Bay lake trout with radishes and almonds John Dory with muscat grapes and leeks Chicken stuffed with foi gras, crawfish on a push pastry, and mushroom Dessert came in two parts, one is a Cake with a rum syrum and creme, the other is a rhubarb frozen yogurt made with goats milk.

Overall I was really happy with the menu. While the dishes are small they are very flavourful and rich, and as a result you dont find yourself wanting more. By the end of the meal I was definitely full.

In addition to the above we tried their in house made sodas. We tried the apricot and elderflower which I would highly recommend.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere is casual, and the restaurant looks like a small cottage inside and out. I think it is very well suited for a date night, as it does have a romantic vibe to it.

Service: The service is good, not bad by any means but also not anything special. It was about what you expect from a higher end restaurant but nothing over the top. No complaints here.

Parking: There is a parking garage just around the corner (about a 3 minute walk), with underground parking for about $4 which is nice and convenient.

Will I...

This restaurant is a gem! One of the best food experiences we've had in a while in Toronto and it was very refreshing. The service staff was great and friendly. The atmosphere was romantic and quaint. The decor was beautiful. The food though...

The food was amazing. We got the 7 course menu for $85 as opposed to the 5 course for $65. There was a white truffle option to add for $60, but we opted out of that. The quantity of food we were told was fairly similar except we would get more variety with the 7 course menu. It ended up being the perfect amount of food. We even opted to get a pre-dessert cheese menu (selected which we'd like to try) and it featured one of the best cheeses we've ever tried.

Our menu for the day we went (menu changes) was mainly seafood. There was also a lamb plate as well. I'm not a fan of lamb, but this was exquisite. The best plate was the smoked white fish. The tenderness and flavor that was packed in the fish was out of this world. The garnish of steamed/boiled sliced brussel sprouts and green apple garnish complimented it perfectly. One of the best dishes I've had, ever.

Then came the dessert, a strawberry raspberry sorbet with fresh strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb in a coconut milk sauce - amazing. We were also surprised by the addition to the dessert which was a Baba au Rhum. Let me tell you about this Baba au Rhum. It's a famous Parisian dessert (originating from Poland) which we had a chance to try while visiting Paris. It was ok, and granted we may just have tried a poor version of it. However, the Baba au Rhum at Edulis was a completely different dessert. It's what Baba au Rhum should taste like. My mouth is watering as I'm writing about it.

Someone in these comments complained about the water charge - water is $2 for filtered of which you get unlimited amounts. Simply ask for tap water if you don't want it and there's no charge, which is what we did.

All in all, this is a special restaurant and a Toronto treasure. I highly recommend trying it out and we will be going...

This may honestly come as a polarizing review but it has taken me some time to write this review because of how long awaited it was for us to get this reservation. We did also come for my birthday celebration. It is stupidly difficult to get a reservation but cancellations is where you can possibly slip in! So look out for impromptu cancellations to get the chance to dine here. The concept is based on fresh produce that is in season and heavily focused on seafood with a menu that is a bit of a surprise as you have no idea what you are being served as it is all selected by the chefs. I am a seafood girly at heart and in theory this kind of dining style/food makes my heart sing. On arrival, the waiter makes you feel completely at home - we were greeted by name (a very nice personal touch). The waiters are also attentive and they spend a lot of time explaining the dishes - shout out to Philip (he was most memorable) and he seemed to remember all the regulars that came to dine. Overall the food begins very fresh and is captivating but as the night continued, I felt lost in the rest of the menu and felt like the night dragged on. The dishes at beginning are very light, captivating, and creative. We even paid extra to try the special jamon (which is delicious but just a lot of salt). Dishes near the end felt very heavy, buttery and just a bit too much. The overall dining experience took approximately 4 hours and we honestly skipped dessert because dinner service felt dragged on and the restaurant itself was starting to feel extremely stuffy. In theory, we love a surprise menu that is creative, seafood forward but near the end of the dining experience we just felt seriously fatigued. Perhaps also the final dish of rabbit was a bit too daring for our tastes.

Overall, I probably wouldn’t return here based on price point, difficulty in getting a reservation and just the overall length of dining time spent. Would say it’s closer...