Diner
Swan
892 Queen W, at Crawford, 416-532-0452. Long before it was a teenage shopping mall, Queen West was a strip of retro-fitted luncheonettes like Damian Heath and crew’s endearingly quirky café. Untouched since the 40s and decked out with its original wooden booths, lunch counter and bar stools, the room’s the perfect setting for comfort food as old-school as the decor. Expect mob scenes for weekend brunch. Best: from a vintage pop cooler, freshly shucked Oyster Boy bivalves dressed with freshly grated horseradish regular specials like ale-steamed mussels BBQ-style beef short ribs braised in Wellington microbrew free-range capon breast with vanilla bourbon peppercorn gravy over buttermilk mash seared Black Angus sirloin with roasted spuds and Yorkshire pudding at lunch, Oyster Boy po’ boys at brunch, Hangtown Fry, scrambled eggs with pancetta and oysters. Complete dinners for $45 per person (lunches/brunches $22), including all taxes, tip and a domestic beer. Average main $20/$10. Open for lunch Monday to Friday noon to 3:30 pm, dinner Sunday to Wednesday 5 to 10:30 pm, Thursday to Saturday 5 to 11 pm brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 3:30 pm. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN
Seafood
Oyster Boy
872 Queen W, at Massey, 416-534-3432. Founded by Boy Adam Colquhoun in the early 90s as a wholesaler and caterer of everything mollusk, this casually chic shellfish shack has been packing them in since it launched in 01. Diner-style digs and retro Stompin’ Tom-to-Johnny Cash soundtrack. Bonus: five beers on tap including Mill Street Tankhouse Ale and Creemore Springs Pilsener. Best: beer-battered halibut and chips sided with apple, daikon, cabbage and carrot slaw in tart citrus vinaigrette straight-from-the-sea raw on-the-shell oysters – Malpeque, Belon, Wallace Bay, Bras d’Or Lake, say – served a dozen different ways (Rockefeller with spinach, fennel and cream, Casino with bacon, tomato and peppers, Imperial with caviar and cognac) but best simply drizzled with lemon. Complete dinners for $45 per person, including all taxes, tip and a domestic beer. Average main $20. Open Monday to Wednesday 5 to 10 pm, Thursday to Saturday 5 to 11 pm. Closed Sunday, some holidays. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN
French
Le Select
432 Wellington W, at Spadina, 416-596-6405. Famed for its exceptionally deep wine cellar, this transplanted Queen West institution also carries a diverse lineup of local and imported bieres, including Blanche de Chambly on tap. And though the new and more refined room no longer features bread baskets that descend from the ceiling by ropes, much of the resto’s original flavour – a long zinc-covered bar, walls hung with art nouveau posters painted nicotine yellow, a gas-burning fireplace – remains the same. Best: mussels steamed in Quebec Maudite ale with smoked pork belly and fabulously skinny house frites gently beer-braised Tripes à la Tripelle Oreille de Cochon, strips of crispy sow’s ears sided with lentils du Puy and watercress Crêtes de Coq, braised cockscombs with mushrooms, pinenuts and artichoke-stuffed tortellino daily specials like oxtail ravioli with salsify, sweetbreads braised in Madeira, or lamb shank and marrow bone in risotto nightly $19.95 two-course prix fixe – steak frites, duck confit or mushroom risotto – with salad or dessert. Complete dinners for $55 per person (lunches or brunches $30), including all taxes, tip and an imported beer. Average main $21/$13. Open Sunday to Wednesday 11:30 am to 11 pm, Thursday 11:30 am to 11:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30 am to midnight. Brunch Saturday and Sunday till 4 pm. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN
La Palette
