Restaurant 20 Victoria — Restaurant in Toronto

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Unfolding like a graceful symphony, each course represents a new movement with textures, temperatures and aromas shifting in a deliberate tempo.

Snack time never felt so fresh, opening up with crisp spring radish, earthy romanesco, and candy-sweet Atlas carrots met with the gentle chew of marinated artichokes, all anchored by the bagna cauda. A savory tide of anchovy, garlic and salt lent each vegetable a briny, deeply umami edge that lingers on your mouth and mind.

Then, the Tuna & Squash meshed together seamlessly. Fatty Pacific bluefin tuna melted on the tongue, its faint ocean salinity tempered by pickled red curry pumpkin and a squash vinaigrette shining with acid and fruit. The prosciutto, unexpectedly, belonged there - its salty umami and subtle aged depth linking land and sea. Chopped roasted hazelnuts added crunch and perfume, their roasted aroma curling upward from the plate. The course closed on a flourish: a perilla leaf, peppery and anise-edged, wrapping around a scoop of negitoro.

Scallop & Turnip - something I'd likely never forget - followed with humble confidence. Nova Scotia scallops, sweet as cream, came sheathed in a crust of toasted sesame and flaxseed - nutty, fragrant, and whispering of nuttiness and smoke. Beneath, a pairing of almond ajo blanco and peppery turnip top pesto deepened the sweetness with spiced umami. The garnish of thinly poached hakurei turnip slices brought freshness and a crisp contrast, calling back to the interplay between land and sea.

Then, like an unexpected solo performance, no Google review truly prepares you for the Milk Bread. Soft, springy, and cloud-light, it was a joy in its own right - the kind of bread you tear into for every meal of the day. The browned crust carried a nutty aroma and faint salt shimmer, while the interior's web of gluten threads held butter like silk, catching dew. Even better, let the bread soak up the last traces of scallop sauce, making it the dish you'd shamelessly order twice - and probably will.

Then came the Cod & Tomato - a dish of near-misses redeemed by thoughtful balance. The Newfoundland cod, lightly steamed and smoked, was beautifully flaky but leaned too heavily on the salt. Relief came from the grape tomato bordelaise: peeled and juicy, and bursting with acidity and sweetness that cut through the salinity along with the fresh corn polenta. Its shell slightly set over a gooier core; its creamy and sweet mouthfeel is enough to eat alone, but helps absorb the excess salt and unite the dish in a final, harmonious bite with a touch of oregano.

Like a peaceful intermission focusing on plants, the Fennel & Peas arrived tender yet still holding a gentle crispness, carrying a faint perfume of anise seed, its sweetness deepened rather than masked. Shaved fennel on top added a refreshing snap, each bite layered with textural nuance. It rested in a light, mildly acidic sauce punctuated with black caviar - tiny bursts of umami that flickered across the palate without overwhelming the delicate fennel.

This evening’s centrepiece and, without question, its most arresting bite, Cornish Hen & Ratatouille, ladies and gentlemen. The hen, roasted to golden perfection, defied expectation: its crackling skin hid a whisper of rendered fat, giving way to meat so moist and tender that the breast could easily pass for dark meat. Each slice sang with concentrated, pure, primal chicken flavour that made me question every other poultry I’ve ever consumed, elevated by a deeply savory jus and cloud of olive oil aioli, whose airy richness enveloped the bird in silk. Beside it, the ratatouille was a small triumph in itself - simple yet perfectly executed. Layered with a caramelized golden crust that offers a nutty, toasty depth that contrasts the lower, confit-like richness of tomato, zucchini, and eggplant. The desserts were a sweet finale...

Been trying to hit up 20 Victoria for a while, but the reservations on Tock is just ridiculously hard to get, and being a noob and NOT knowing how this restaurant is set up caused me to book a "Bar" seating instead of the "Set Course" seating. This mistake was not made aware by my significant-other, until AFTER we sat down at our reservation. All-in-all, this was definitely one of the happiest mistakes that I have made.

20 Victoria, if I were to use some keywords for a TLDR version.. For the food, they will be "Clean, Light, and Explosive"; for the ambience, they will be "Cozy, friendly, home".

Food wise, it is actually hard to describe the food as clean and light while explosive in flavors. Normally, these words don't go together, but the Head Chef - Julie, definitely created dishes that warrants the use of these words.

