Martine's Wine Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

And while it has a down-to-earth feel, they play up the hospitality factor. While appreciated, I do have a small recommendation: leave the bottled water at the table. Given it’s a busy restaurant with various plates to clear, our swamped waitress didn’t always get a chance to refill water leaving our glasses empty at times.

With the restaurant’s dedication to supporting local suppliers, the dishes exude freshness and their menu changes daily.

You won’t find a heavy thick dressing in their Caesar salad ($16). Instead, the vinaigrette-like concoction barely covered the greens and was heavy on the lemon and light on the garlic and anchovy. I would have liked the big pieces of lettuce cut up, but I guess it allows the diner to behold Van Stone Farm’s greens in all their glory. While they recommended having this with the first round of dishes, you may want it served along side the heavier mains as it’s a great palette cleanser.

Despite looking odd, the raw mushroom slices covering the spicy beef tartare ($24) were tasty and helped soak up the flavourful sauces. Martine’s didn’t skimp on the peppery horseradish sauce that added a powerful punch of spiciness to the meat… even though they provide a generous portion, apply with caution. Even their sourdough had a different quality to it: pillowy soft yet still smoky from being thoroughly toasted. Pile everything onto the bread for a delicious bite.

Large uncut lasagna-like noodles arrived in the fazzoletti ($26). Smothered in a lemony herb olive oil, the sauce’s pop of freshness worked nicely to balance out the creamy smoked burrata. The pasta was minimally adorned with zucchini ribbons so the cheese stands centre in the dish.

The skate wing ($24) was so hot and crispy that it could easily rival a schnitzel. And while most restaurants likely would have paired it with a tartar sauce, Martine’s uses an Americana red sauce studded with pork belly and thinly sliced runner beans. It’s good, but the sauce is just too salty. Perhaps the kitchen can turn the dish into a full blown parmigiana by adding spaghetti to really lean into the savoury tomato sauce.

Chicken isn’t always exciting, but the wood fired chicken and fries ($30 for half portion) was tasty, especially the dark meat pieces that were juicy and tender. The chicken breast was drier, but still decent. You could slather on some of the chive mayonnaise to give it an extra boost of moisture.

Order the “spicy” version of the chicken, which has no heat and instead was rubbed in a sweet paprika mixture. It provided the extra boost of flavour in an otherwise tame dish. The dish arrives with plenty of hot fries that have a great potato flavour but were oversalted.

A lone dessert was offered that evening - Van Stone Farms strawberries ($9) with anise hyssop ice cream. Once you get through the fresh fruit, the melted ice cream and the sweet syrup the berries were macerated almost has a cereal-milk quality to it, with a...

Martine’s Wine Bar will forever hold a sacred place in my heart.

On May 24th, I had my first date with the love of my life at Martine’s. At the time, I didn’t live in Toronto, so after a long commute and a few last-minute changes, we were finally seated at 11:45 PM. We couldn’t wait another night to meet. And once we did, any nerves vanished—the chemistry between us was something no novel, film, or song could ever replicate.

Martine’s set the perfect stage for that unforgettable night. The warm ambiance, the curated wines, the beautifully crafted dishes—it all made her light up the moment we stepped inside. That look in her eyes as we were seated is something I’ll never forget. It was priceless. And though we’ve since gone our separate ways, I still carry that memory like a treasured photograph in my heart.

Over our late-night meal, we got to know each other in a way that felt cosmic. We had already spoken for 15 straight hours leading up to that night (yes, really), and the connection only deepened. We laughed, we opened up, we shared stories and wine and secrets and dessert. The kind staff even brought us a round of after-dinner drinks, which only added to the magic of the moment.

When we stepped outside, just past midnight, something happened I’ll never forget. We looked up and spotted what seemed like the biggest, most radiant moon we’d ever seen—except it wasn’t the moon, it was a clock tower glowing in the night sky. She asked me, “Is that the moon?” I laughed and told her gently it wasn’t—but that it was still beautiful. And right there, under that soft May sky, we shared our first kiss. It was the kind of kiss that shifts time—one you know, even in the moment, will stay with you forever.

Months later, after a rough patch, I surprised her by bringing her back to Martine’s for dinner again. I chose it on purpose. I wanted to remind us both of how and where our story began. And as we sat across from one another, our hands intertwined, our eyes quietly full, we remembered. That night reminded me what love feels like when it’s pure and true.

Martine’s isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a memory, a beginning, a second chance, and a love letter all in one. The ever-evolving menu, the thoughtful wine list, the creative cocktails, and the exceptional service all helped create what was, without exaggeration, the most beautiful moment of my life.

Thank you, Martine’s. For the magic, the memories, the love. I’ll never forget what you gave me.

With all my heart, A grateful guest who now knows what love really means—because it...

Big time let down for what was supposed to be a birthday celebration. This rating is specifically for the manager or host from last weekend. Our group had a reservation for 6 people. What was not communicated to our group was that we would all be sitting at the bar and not at a table where we can interact with one another. After learning that we were seated at the bar we had asked to be moved to a table that can accommodate our group face-to-face, not in a straight line where we cannot engage with one another. The host was abrupt to let us know that there is no spot available for at least two hours. Which was such a shame as this restaurant was highly recommended and looked like a good vibe. The waiter that we had was excellent! He was super attentive and realized how awkward our seating arrangements were. At one point our group split up to be on opposite ends of bar seating. This was extremely awkward as we unfortunately cut off a walkway in the area that we were seated. The waiter completely acknowledged how awkward and how unreasonable it was that we were seated the way we were. What is truly unfortunate is that our seating arrangements were not conducive to eating literally anything. So my rating reflects that we actually did not have anything of substance to eat Because we were not able to share our food as recommended to us, nor were we actually able to eat our food with our backs towards the bar. That is truly disappointing as the food did look amazing from what we saw from other diners in the restaurant. This was such a major letdown, and the host was incredibly difficult and ultimately not willing to work with us and troubleshoot the situation that they had put us in. What’s more frustrating is when the only visible area for six people to sit at was seated with three people before coming to our group and asking if we wanted to move.

This experience js all because of the host. What a shame as we came hungry and ready to enjoy our night. Our waiter was amazing. He even tried to get a spot at their sister restaurant around the corner because he knew that we were not enjoying our experience.

There is nothing worse than leaving a restaurant hungry and needing to go somewhere else to have food. This experience was a major disappointment. They could have done better and actually made money off of a group...