256 Augusta, at College, 416-929-4900. Since its launch back at the turn of the 21st century, Shamez Amlani’s charmingly chic Kensington bistro has been a magnet for foodies who enjoy exceptional comfort-food-style cooking accompanied by imported brews from one of the most extensive beer cellars in town. Best: not for the squeamish, Quack & Track, pan-seared duck confit coupled with grilled horse tenderloin – yes, fillet of filly – and sided with seasonal veg ‘n’ fingerlings in citrus demiglaze duck liver pâté with pickled cornichons and onions garlic-butter-drizzled escargots in mushroom caps triple A Black Angus strip loin with Yukon Gold frites and sun-dried tomato and herbed brandy butter to finish, classic lemon tart. Complete dinners for $55 per person (brunches $25), including all taxes, tip and an imported beer. Average main $22/$10. Open for dinner Sunday to Thursday 6 to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 6 to 11 pm. Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm. Licensed. Access: three steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNN
Pub Grub
Rebel House
1068 Yonge, at Roxborough, 416-927-0704. Regulars fill both the cramped downstairs and upstairs rooms – all worn plank flooring, craggy wooden counters and coarse stucco walls – as well as a parachute-covered patio out back year-round. Bonus: more than 20 Ontario-only microbrews on tap – well, except for the Guinness. Best: from a Canuck-inspired card, minced buffalo ‘n’ beef burger on a kaiser topped with ancho ketchup, red onion and pickle on a kaiser at dinner, old-fashioned meat loaf with roasted onion mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and succotash cornmeal-crusted Ontario pickerel with roasted spuds and seasonal veg. Complete meals for $40 per person ($20 at lunch or brunch), including all taxes, tip and a pint. Average main $18/ $10. Open Monday to Friday 11:30 am to 11 pm, Saturday 10:30 am to 11 pm, Sunday 10:30 am to 10 pm brunch Saturday and Sunday 10:30 am to 3 pm bar nightly till 1 am, Sunday till 11 pm. Licensed. Access: two steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNN
Café
Atelier Thuet
171 East Liberty, unit 153, at Hanna, 416-603-2777. The retail spin-off of his eponymous King West brasserie, celebu-chef Marc Thuet’s Liberty Village cafe has doubled in size, spilling into the storefront next door. Now decked out with plasma screens tuned to New Wave classic flicks à la Truffaut and Chef’s own cockeyed paintings, the chandelier-lit room attracts a dedicated foodie following. Beer aficionados will want to check out the extra-strong Belgian ale known as Carolus’ Cuvée Van De Kaizer that’s brewed only once a year on the birthday of the late King Charles V. Best: at dinner, Mill Street beer-brined and roasted Perth County capon with stellar house frites beer-braised Berkshire pork schiffala with warm Alsatian potato salad Scottish pickled eggs with creamy sauce gribiche at brunch, baskets of house-baked croissants grilled Ontario peaches sided with Berkshire prosciutto. Complete dinners for $65 per person (lunches/brunches $35), including all taxes, tip and an imported beer. Average main $28/$18. Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 am to 2:30 pm, for dinner Tuesday to Suinday 5:30 pm to midnight. Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10:30 am to 3:30 pm. Closed Monday, holidays. Licensed. Access: barrier-free. Rating: NNNN
Vegetarian
Live Organic Food Bar
264 Dupont, at Spadina, 416-515-2002. Since launching as a microscopic takeaway next door just five years ago, owner/chef Jennifer Italiano has established herself as the diva of the local raw food scene. Now ensconced in far larger and much more stylish digs – complete with backyard patio – Italiano’s always inventive card is not only ridiculously eco-conscious, it’s darned tasty to boot. Wash it all down with one of eight locally sourced and organic micro-brews or organic hemp sake. Best: Live It Up Lasagna, raw zucchini ribbons dressed with basil pesto, garden veggies, cashew ricotta cheese and sun-dried tomato and kalamata olives in marinara sauce sprouted-buckwheat-crusted pizza with sunflower-seed cheese, corn, red onion, spinach, tomato and fresh basil at brunch, gluten-free pumpkin/buckwheat pancakes with seasonal fruit. Complete dinners for $45 per person (lunches/brunches $25), including all taxes, tip and an organic beer. Average main $14/$10. Open Tuesday and Wednesday 11 am to 10 pm, Thursday and Friday 11 am to 11 pm, Saturday 11 am to 10 pm. Brunch Sunday 11 am to 2:30 pm, dinner till 9 pm. Closed Monday. Licensed. Access: 11 steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN
