ISO: Good Resto with pan-seared foie gras within GTA

[KevH]

Hello all,

Wondering if any chowhounders can provide me with some recommendation within the GTA where they offer pan-seared foie gras in their regular menu or tasting menu.

I went through the board and it appears Blacktree in Burlington and Quatrefoil in Dundas are highly recommended, but it is too far for a weekday for us after work.

I went through George and Lucien's menu and it doesn't appear to have it. Black Hoofs is close for the day and certainly not the atomsphere I am looknig for.

Senses we will be there soon so I don't want to visit again so soon.

Is Brassaii any good?

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

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George
111 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1S2, CA

Lucien
36 Wellington St E, Toronto, ON M5E1C7, CA

Brassaii
461 King St. W, Toronto, ON M5V 1K7, CA

Senses
328 Wellington Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 3T4, CA

Blacktree
3029 New St, Burlington, ON L7N, CA

The Black Hoof
928 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M6J, CA

[KevH]

We had a very late dinner at Blacktree on Saturday night.

The foie was amazing, and the rest of the food was great!

Looks like that 1 hour drive (one way) is totally worth it to pay a visit.

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Blacktree
3029 New St, Burlington, ON L7N, CA

[Charles Yu]

Once in a while, Akasaka in Richmond Hill offers ' Teppenyaki Foie Gras' thats pretty good!

[s0memale]

North 44 always has a decent foie gras dish on their menu

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North 44
2537 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2H9, CA

[tjr]

The foie at Bymark is great as well (though pricey).

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Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

[Charles Yu]

Call ahead and they even do a WHOLE ' roasted lobe'!!

[tjr]

This is the one I'm referring to (they do it at Bymark as well). It's pretty delicious.

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Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

[Charles Yu]

Still $120 or are they charging more?

[tjr]

Most likely; I haven't had it in a couple of years. Too much excellent foie gras in France has put me off the overpriced and generally mediocre versions in Toronto. Montreal is another story, however!

[KevH]

We were at Restaurant Le Saint-Amour in Quebec City, which is suppose to be famous for foie gras, and it wasn't up to it's hype.

We've tried both North44 and Bymark, and both McEwan restaurants failed to impress.

For the long weekend, we are trying Blacktree, fingers crossed!

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Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

Blacktree
3029 New St, Burlington, ON L7N, CA

[tjr]

You ordered the full roasted lobe at Bymark or North 44? If so, what was wrong with the foie?

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North 44
2537 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2H9, CA

Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

[elvisahmed]

I tried the foie gras at North 44 as it was part of the tasting menu when I went there. It was ok not great so was the serving with french toast at hoof cafe while it was open. To tell you the truth once you get spoiled by Foie Gras King Au Pied De Cochon its hard to be satisfied with lesser offerings. I have read Didier does a good version of it maybe other can chime in.

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North 44
2537 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4P 2H9, CA

[tjr]

Part of a tasting menu, or part of a 'licious menu? The dish Charles and I are talking about is a specific menu item that you have to call in advance to order. It's probably the best foie preparation I've had in Toronto. If you've had this specific dish and it was "just ok," what exactly was wrong with it?

While I do like APDC, it's also pretty overrated and doesn't help the OP. There's much better foie in France than at APDC, but that isn't exactly beneficial, right?

[elvisahmed]

Nope not summer/winter licious but the tasting menu as I had specifically requested that Foie Gras course be included. I am not talking about the whole roasted lobe as I would luv to try that out besides I thought that was only a Bymark thing no?
What was wrong with the one at N44 hmm I guess I am not a big fan of when the sweet over powers the Foie itself.
P.S. I don't think APDC is overrated and exceeds my expectations every time but that's just my personal opinion.

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Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

[tjr]

I've only had it at Bymark, but I'm sure you can probably order it in advance at N44 as well. I have had foie at both N44 and Bymark that wasn't exceptional for me, but the roasted lobe has always been consistently one of the best foie dishes I've had Toronto by a long shot.

APDC is certainly a good restaurant, and I like it. It's just enormously overrated (there are better places to eat in Montreal); some of this is that it's a bit gimmicky, and a lot of the dishes can be hit or miss. I've eaten a lot of foie there, but I don't think any of them would end up on a list of my top 10 favourite foie dishes.

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Bymark
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1J3, CA

[elvisahmed]

Thanks for your input tjr I guess I will try other place on my next trip to Montreal.
As for the whole lobe I guess we would need at least 3-4 people to justify ordering it. As for other places I recall having a good serving at the now defunct JW Steakhouse and Opus a long time ago. I believe Opus is still in business so my recommendation might not still apply.

[foodyDudey]

Opus is still in business and they have foie gras on the menu:
Seared foie gras on maple-glazed apples and currant purée $24

I'll hope to try it there soon!

[aser]

Coming from someone that likes APDC, a big part of their appeal is their ridiculous portion sizes. Personally, it's one of the things I don't like about the place, just too much food. Makes it hard to dine there unless people you're with are willing to share.

