The Ace — Restaurant in Toronto

If you're looking for an inviting, low key, and relaxed diner with personality, this would be your place for brunch. We arrived fairly early on a Sunday morning (just before 10 am) and snagged a free table that just finished. Though its no where as crazy as Lady Marmalade for line up but there was a steady stream where of families to keep a waiting list going.

This closely reminds me of Lady Marmalade except Ace a bit more hip, chill, and considerably less little kids running about. We maybe had 1 table here with a child ... whereas Lady Marmalade was a near zoo with much food tossing and little feet pittering and pattering. Ace does not have a lot of tables... mostly tables of 3 people. You could push 4 into an area if you know each other really well. It's not well lit so for those who are avid food picture takes (ahem me...) it really pushes your photo editing skills to the limit.

Service here is really friendly ... they have this great relaxed vibe that you feel you could just open with a funny story of your day and they'll love it. There are definite regulars here and you can see in the way they interact in the staff that it's their perfect spot. Almost like old friends.

The menu here is not very big but its fairly well curated. We came for the French Toast so that was not negotiable and I got their daily omelette (kale & brie) with a good cup of coffee & the Pluck Muskoka Chai tea. Before I get into the food, this place does tea and coffee pretty good... you don't get coloured water but actually enough tea leaves and spices to make a good cup.

Blueberry caramelized banana french toast - Soft challah bread that are soaked in custard and grilled up nicely but leaving the interior quite eggy soft. The caramelized bananas add a wonderful flavour and the blueberries give it a nice sweet tart berry note to it. Though this didnt come with syrup or much powdered sugar, I think it hit the right sweet notes. 4.5/5

Kale Brie omelette - it came with a generous portion of breakfast potatoes (really fries but in chunks). The addition of the hot sauce made it a hearty meal as the omelette was a fair portion. I did feel there was not much brie at all in there but I was happy with seeing some greens peak through. I liked how the omelette wasn't overcooked or rubbery. 4/5

Definitely come here for the relaxed easy Sunday brunches and indulge in a very good french toast. I would say it's definitely in the top 5 and with the prices fairly reasonable and the wait not too bad, this is a good decent spot to keep on your regular...

There’s a growing prevalence of restaurants making access to their menus and the information generally about them available only through specific social media platforms, such as FaceBook and Instagram. If a prospective guest doesn’t have that particular social media platform, they are often reliant on photos on Google maps of the menu or calling the restaurant directly. When the restaurant doesn’t answer the phone, it makes it even harder to know what to expect.

Accordingly, when we tried to determine in advance if there were vegetarian options available, it was impossible to to adequately determine that.

So, the vegetarian in our party only discovered that there is no vegetarian main on offer.

But on to the food.

The bread was delightful. We weren’t sure if the bread was made in-house or not, but well done regardless.

The roast beets and ricotta were fine, but somewhat lacking excitement. Although roasted, the beets were peeled and the accompanying dressing and pistachio dust didn’t do much to elevate straight-up beets.

The dauphine potatoes suffered a similar fate. The flavours were not offensive by any means, but also not especially mesmerizing either. Something to bring forth the creaminess would have been a welcome addition. Maybe something acidic.

The burger was apparently pretty good, but I didn’t try that. The burger eater said it was elevated over regular burgers.

The best dish was a surprise to both us and the server. The server said it was their favourite dish. When we got it, they said it was not the roasted eggplant dish they thought it was, but a new version. It was great. Creamy and subtle and a hint of smoke … but then a great zing from chili and a nice addition of cilantro. This dish turned it around.

The basque cheesecake was what one would expect and pretty decent.

The cocktails were also very good and another saving grace.

Overall a pleasant experience, but not enough to maybe encourage a...

Location:In Parkdale (this is what the Google leads me to believe). Street parking is available but is paid until 9pm (I went on a Wednesday).

The place: Legit awesome. The owners took an existing diner that dates back many moons ago, but didn’t demo anything - so the diner has maintained its charm, offering a warm, hospital environment. I should mention that the staff have excellent taste in music and for me, that’s crucial in contributing to the overall vibe of a place. Anyway, I digress.

The goods: Delectable, delightful, fresh, bursting with flavour. Need I go on? My friend and I shared the carrots and labneh as a starter because it was light. I ordered the striped bass and she ordered the duck. We both loved our meals - really, there’s nothing more to say other than I don’t usually eat fish skin but in this case, it looked so crispy and inviting that I went all out and left nothing on the plate.

I had the Basque cheesecake for dessert - it was light and fluffy with a subdued flavour that I appreciated. My friend had the sticky toffee pudding (?) cake and is currently looking up recipes on how to make it.

Service: Excellent, and I don’t get some of the other reviews that say otherwise (I guess it’s possible me for the staff to have a bad night). Our hostess, Bree, made us feel welcome from the moment we walked in, and basically accompanied us throughout the meal with great conversation - she’s got a good sense of humour. The manager, whose name I did not get, was also friendly.

Price point: Depending on what you order, I’d say a meal can cost about $60 before taxes. Considering that these guys work with fresh, seasonal ingredients, they play great music AND provide stellar service, I think that’s a fair price.

Highly recommend and looking forward to my next visit! Thanks - you...