Midi Bistro

This is the last part of the Winterlicious'03 saga. Yes, I know I mentioned that I went to four restaurants this year; unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take pictures while I was at Bodega. It is a very nice (and a bit pricey) French restaurant, and it is probably one of my favourite 'licious events thus far. I'm still sad I won't be able to blog about that for you guys, but if you're interested, check out their website. 

I craved for French food constantly this winter, and we've heard great reviews of Midi bistro, so we decided to give it a go. Le friend and I liked the place right away, as the restaurant is very quaint and cozy looking. Especially during the dead of winter, the restaurant makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The plate closest to you is a crostini sautéed portobello mushroom, caramelized onion with blue cheese with a salad on the side. The crostini is quite good; they really got the savoury flavour into the mushrooms and onions. On the other hand, blue cheese is a difficult venture. It can easily overpower the delicate flavours of the mushrooms, but this one didn't. Also, people's affinity to blue cheese vary so widely, it is difficult to say how much blue cheese is enough. Midi Bistro managed this well though, there is a nice balance of flavours. My only complaint is the baguette. The inside of the baguette is as hard as the crust making it very difficult to eat. One last note: why are they serving an Italian appetizer in a French restaurant?

Pâté, toasts and gherkins.  

This is my appetizer. Again, the baguette is a bit too hard for my liking. The pâté was a bit chunky and hard to spread. The salad was good though, the dressing is zesty and light, which compliments the pâté well. 

For the main course, we both chose the roasted confit of duck leg with blueberry sauce. First thought that came to mind was how small our main course is. We're not big eaters, but the duck leg left us wanting more meat. We've had a bigger duck leg as an appetizer in Annona. On top of that, the meat is very dry and chewy, the skin took us a minute to saw through. On top of that, the sweetness of the blueberry sauce is way too overpowering. This combination of blueberry and duck is not great. When eaten with the sauce, this dish tastes more like a dessert than a main course. On top of that, the bottom half of the duck leg was fried, and inedible. We were left wanting a lot more.

Poire belle helene - poached pear with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

The pear is pre-made at least a while ago. Not only is it just as cold as the ice cream, it is very hard to cut through. The combination of ice cream, chocolate, and poached pear sounds divine, but this dessert left me wanting a lot more.

Crème brûlée. 

They burnt the sugar, which left a bitter after taste after every bite. 

Overall Review: 

Food: 6/10 

The tastiest thing we had was the crostini. Everything else left us wanting a lot more. Winterlicious has really taken a toll on their quality. 

Ambience: 9/10

We loved the cozy feel of the restaurant. It is an intimate yet relaxed setting, good for a date. 

Service: 8/10

The waitress was attentive, and the courses came quickly after one another. I was just a bit disappointed that she did not know what I was talking about when I ordered my dinner using the French name of the dishes on the menu. I understand not everyone speaks French in Toronto, but I think it's reasonable to say one should at least know the name of the dishes they're serving. 

Price: N/A 

Winterlicious/Summerlicious prices are adjusted; not reflective of their normal price range. 

Final Verdict: 7/10

I would give Midi Bistro another try when it is not doing one of these 'licious events, solely based on the fact that I've heard good recommendations from friends. 

Address: 

168 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON M5T 1W4

(416) 977-2929

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Ciao Wine Bar

Another place we decided to try for Winterlicious is Ciao Wine Bar, an Italian restaurant in Yorkville. The first thing we noticed is how busy this place is! Though we made a reservation and arrived on time, we had to wait around 20 minutes to be seated. This is, however, not the case for the non-Winterlicious crowd. They were seated within 10 minutes upon arrival. (I apologize in advance for the picture quality) 

 Top floor of the restaurant, where the non-Winterlicious crowd was seated. 

 Basement level, where the Winterlicious crowd was seated. 

 Basement level. 

Top level. 

 Roasted salmon, winter vegetable risotto. 

This is my main dish (sorry I didn't get to take pictures of the appetizers). First of all, if I knew there were shredded olives, I wouldn't have ordered this, but it wasn't in the description. It wouldn't be so bad if the dish didn't depend on the olives for taste. Okay, lets start with the salmon. It is grilled perfectly, the skin is crispy, yet the meat is still juicy and tender; what it's lacking is flavour. They did not season the fish at all. (To be fair, they were relying on the olives for flavour.) This is also the problem with the risotto. 

Ciao should've either included olives into the menu description or flavour the other components of the dish, so people like me, who dislikes olives would know not to choose this dish. 

Chianti braised short ribs with gorgonzola polenta and crispy onions. 

This is my friend's dish. I only had a small bite of polenta, but it is hearty and flavourful. It is very smooth and buttery. The short ribs are even better. Well, it's either that or the disappointment of my entrée augmented my score for the short ribs. The short ribs are very tender, juicy, and the sauce not too salty with a hint of sweetness to it. It may sound a bit ironic, but I wish the Chianti wine flavours would be more prominent; yet at the same time, I wish the sauce was not so overpowering so that it would actually retain the natural flavours of the meat. The combination of the polenta, the short ribs and the fried onions is a bit too heavy for my taste. It would be nice if they could incorporate another acid element, aside from the wine, to the dish somehow. Though take into consideration that I'm just being nit-picky here. 

Panna cotta. 

It is a nice way to end the meal with a panna cotta. The dessert is smooth and creamy. You can't really go wrong with a panna cotta. 

Overall Review: 

Food: 8/10 

I tried to be very conscious of not letting the salmon affect my food ratings since the dish probably would've been great for someone who likes olives. Everything else was on par, and one can easily tell the chefs are definitely capable and very experienced in what they're doing. The reason I didn't give the food a higher rating is because they're lacking the creative element. What makes Ciao different from any other Italian restaurant? Basing it on this meal, not much. I can easily find another restaurant that serves similar food with similar taste. Everything is very good; just not very memorable. 

Ambience: 8/10 

Cookie cutter clean and mod vibe. Like their food, they do it well, but it's not very memorable. 

Service: 7.5/10

It took forever for the waitress to notice we wanted to order, needed our water refilled, wanted to get the bill, and actually pay. Also, I wasn't able to pick up the phone when they called to confirm my reservation on the day of; but when I called back (several times in fact), they did not pick up.

Their saving grace is the fact that they gave us new utensil new cutlery for every course. I really appreciated that. Ciao is the first Winter/Summerlicious restaurant I've been to that has done this. They deserve a pat on the back for that. 

Price: N/A 

Winter/Summerlicious prices are adjusted and is not reflective of their normal price range. 

Overall Verdict: 7.75/10

The 'licious events are not indicative of the restaurants' usual quality; and given the good reviews, I would most likely give Ciao another try in the future. 

Address: 

133 Yorkville Avenue
Toronto, ON M5R 1C4

(416) 925-2143

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