PLANTA — Restaurant in Toronto

This is quite a place to visit for vegans - excellent ambiance (quite noisy though), and good food, especially the desserts. This was also the first time we went for the bar seats and it was a good experience overall. And definitely call them first before going because they are often busy and may not have a table right away. We booked a slot on the bar since they were a full house on tables.

Food & Drinks: While they have a very extensive wine menu, the rest of the liquors just didn't seem to find many places (ran out of space!!). While I went for Ace HIll Draught, I wish they had a few more options, like the Corona or the Bud. My wife ordered Watermelon Whim (cold pressed watermelon with basil and lime) and it was good - especially the freshness of the basil was absolutely amazing and very refreshing. For the followup drink, we shared a For Love and Lemons (which is white wine, tarragon infused syrup, cold-pressed lemon, fever tree soda) which was really good as well. So, except for a narrow menu outside wines and cocktails, it is a great place for drinks. For food, we started off with Stuffed Mushrooms and Tomato Tart. I wasn't so impressed with the look of Tomato Tart as the tart was completely hidden under the greens and tomatoes which suggested more like a Tomato Salad than a Tomato Tart. However, I loved the freshness of the overall dish (unintended I believe) and the perfect proportion of balsamic that gave a really good kick. The pine nut crust was good. The stuffed mushrooms were really good as well - bite size heavens. This was followed up with a The Bianca pizza - which was a little disappointing. While the toppings were good, the outer pure-flour crust was a little too much compared to the toppings area. I found the combination of the flavors (roasted rosemary potatoes, kale, olives, and capers) okay. For the desserts, we went for the Avocado Lime Cheesecake and Sinful Chocolate Brownie. The cheesecake was quite good but the star was the Brownie which was absolutely amazing. The ice-cream on top was great - although a little more sugary - and the brownie beneath was a perfect combination. Loved it!

Ambiance: It gets quite noisy as there is music and then people chatting even louder due to the music. This was the first time we tried the bar seat since they didn't have a table available at the time we arrived (we called up before leaving to reserve the table and they were full for about 1.5 hours and we didn't want to get late). The bar table is quite spacious and it was great to see bartenders making all different kinds of drinks in front of you. Chairs could be a bit more comfortable but still okay.

Staff: The staff was quite good and friendly. Although their service can be a little fast - not sure if they were failing to catch up with the rush or they are traditionally slow. The food came quite late - especially the pizza took forever to come and it took a reminder after a good wait to make the bartender check on the pizza status.

Overall, it's one of those few places that are really hip vegan - love the confidence with which vegan community projects itself out there with bars and fine dining restaurant - bunking all the myths around...

We celebrated my birthday at Planta, booking online in advance. The restaurant offered a fine dining experience with a nice ambiance and without the pretentiousness. To be honest, I was unaware it was a fine dining feel to it but it was a pleasant surprise. There was no mention of the birthday, which I did put in the notes, no dessert given, or anything. They also only had one dessert option that I saw on the menu so...

One aspect that stood out was the confusing menu structure. The main menu and the specials were divided into monthly and happy hour sections, which made it quite challenging to navigate. Trying to read 4 pages of menu can be pretty taxing. We didn't realize we were ordering off the happy hour menu as the font must not have been very big/visible. I believe that clearer organization would improve the overall dining and ordering experience. The menus were extensive but very overwhelming, as there were so many delicious options to choose from!

Our server, can't remember his name, maybe Mike?, was attentive and efficient, providing good service throughout the evening. The coat check was a nice added touch :) Staff was nice but I wouldn't necessarily say friendly, minus one girl who was very understanding :)

The sharable options were a bit misleading; the portions were much smaller than expected and the odd number of pieces made it less than ideal.

The crispy tofu was enjoyable but could benefit from more flavour or a complementary sauce. The sushi lacked soy sauce by default, requiring us to ask for it separately. The potatoes were good, very decadent and had an interesting tangy sauce pairing. There was plenty of crema on them but the rest of the dishes lacked a sauce. Even the bao buns, they weren't very aesthetically pleasing, the portion was one bun on the main menu vs some other menu (too many menus to remember) had multiples of 3, I believe this was in the happy hour menu?, but nonetheless delicious. The bao buns were seriously lacking in sauce although :(

The presentation of the sharable dishes was beautiful, and the glasses used were elegant, as were the drinks.

On the positive side, this location is conveniently located near Bloor-Yonge station, making it quite accessible. The lighting was pleasant atmosphere. However, the tight seating arrangements were quite annoying to be honest. To get in and out of the chair was a challenge, constantly bumping into the person sat beside you.

While the taste of the food was overall delicious, the confusing menu structure and inconsistent sauce distribution was quite annoying and will hopefully be improved upon. The selection of creative and beautiful plant based options is definitely unique and I hope to be back soon, but with improvements made. I really wanted to love this place but there are quite a few factors that didn't allow me...

This is the second time I’ve taken a vegetarian friend here, and they’ve had nothing but praises to sing about the food. Our server Michael was lovely and personable, and the bussers and waitstaff were efficient and helpful. I loved the vegan sushi: the Volcano (which tasted pretty darn close to a spicy salmon roll - I could eat salmon every day and I’d easily come back for this weekly) and the sweet potato hand roll were my favourites.

The avocado beet tartare with taro chips was a crowd pleaser: light, whimsical, stunning to look at and delightful if you like either of the main ingredients! It could have been a birthday cake!

The poke bowl was flavourful and full of texture and variety, even without any tamari sauce.

I do want to bring attention to the unkind, unwelcoming, ungracious hostess, with brown hair and glasses - who barely acknowledged us, and told me the empty tables I spied were all reserved. I’d specifically checked and clocked a host of times available prior to coming here. I typically make reservations ahead of time, but figured with the heat wave yesterday and the abundance of seats available, plus the more casual, mid-range food of the restaurant, we would be OK. She continued to insist she only had bar seating and didn’t offer any alternatives, seemingly totally uninterested to entertain the conversation further. I stepped aside to look at OpenTable on my phone - and lo and behold, there were multiple time slots available. I brought this up to her. A server then came by to tell me she had a table, and escorted us to our seats. A few minutes later, another couple walked in and were seated next to us.

I’m a polite and undemanding guest, tip very well, and was looking to take an out of town friend for a celebratory meal here. She was excited to eat here. I really was not after this interaction, and did not appreciate the attitude of this hostess.

If this is a set process at the restaurant (e.g. all walk-ins are automatically assigned to bar seats, all guests need to follow policy and book first on OpenTable to sit at a table), I would have been more than happy to oblige - had it been explained to me. The fact that this rude, unhelpful woman seemed to be gatekeeping empty tables was not lost on me. I would recommend this location better train their front-of-house staff; specifically this woman, being the dour, unpleasant first point of contact every guest will interact with when they step into your...