Perla — Restaurant in Toronto

I was excited to try this restaurant given the reviews on here, and the photos of the food that looked delicious!

Unfortunately, my experience didn't quite match some others on here.

I would like to start by saying that I do understand that it was a fairly full Friday night, we were a party of 6, and there was only one person working the tables.

However, it did take about 45 minutes from when our full party was seated to get water, bread, and about an hour total to get an order.

The portions even for a "full" option were okay, perhaps unexpectedly a little small.

The seafood was quite good - highlight being the sardines and the grilled calamari. However I would not recommend the meats (veal chop and the cubed pork), I just think seafood is their stronger option as the meat was quite fatty or in the pork's case, quite dry. The fries were hot, but soggy :(

I would like to comment on the paella seeing as that seems to be a highlight and a best seller, it certainly was...different from other paellas I have had, especially spanish ones. Very saucy, with peas, some version of chorizo, chicken, and seafood in it. Seafood was the highlight here, the chicken was dry, the chorizo didn't add much to the dish, and the peas werw an odd choice. The sauce was skme kind of cream base, I think. Perhaps Portuguese paella is different. Regardless I would not highlight it.

The white and red ports were very good. I recommend those.

Overall the atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice. Quite cozy inside. Beware...the menu is a little hard to read in the low light!

Didn't hit the spot, wasn't very satisfying, but if you are looking for a Portuguese spot with some small seafood tasters then I...

This is a family run, authentic Northern Portuguese Restaurant on Carlton. The food is like home cooked and really good quality. They seem to know the finer points of Portuguese cuisine. Silvia, who runs the place is a real caring and patient person and works real hard to make everyone welcomed, comfortable and served without long waits. Her recommendations are perfect. Our Starters were the grilled sardines and the calamari. Very fresh and cooked to perfection. They also serve you their house speciality pate with pieces of bread. We then tried the traditional cod fish which is served with potatoes and steamed veggies. The cured pork with clams and potatoes was to die for. The steaks served with fries were good, but remember that they are home style. So don't expect a Keg style steak. Was surprised that homely places like this one, survived the pandemic lock downs. We must patronize and keep alive such family run restaurants which believe in treating all their patrons like family and for dishing out good food for a...

Had the pleasure of enjoying a lovely meal at Perla this Friday evening with my husband. Immediately when we walked in, it felt like I was back in Portugal in my small town at a local restaurant...so warm and inviting and the family that owns the place are so sweet and welcoming! I felt like I was going to my Avo's house for dinner. The soup we were served was deliciously homemade (with love) the mussels were to die for (that tomato sauce was amazing we wanted to lick the plate) I had the grilled squid (Lulas) and my husband had the Filete (which was soft like butter and the best we ever tried) Everything was delicious, great quality, the service was incredible, the atmosphere is relaxed and cozy and felt nostalgic. You can tell by their food that this family works very hard and really know how to treat their customers. I highly HIGHLY recommend Perla if you are looking for AUTHENTIC Portuguese food. It doesn't get any closer to home than this!

~Muito obrigado, nós apreciamos...