L'avenue on Parliament — Restaurant in Toronto

L'Avenue gives the best of both French dining experiences: fancy fine dining at night and casual breezy brunch during the day. Went both times and enjoyed.

For brunch, we got: Burrata Salad: Plump and creamy burrata, plump and juicy tomatoes. Truffle Tagliatelle: Absolutely outstanding. Strong truffle flavour, perfectly al dente pasta. My favourite dish overall and would come back for it. French Onion Cheeseburger with Fries: Pretty good size, patty was juicy enough, gruyere cheese was ample. If you're in the mood for a burger and don't mind the higher price, this is fine.

For dinner, we got: Burrata with Prosciutto: The burrata was again plump and creamy, the prosciutto was plentiful. Shrimp Francaise: Huge shrimps! Absolutely bathed in butter! What's not to love? (I wanted more!) Fillet Mignon: Good quality cooked to a great temperature. Reasonably priced for the size. Side baked potato was standard. Chicken Cordon Bleau: It was ok, nothing special. The side potato gratin though was outstanding - so cheesy, it was my favourite part of the meal. Grand Marnier Souffle: More cake-y than the usual souffles I've had. Also takes around 20 minutes to prepare ahead if you want it timed well.

Overall service was excellent - prompt, informative, welcoming. Interiors are fancy, patio is breezy. A nice stop for both casual or fine...

Our dining experience started off quite well. The service was polite and our appetizers were pretty good, although the salad was quite overpriced at $26. Only one beer on tap, Stella. Disappointing but determined to not let it ruin the meal.

Dishes were decently paced, but then the entrees arrived and here is where the meal took a turn. The lobster spaghetti, was decent, not amazing. The L'Avenue Chicken was absolutely awful. This is a dish that shares the restaurant's name and it was truly inedible. I could barely cut into it, it was so tough and dry. A french restaurant should not open until they can plate a passable chicken supreme and this wasn't even close. The French fries were soggy, the vegetables were dry and sitting in a puddle of butter, this meal was beyond redemption.

Worse still, when they clearly could see that I hadn't even touched this $35 main, they decided to avoid eye contact and certainly didn't ask us how our $180 meal was.

Very nice atmosphere apart from the poor ending and I really wanted to like this place but this was a real...

This place is generally affordable for a once in a while outing, and I recommend planning to spend a little more just because this place has excellent food! The atmosphere was very elegant and romantic. We loved the abstract art. Service was quick and easy, waiter was very kind and respectable and would tend to us whenever we needed his help. Food was very good. I did not try the burger but my partner said it was lovely. I had the lobster rolls with the poached eggs and they were extremely well made! They were so tender and delicious. We did have fries as a starter which I had not taken pictures unfortunately, although those were very crispy and tasted very fresh. I also forgot to take pictures of the dessert but the crème brûlée and the cheesecake were also extremely tasty and just the right amount of sweet. I was told the crème brûlée was made with real vanilla, which made it much more delicious than say whatever you buy at the store (obviously!). Recommend coming here again, not just for the food but for the...