I can't contribute much to foie in Toronto, last time I had it was tasting menu era of Splendido, which is a ways back.

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Splendido
88 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1G5, CA

[tjr]

Part of the gimmick :-)

[atomeyes]

after eating the full lobe in San Sebastian (Spain) for a fraction of what Toronto restaurants charge, I cannot fork out the $$ for it here. it pains me what they charge.

[tjr]

If we were to eat nothing but that which we could find cheaper elsewhere, we'd all starve to death!

[KevH]

Thank you all. A lot of good suggestions.

I ended up treading down to Pastis to take a look at the menu. Based on the crowd there on a Thursday evening and previous recommendation from family friend, I made a reservation there. Will definitely report back after the meal. (We have been spoilt by the quality in NY and Vegas, so we hope to find something more local.)

Looks like we will have quite a few places to try in the coming weeks!

[KevH]

Well, we visited Pastis tonight for dinner. In summary, it was quite underwhelming.

The restaurant got very busy (and noisy) towards 8:00 pm.

We ordered:

Duo of Foie Gras and duck confit

Ravioli with snail

Prime rib for two

Dessert sampler and strawberry with custard and shortcake crumbs.

The foie gras is quite greasy, as is the ravioli. The foie gras is cooked well, has a bit of crunchy texture, seasoning is good, but it just doesn't seem to taste like others we have had. The duck confit was dry, as if it was either overcooked, or left over slices.

The ravioli is served on what looks like a bed of olive oil with spices. The ravioli doesn't have much taste or flavour to it and the pasta itself is quite hard.

The prime rib (for two) was served with spinach (which is quite bitter) and frites (which is quite good). The meat quality is so-so.

The desserts are quite nice, and their cappuccino is VERY strong.

We did not order any alcohol, the bill came to about $140 for two without tips.

It seems like everyone in the restaurant enjoyed their food very much, perhaps we ordered the wrong food in their menu...

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Pastis
1158 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M4W2L9, CA

[junkie]

la societe... hit and miss

[KevH]

Thank you all. I'm still undecided at the moment, but now I have a good list of resto to check out in the near future!

Cheers!

[PrincessStress]

I'm usually not a fan of foie gras, just because the very first time i've had it, it was done VERY badly at a friend's wedding. But i tried it again a few months ago at Black Hoof.....and it was AMAZING. The outside was nice and crispy, the inside was nice and creamy!

[ibraineater]

Sidecar on College has foie on the menu. There's the seared foie side dish and a foie appetizer. And they're pretty damn good - especially the seared foie on top of the duck confit gnocchi. It's a one-time-a-year indulgence.

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Sidecar
577 College St., Toronto, ON M6G 1B2, CA

[1sweetpea]

Cava has incredible foie gras crostini. I recall foie gras on the Lai Toh Heen tasting menu. It can definitely be ordered from the dim sum menu at Lai Wah Heen as well. None of these are pan-seared, per se, but very tasty applications of foie gras.

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Lai Wah Heen
108 Chestnut St, Toronto, ON M5G 1R3, CA

Lai Toh Heen
692 Mt Pleasant Rd, Toronto, ON M4S, CA

Cava
1560 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4T 2S9, CA

[KevH]

Thank you all. Any recent experiences?

I was reading through the older reivews and Trevor Kitchen was not recommended?

Patis was recommended to me previously, but they have no presence online, only a few things here and there about it.

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Trevor Kitchen
38 Wellington St E, Toronto, ON M5E1C7, CA

[dessertgal]

I've been to Trevor recently and I loved its dishes, although I have not tried foie gras. I was too full and satisfied already. Will be back for sure to try its foie gras though.

[bytepusher]

I have not heard good things about Brassaii since it changed ownership a couple years back.

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Brassaii
461 King St. W, Toronto, ON M5V 1K7, CA

[Charles Yu]

Pastis!

[dessertgal]

Anyone tried Trevor Kitchen and Bar? I think they have a separate section on the menu with foie gras dishes too.

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Trevor Kitchen
38 Wellington St E, Toronto, ON M5E1C7, CA

[Chocolatemama]

My husband and I enjoy Trevor and you are right; they have a whole section with foie gras dishes. My husband really enjoyed the seared foie gras with blueberry pancakes and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Truffled Goat Cheese Poutine with foie gras! You can add a piece of seared foie gras to any main entree for I think it was $15.

[hungryabbey]

I too have ordered off of trevors foie menu and loved the foie gras with pancakes. The only other foie gras dish I tried there was more of the torchon preparation, but very good regardless.

[GonzoGirl]

Harbour 60 has nice foie gras

[bytepusher]

Salt Wine Bar on Ossington has a Foie seared "alla plancha", good enough that when we went we had 2 orders of it. It's a nice room, the service was OK but slightly uneven and the wine list is rather odd but the food was mostly solid.

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Salt Wine Bar
225 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J 2Z7, CA

[KevH]

Thanks! If anyone has other suggestions as well, please post!