Mercatto

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Dec 20, 2014
Company: Annual SJ Secret Santa gift exchange with 11 participants

This year, I was put in charge of organizing the annual Secret Santa with university friends, handed down from +Stanley who's off in NYC doing bigger and better things. I started planning early because I knew it would be difficult to find a reservation for a large group during that time of year near the Financial District downtown Toronto. I looked up a few places and decided on Mercatto, a restaurant where I could blog about the food and my non-foodies friends could still get familiar dishes without spending too much. They have a few locations in the downtown area, all situated fairly close to each other. Anyhow, I emailed them and they were very accommodating of our reservation for 14 and even warned us of the 18% gratuity fee added to large parties.

Our reservation was at 6PM and people slowly started to trickle in while others we knew would be arriving late. About 3 people went to the Eaton Centre location because of a bug on Facebook phone app leading them to the wrong address (not my fault, worked fine on a browser!). We got a long table in the back near the kitchen, but the restaurant isn't very big anyway so you could still see the front entrance from where we were. The staff was helpful and gave us an extra table to put all our presents on so they didn't have to be on the floor. I especially enjoyed the lighting of the place, it was warm with lots of candles but still bright enough to see each other. It was also very warm in temperature which made it extra cozy.

For drinks, they have a huge selection of wine and about 3 choices for draught beer each at $7 so I ordered a Moretti from Italy. We decided to put in our orders around 7PM as it was uncertain when the others were going to make it. My friends had a bit of trouble figuring out the menu which consisted of many Italian words which I think may have been a bit imitating. After questioning the waitress, we all ended up getting pizza anyways. I ordered the Speck e Spinaci with was topped with smoked ham, spinach, padano cheese, and besciamella sauce. We also requested the complementary bread as their menu noted that we had to ask for it.

Our free bread came and it was joyous because we were starving. The bread was soft and the olive oil given was surprisingly flavourful. Funny story, one friend of mine (who I"ll keep nameless) tried to spread the oil across the bread with his knife and it got everywhere! It was hilarious as having gone to university together, we're used to going to McDonald's and low-budget bars together and not classy adult restaurants, so it was a fun(ny) experience!

Our pizza came and as I was taking pictures of mine, +Alex had rolled his up to a tortilla and finished his first slice already! The pizza looked big on the plate but it was extremely thin, possibly the thinnest pizza I've had. I found the dough a bit floury especially on the crust. I was also not used not having a tomato based sauce so it was an interesting eating experience for me as well. The ham was delicious, crispy like bacon and the spinach was mushy (in a good way!) and added subtle flavour. There was something I didn't quite enjoy fully about the pizza and I'm not sure if it was the sauce or cheese. I was also very envious of the Pepperoni Pizza because that looked amazing and I almost got that instead.

After everyone had arrived and ordered, we got to exchange presents and pass around chocolates that people had received for dessert. We had settled the bills and still stayed for a quite a while after that. I think the restaurant wasn't too impressed but they didn't say anything to us. They didn't need the table or anything but I think we stayed about 4 hours there. I want to think that everyone had a fun and good dining experience here, for me it was a great night and Mercatto was very accommodating.

Food: 2.5/5 - My pizza wasn't the greatest, thought it was over-priced. I can appreciate the authenticity but I've had better. 

Decor: 4.5/5 - Great ambiance and atmosphere, many large groups that night similar to us.

Service: 3/5 - Very helpful and I don't think we were the easiest party to service but they were nice and friendly. Waitress wasn't impressed that I didn't tell her separate bills in the beginning though.

Willingness to go back: 2/5 - Good for parties like this but probably wouldn't go here specifically on a date night or anything, could think of better places.

Overall: 3/5

Website: http://www.mercatto.ca/

La Bettola Di Terroni

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Nov 8, 2013

Company: Date night with +Will

Will and I decided to go a bit fancy one Friday and have dinner at La Bettola, a nice Italian place just up the street from his. We passed by many times before seeing classy people with their fancy wines and dishes through the windows. I was excited to check it out as Will had gone before and said it had excellent authentic Italian food. We didn't think to make a reservation that night which was probably a poor choice. The hostess that greeted people at the door asked if we wanted to sit at La Bettola or Osteria, which is apparently a different restaurant but they share the same kitchen (and apparently staff). It was a bit confusing when she asked us that but Osteria to the right would have been a 20 minute wait and Bettola to the left only had bar seats open as they had a large reservation at 8PM. We just decided to sit at the bar as we were quite hungry. There were other couples seated at the bar as well but there were also many free tables we could have sat at and been out by 8PM for.  

We were given water by the bartender from jars they have stacks of in the back. Taking a look at the menu, it was very different from what I had seen online. I can understand if the menu items may change but the pricing was very off. After some compromise and figuring out what things were, we decided on 2 starters and 2 mains. We also got some bread to start but I wasn't a fan, it was hard and the outside tasted burnt. The oil they gave for dipping also tasted odd. 

