101906 Tue Feb 01 18:09:23 -0800 2005 7 23 Ontario (including Toronto) 0 551650 Recently was part of a party of five at Avalon. Found the tasting menu disappointing, five fish courses, including one of the worst things i have ever eaten, deep-fried stickleback. At $120.00 per head the food bill was $690.00 including taxes, after adding wine and a tip we were out a grand. I thought the food was mediocre at best, as anyone else tried this restaurant? Tue Feb 01 18:09:23 -0800 2005 0 Galloping Gourmet 1 551654 Noticed their gradual decline ever since large chunk of their kitchen staff left for Perigee. Gave it a couple of tries after James Chatto's article defending MacDonald and praising his "10 course-different cooking technique- tasting menu". Two stand out dissappointment when I ate there: 1) Two out of three of his famous Sardines appertizers smelled horribly fishy and mushy in character. Definitely un-fresh. 2) Entree of sweet-bread must have been left on the counter for a long time before dish was taken and served by the waiter. The supposedly crisp texture exterior of the sweetbread was again mushy. A film was seen covering the sauce indicating the dish was left standing for a long time. Sauce tasted SO BLAND as if it was made in some school canteen kitchen! With so many outstanding restaurants offering tasty, inovative and 'value for money' tasting menus, will not return unless PROVEN otherwise. Four meals I had recently in Square, George, Perigee and Splendido all involved tasting menus. Each one was memorable and far better than what Avalon had offered!! Tue Feb 01 20:10:17 -0800 2005 551650 0 Charles 2 551683 Wow, this is so disappointing to read as Avalon has always been on my "want to go" list! Wed Feb 02 10:45:32 -0800 2005 551654 0 Rick B. 3 551714 I agree with the above posters. I was coaxed into going to Avalon, after resisting for some time because of the unappealing location. It's not that it's far to go, it's just that the "Entertainment District" is generally not where good food is. Anyhow, the food was very humdrum at best. Foie Gras was good enough, but only inasmuch as it's always good. The preparation was not unique and did not specifically enhance the foie. I had duck which was leathery; I could barely cut it. The place itself is nothing special to look at. It may even be somewhat uncomfortable and unwelcoming. It won't be around in 3 years. Wed Feb 02 14:26:29 -0800 2005 551683 0 Fwagra 1 551661 I went last December to Avalon. We were a party of four. Three of us had the tasting menu and one of us ordered from the regular menu. The food was bland and uninspiring. Service was poor. We have no plans to return to Avalon, especially considering there are so many better restaurants in Toronto in the same price range. Peace, Thom Tue Feb 01 20:49:20 -0800 2005 551650 0 ThomOnTheNet 2 551737 Yup - years ago - it was okay then but not great, given the price. If it hasn't improved (and we know the view hasn't), it probably isn't worth the effort. Wed Feb 02 17:52:48 -0800 2005 551661 0 chantal 1 551745 We did Winterlicious there last year. Watch out when they take reservations using your credit card. We left a sizeable tip after the dinner and then were shocked when the credit card bill arrived. Not only was the cost of the meal on there but they were so kind as to give themselves a gratuity when making the reservation without having informed us. We phoned the restaurant---they were difficult to get ahold of and to this date, the issue has not been resolved. (We finally gave up.) To add insult to injury, many of the items on the Winterlicious menu had an additional charge. It was not a cheap evening. And you're right, we've had better food elsewhere. We won't be going back there again. Wed Feb 02 20:13:58 -0800 2005 551650 0 Biscotti Babe 1 552203 i was horribly disappointed with avalon. my mother had been there with clients beforehand and had said it surpasses many other restaurants. but i must say i've had significantly better for all my expectations at places like burrito boyz. so many dishes that shouldn't have been served cold were practically frigid. creativity was lacking and i found much it of it bland. never go. i'm looking forward to going to perigee sometime though. Thu Feb 10 17:28:11 -0800 2005 551650 0 pinstripeprincess