My boyfriend always wanted to try tasting menus but was hesitant given our dietary needs. So what better way to surprise him for his birthday than to try a tasting menu at this highly rated restaurant.
[custom_box width=”60%” bgcolor=”#D5F2B6″ border_color=”#3F9F29″ text_color=”#3F9F29″ icon_url=”https://www.fionaman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/knife-fork.jpg”]RESTAURANT: Yours Truly
ADDRESS: 229 Ossington Ave Toronto, ON M6J 2Z8
CUISINE: Canadian
PHONE: (416) 533-2243
WEBSITE: http://www.yours-truly.ca[/custom_box]
Note: Apologies in advance. I’m still learning to use my new camera, so the quality of the photos aren’t my best.
From the website:
Yours Truly takes a genuine approach to innovation in a casual environment, keeping things inventive yet accessible.
Absorbing knowledge from both classic and progressive restaurants around the globe has provided Chef Lachlan Culjak and his team the ability to focus on providing an experience that honestly reflects our philosophy.
We aim to bring down the wall between the kitchen and diners; sharing techniques, ingredients and personalizing the dining experience. Our menus change frequently, inspired by evolving ideas paired with the best seasonal ingredients available.
The tasting menu is comprised of 4 courses. There are two options for each course, one vegetarian and one omnivorous, where diners get to choose the key ingredient. That night, the options were: endive/rabbit, cauliflower/scallop, potato/duck (misprinted on the menu), and mushroom/beet.
When I made the reservation online, I made a note that we had dietary restrictions and was celebrating my boyfriend’s birthday. I can’t believe they actually took the note to heart because they brought up complimentary glasses of champagne! The waitress even came to let us know that they will be substituting ingredients in the dishes to accommodate for our dietary restrictions.
To start, we received three amuse-bouche: mussels, salmon, and mackerel. Each bite was flavourful and well balanced.
When the first dish arrived, we saw the craft and attention to detail taken when plating. The rabbit was presented in three ways: loin, leg, and liver mousse. Everything was well complimented and just melted in your mouth. My only dislike about the dish was the use of juniper as I don’t like the taste of it. It wasn’t my favourite component of the dish but I understood the direction the chef was taking .
Rabbit: Rabbit loin stuffed with black trumpet mushroom, rabbit leg (confit) with fried lichen, juniper powder, black currants
Another surprise dish on the night were these fried garlic bread doughs. It was described as pizza garlic bread dough that was tossed into the fryer. It tasted exactly like that but without the greasiness. Our stomaches definitely welcomed this lovely treat.
For drinks we ordered the dirty martini and raspberry lemonade. No complaints here as they were well executed and quite delicious!
The surprises just kept on coming as we received two other dishes. These dishes truly epitomize on why you need components with different textures. The creaminess of the cheese balanced out the crunchiness of the spinach and wild rice. And the chicken liver mousse was so smooth and decadent that it just melded so well with the gougères.
fried spinach leaf with puffed up wild rice and cheese
chicken liver mousse in gougères
I haven’t had pomelo is so long, so this scallop dish brought back memories! Just to note, they added more pomelo to our dish as there would normally be porkneck dashi. The scallop was cooked perfectly and the saltiness of the fish roe complimented the bitterness and sweetness of the pomelo. This was easily my favourite dish of the night!
Scallop: Seared scallop, pomelo and white fish roe salad, rosehip veil, cardoon
The decadence just kept on coming when the duck course arrived. A slab of salted foie gras was on our plate along with a lovely arrangement of beets on top of a well cooked piece of duck. It was such a savoury dish that borderlined as a guilty pleasure.
Duck: Glazed/pickled beets, salted foi gras, wild rice, chestnut jus, cherry veil
Who ever thought of beet as a dessert? It was hard enough to get me to eat it as a kid. But when mixed with chocolate to create a creamy mousse, it worked! The granola was the added textural component. I was surprised by the smokiness of the crémeux and how the mint oil wasn’t overbearing. The staff stepped it up a notch and presented the dish with a candle for my boyfriend’s birthday!
Beet: Chocolate and beet mousse, granola and dried fruit, smoked chocolate crémeux, mint oil
The mushroom dessert had a lot of asian influences. The asian pear and tree fungus which are traditional ingredients used in asian dishes were used. To create a sweetness to the tree fungus it was poached in vanilla. Don’t be alarmed by the term “fungus”. The texture is like eating a thin sheet of gelatin…slightly slippery. I’ve never seen candied mushrooms before, so this was definitely an experience.
Mushroom: Candied mushroom, vanilla poached tree fungus, asian pear, smoked almond custard
To end off our wonderful meal, we had a latté.
Latté
Overall, I can see why this is one of the top rated restaurants in Toronto. The ambience is quite cozy with the dim lighting. The food is absolutely delicious and the service we received was over and beyond our expectations. Not only did the waitress take note of our dietary concerns and the special occasion, she actually wrote down the description of all the main dishes for me on the back of the menu when asked. Definitely worth every single penny! I would not hesitate to go here again!