+Will first got the Prosciutto Platter (can't recall the real name) which was very large and consisted of Prosciutto on a bed of arugula with pretzel and bara-like tortilla. I had had prosciutto a few weeks earlier and was turned off of it from the smell so I thought I would only have a bit of his starter, but I actually ate about half of it. The prosciutto was the best I've had, it wasn't too salty and had great texture and freshness. The arugula added a nice flavour to it also. I didn't really enjoy the pretzel things because they were too hard and had strong seed in them I didn't like. The round, soft and fluffy bread thing on the other hand, was great and paired very well with the meat. I got the Leek & Potato Soup to start and that was very delicious as well. It was quite thick and heavy but had good flavour. It maintained a hot temperature through my eating also. 

For my main, I got the Ravioli con Ricotta e Scamorza which consisted of 4 pieces of ravioli stuff with cheese with some tomatoes on the plate. It was a very small portion but at this point I wasn't too upset as I was quite stuffed from the starters. Despite the size of the dish, the ravioli itself was delicious and stuff with lots of cheese. The dough was fresh and had good proportion to the filling. This was the first time I had a dish like this but I'm glad I got to try it. Will got the Pizza topping with Arugala, Mozzarella and Sun-Dried Tomatoes which was a chef special that day. The portion of his pizza was large, even though it was thin crust, it was like the size of a medium pizza. Pizza was definitely the way to go by looking at what others were also ordering. Some people were ordering just a few dishes to share but most ordered a pizza to themselves. The pizza was delicious, it was crispy and had great combination of flavours. The tomato sauce was minimal but was sweet and tangy. The crust was great and a bit over-cooked but I still enjoyed it. We took most of the home and enjoyed it for breakfast the next day.

Overall, I think La Bettola Di Terroni is a nice classy restaurant if you want to splurge for the night. I noticed every woman I saw there was wearing a bold statement necklace and men also were well-dressed. It caters to that type of crowd and I think you should be prepared to spend. I would suggest getting the pizza for sure though, completely worth the money.

Food: 4/5 - Some average dishes but most were spectacular.

Decor: 3.5/5 - Lively atmosphere with modern chic decor and wooden accents, wasn't a fan of the bar seat though.

Service: 3/5 - Not bad at all, pretty quick with dishes.

Willingness to come back: 2/5 - Wouldn't go out of my way to return for a full meal... until I start making a bit more money.

Overall: 3/5

Website: http://labettola.ca/

JOEY

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Oct 12, 2013
Company: Thanksgiving weekend reunion lunch with +Elliott, +Stanley, +Will, +Brian, & +Alex

While planning a reunion lunch during the long Thanksgiving weekend with some friends, I was trying to decide what area of Toronto was best for everyone to meet as we're all located in different areas of the GTA. While the toss-up was between Don Mills and Yorkdale Mall, both with great restaurants, Yorkdale had the easier accessibility. I tried to make a reservation on the Thursday before the planned date and JOEY responded back that their large group reservations were full and usually book up weeks in advance. This made me worry because I know how busy their Eaton Centre location is for dinner. Either way, we decided to go for a walk-in as I really didn't believe it would be full on the long weekend. So we all gathered one-by-one outside the restaurant at Yorkdale and went in to discover that the place was only about half-full to my delight.
We were seated immediately in a large booth as a server came to take our drink orders. JOEY is considered a more upscale, but still casual dining place with locations across Canada. They do cater for the more ritzy crowd and I notice that they have many young good-looking employees staffing the restaurant. This location was huge with TVs everywhere and an upstairs as well. It was a beautiful day so the sun was shining through the many large windows to show off the sharp decor of the restaurant. It couldn't have been a more fitting day to get a Summer Sangria which was on special for $6. The sangria was filled with berries and some orange coloured slush, which made it even more delicious than a regular sangria. I loved this drink and is probably my favourite sangria I've had at a restaurant so far. It's sweet and fruity where you can't even taste the alcohol :)


Their food menu is very extensive with a variety of culture (Sushi section) but also to sticking to classics. There are many interesting options and prices are mid-ranged. I wasn't feeling too hungry so I decided to just go for the Soup with Salad. The Soup of the Day was some Chicken, Vegetable, and Rice mix and it was very tasty with many seasonings. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't even fill the bowl all the way to the top and the soup was hot, but not steaming which I would have preferred. The House Salad was delicious, topped with almonds, feta, random shaved vegetables, and a house vinaigrette that wasn't too heavy. It also came with some Garlic Bread, it was a pretty big piece and the bread was nicely toasted and soft on the inside. 

+Will and I also ordered Cheeseburger Sliders to share. They had pickles and a secret sauce on them and it was all it needed really. They were so cute and easy to eat but smaller than I had expected. Nothing too special about them, it was an okay dish. They came with side of chips which were a bit bland as it had no seasoning.

Food: 3/5 - Dishes weren't bad, fresh ingredients all around though.
Decor: 5/5 - Loved the decor here, so elegant and chic.
Service: 2/5 - Took quite long to get our dishes.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Would definitely check out JOEY's again! Perfect place for a classy get-together.
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://www.joeyrestaurants.com/