La Palette — Restaurant in Toronto

Came here for Valentine’s Day but deeply regretted it. Might be the worst dinning experience in a long time. We spent 3 hours here and now the whole night was spoiled.

First of all, the restaurant was severely overbooked, that for at least an hour there was always a line waiting at the entrance with people who had made reservations but could not be seated since there was no empty table. However, upon this time we still tried to understand - it’s Valentine’s Day after all, right?

Then, we found ourselves with a server who was just outright ignoring us. He didn’t even care to fake it, as he was apparently very welcoming and accommodating to the guests sitting beside our table. I don’t know if it’s because we are Asians, and the other guests are White, or if it’s because we look younger? I mean, bro I can hear you making all the introduction and stuff to other guests ok? We’re like 5cm away with other tables! And yes I speak and understand English, alright? He didn’t even introduce the courses to us when serving, and literally just put down the dishes and got away every time, not to mention checking in with us.

And still, upon this time, we thought we could take that - as long as the taste was good, we could try to make excuses for him - it’s Valentine’s Day, they’re busy, right?

Sadly, the taste was NOT good. And it took us an ENTIRE HOUR to have our main course ready. By now almost all the other previous guests were gone, and when I looked at my plate I couldn’t even believe my eyes. Is THIS what you offered me after an entire hour of waiting?? Bouillabaisse, the fish stew, was merely ONE small piece of fish just a bit longer than my thumb, in a big plate with a lot of mussels, and there was barely any sauce at all. What’s more, the bread was burned, and the mussels still had grit in them. The horse strip loin was also just a small piece with a whole plate of fries.

When we made the complaint, they changed a course for me, and now the server finally stopped and checked in with us. However it was all too late, and the time has come to about 10:30pm. We were both tired and angry, and I have lost all my appetite. Yet we were still waiting for the dessert. When I took out my phone and tried to make some arrangements for work (by texting), the server came tell me that it was “no cell phone policy tonight”. I mean, by now there had been at least TWO rounds of guests come and gone, and we were kept here for 3 hours, and you expected me to continue with your cell phone policy?? Not to mention that I don’t even get why there existed this policy in the first place, as the room was not dimmed and it’s not possible for phone screen lights to disturb other guests.

The dessert that came at last could only be described by the word sloppy. I sincerely doubt if the tart dough was even baked properly. And the macaroon was worse than supermarket frozen ones.

In a word, will not return and do not recommend to anyone unless you look for utter disrespect and...

I am a waiter at a french bistro in Toronto.. so I HATE to be critical like this. but La Palette you should be doing better.

I could write a small book about how bad this experience was the only reason its a 1 star review AND that’s keeping in mind thag my friend knew the bartender--he was a nice guy too bad he wasnt our server.

We ordered: Venison Pate, Oysters (24 oysters all they had for a monday night), Escargot (feature) 8 oz steak and the Iberico Porkchop (feature)

The Pate was the worst pate I have ever had. point. blank period. it was ice cold and rock hard with a layer of semi cooked pastry around the edge. The meat itself was missing a lot of seasoning and the texture of this dish was like letting a frozen hamburger become cold and then eating it-- Stiff unflavoured poorly textured, it is served with 2 tony pickled onions cut in half and a teaspoon of jam--

The oysters were fine I have had better but no complaint--except they should consider getting little spoons to help with Mignonette etc.

the escargot was forgettable but not BAD just again didnt taste like much even sitting in garlic butter.

The steak was underwhelmingly seasoned and also slightly over done-- the fries were delicious they were the best thing we had.

THE PORK CHOP WAS RAW and when I say raw i mean it was mushy and completely pink inside and here is where things were just especially brutal. NOT ONE SINGLE TIME-- not for appetizers or oysters or main courses did the waiter ever ask " how are things gentlemen?" we asked for a pitcher of water on the table about 4 times and didnt get one. we tried to BUY water and the waiter still forget we at least wanted tap water. when I asked him to please refill my water he did-- but didnt fill the other glasses on the table like... what? we put our pork chop pointing up on the edge of the bowl it was served on so even if he wasnt going to ask he would be able to SEE how raw it was. but he didnt. we asked for the bill with mains still on the table. he never even asked about it as he stood over our table dropping the bill.

The food wasnt good-- it was made worse by our completely terrible and lacklustre waiter. As a career waiter myself I hate to write this. I normally dont even write bad reviews online. But I was shocked at how bad this was. especially our waiter. To him I say-- from one waiter to another you should not be in hospitality. there was nothing about the service you gave us that deserved a tip and the only reason you got one is that 2/3 people at our table are career restaurant workers.

this restaurant could use a tweaking to their menu ( get rid of that god awful pate) and they should just jettison their waiter. if you arent going to fill water and you arent going to ask how the food is at any point then what are you doing? he made no recommendations he was barely amiable.

This was bad. I am born and raised in Toronto and can comfortably tell you to go to Chantecler or Le Swan just west of here if you want a...

4.5/5

Came here for my partner's birthday dinner on a Monday evening. We were promptly seated and the first thing we noticed was the open concept kitchen where the kitchen was in the middle of the rectangular restaurant. So as we were walking towards the reserved tables (I'm assuming all the tables in the back were reserved), we passed by the kitchen, which we thought was quite neat. I love it when restahrants don't have a lot of items on the menu, and have special dishes that they change from time to time. So I was excited to try this place out.

Escargot 4.5/5 The escargot was tender with a nice garlic based sauce. The fried garlic was also a nice touch as well. We just wished it was shelled as we love the process of getting it out of the shell. The meat on the dish also didn't seem like it was the whole escargot.

Horse tartare 5/5 This was so tender and flavorful. Would have love it if it had more egg yolk but I did enjoy the presentation and the taste a lot.

Foie Gras 5/5 We love seared foie gras and I loved how the first bite just melted in your mouth, spreading the flavor all around your mouth. Excellent.

Duck Confit I had a two bites of this so not rating it. My partner enjoyed it a lot but I found the Spatzle (the pasta looking thing on the plate) to be a bit mushy and the duck to be a bit dry and too salty.

Steak 4.5/5 Steak was cooked on point and the meat was so tender and tasty. The fries were nicely cooked as well.

Chocolate ganache 4/5 We were both wondering why it was in such a small plate until we realized how thick and intense the flavor was. I loved it but it seemed like it was too much for my partner.

Cardamom/Saffron sponge cake 4/5 As far a sponge cake go, this one was great. My partner enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed it but I probably won't order it again.

Service was fine. Not a lot of checking in but it looked like they were...