We had a bit of a late reservation, at 8:45pm, Chris (who is the owner and also the host at our table), went on to explain that normally 3-4 dishes would be good for two to share. And we took that recommendation and started with the Halibut, Snowcrab and Greens. Preparation was a bit of a wait, but when the first dish landed -- the Snowcrab, it was light and bursting with flavors, we especially loved the daikon as it was fresh marinated thru and thru with savoury sauces. Then the Halibut with the beef au-jus, which I described to Chris -- that its "fish identifying as a cow." We chuckled but the halibut was perfectly poached and topped off with the umami flavor of the beef stock... it was simply delicious. Veggies are usually ordered in our family because of doctor's orders.. but Greens at 20 Victoria is just the perfect blend of savoury flavors and dressing. It was mid-way thru our meal we decided to order the Beef Tartare and the Chicken. The Chicken thigh was thinly sliced, with perfectly crispy skins topped with morel mushroom with a sweet & salty green sauce -- which I don't know what it was but I did try to lick the plate clean. Beef Tartare was out of this world with the cucumbers atop, making the dish -- which is traditionally heavy -- to be airy and light and being the foody I am, I ended up owning this entire dish when my partner decides to walk off to the powder room.

If you are keeping count, we definitely went over the 3-4 dish recommendation, and the count is now 5... and the best is yet to come -- desserts! We are "mindful" of our figures so we opt for 1 sweet dish -- the Crepe Suzette, its crepe topped with oranges and Orange Liqueur flambe... the outcome? A rich, tangy dessert that is not over-the-top sweet and sugary that will put the guilt over the fabulous meal I just had.

Food again, is amazing and 20 Victoria definitely is the rightful owner of a Michelin 1-Star. Restaurant is cozy, and family like. The open concept kitchen leaves nothing hidden, you know exactly who is handling your dish and when it make from the chefs prep table to your dining table. Food, is phenomenal and highly recommended.

20 Victoria's food have impressed me so much that its one of the first Michelin's restaurants that I will revisit in a few weeks. I was also made aware the menu changes quite often, so next time round, I may have a completely different food experience. High hopes is in-store to impress me once more. Fully looking...

Before reviewing the food, I want to mention that if you’re coming here just because it earned a Michelin star, I’d suggest reconsidering. After dining here, I seriously question Michelin’s credibility for awarding this restaurant a star. I’ve eaten at many Michelin-starred restaurants and written reviews for distinctive places, so I feel qualified to comment. This is the first restaurant that’s made me truly question Michelin’s standards.

First, the restaurant doesn’t allow odd-numbered reservations. If someone in your party can’t attend, they still charge the full price. One of our friends had to cancel, so we ended up with three people eating four meals. While this sounded nice initially, the food was so mediocre that it became a burden. The dishes were poorly seasoned, and I even questioned the freshness of the ingredients. It was like mid-level culinary school fare, not something worthy of a Michelin star.

What made it worse was that the service was equally mediocre. Our water glasses sat empty for a long time before being refilled, and my unfinished bread was taken away without any inquiry. The service felt cold and indifferent, and the explanations of the dishes were lackluster. The overall presentation of the dishes was sloppy. I’ll now focus on reviewing some of the specific dishes that truly puzzled me:

Tomato and Crab: There were bits of crab shell in the crab meat, and eating the crab on its own was extremely salty. When mixed together with the tomato, the flavor was passable—but just passable. However, no one explained that the ingredients were meant to be eaten together. We had to figure that out ourselves after realizing how underwhelming it was.

Niagara Gold: We were served a four-person portion, consisting of six slices of cheese. The cheese itself was unremarkable, and it was paired with an overly salty salad, which I found to be a baffling combination. There was no explanation from the server about how to enjoy the dish. Normally, cheese would be served with fruit or jam before dessert. This restaurant, however, decided to innovate—much to our amusement. None of us thought this pairing belonged here. Our guess was that the chef intended for us to put the cheese on the salad and crumble the accompanying crackers over the top, but when we tried this, it tasted terrible.

Dessert: There were two desserts to choose from, and we ordered two of each. If the previous courses were simply bad or too plain, the desserts were a disaster. Upon serving, an indescribable fishy smell wafted from the plates—I suspect it was from eggs, though I’m not sure. Both desserts were dense, wet cakes with different flavors. However, they were so similar in texture and stickiness that we had to drink water just to get them down. The cloying sweetness, along with a slight hint of artificial flavoring, was overwhelming.

There was one good thing: the complimentary bread was delicious. But I will never come back to this restaurant, and I recommend others avoid it as well. I genuinely don’t understand why this place is so popular. There are so many excellent restaurants in this neighborhood with far better options. To be fair, the price is relatively low ($145.84 per person), so perhaps you shouldn’t expect too much—but maybe we...