Truffles

21 Avenue Road
Toronto, ON

Tummy Points: 1 out of 5

Winterlicious is a great oppotunity to sample some of Toronto’s finest dining for a fixed priced with a fairly fixed menu. Most of the top places are fully booked for Winterlicious within 2 days of opening for reservations. American Express cardholders have the opportunity to book two days ahead of the general reservations.

This year I had the chance to try out Truffles:

Roasted Cauliflower Veloute
Marcona Almonds, Curry Chantilly

It tastes like ordinary cauliflower soup. It wasn’t too thick nor too watery. The soup was served lukewarm.

Winter Greens with Beet Croutons
Blue Benedictine, Horseradish Vinaigrette

Various greens with a light mayo.

Braised Lamb Shanks
Truffled White Bean, Baby Vegetable, Natural Jus

Very soft and easily slides off the bone. Some of the surfaces of the sheep was dry. The baby carrot was crunchy but not raw. Once again, served lukewarm. Even now I’m thinking this was probably something left over from the lamb while the better parts are served on the regular evenings. Overall it tasted like something from a vat of soup.

Saffron Glazed Salmon
Chorizo, Mussel Orzo, Smoked Tomato Jus

Salmon was cooked evenly and well cooked. Top is crunchy. Mussels were the perserved type. As you guessed, served lukewarm.

Caramel Apple Mousse
Calvados Anglaise

This was the best dish of all. The sponge bottom was amazingly soft and spongy. Chewy yet not tough and not dry. The orange mousse suits the sponge layer very well.

Blood Orange Cheesecake
Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Cheese cake had a citrus flavour and ice cream was dull.

I was surprisingly shocked at the level of food quality. This has to be the worst “fancy” restaurant I have ever been to. It offered food at the quality I could easily find left over in the pot of my mom’s soup or cooked like it came from a highschool cafeteria. I would definitely not recommend coming to Truffles and would suggest avoiding this restaurant. There are a lot better choices in Toronto.