Messis

Dad came to Toronto today, and took me out for dinner - we went to Messis, a restaurant that's very close to where I'm staying on Harbord Street.

For appetizers we had:



A goat cheese and walnut phyllo bundle, with cranberries and a raspberry viniagrette. I liked it, although I think I prefer my goat cheese more simply prepared.

Grilled soya-orange marinated calamari. I don't usually eat calamari, but I did try a piece, since Dad said it was very good. I don't know, I just can't properly appreciate calamari.



For an entre I had roasted chicken breast stuffed with pancetta, with mushrooms, zucchini, onions, sweet potatoes and sun-dried tomatoes in a gorgonzola sauce. I thought it was very good - the chicken was moist and the vegetables were tender. I thought I couldn't really taste the gorgonzola in the sauce, but then I dipped some bread into it and ate it that way. Mmmm, gorgonzola.

Dad had a grilled veal chop with market vegetables and a roasted garlic potato gratin. The veal was very good (so said Dad, although I prefer my meat, you know, with either bacon or pancetta in the vicinity) but he said he found the gratin too rich. I'm not that big a fan of potatoes, so I couldn't say.

Dessert, pictured at the very top, was a nectarine tart with vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was really good - sweet, rich and creamy, with flecks of vanilla and caramelized sugar. The tart was also good - not too sweet, and the nectarines still had a fresh fruit taste (because sometimes with fruit tarts, the fruit is cooked so much that it mostly just tastes like sugar - that wasn't the case here. I could clearly taste the nectarine.) If you look at the picture above, you'll notice my weakness with dessert: this was the only dish that I started mauling with my fork before I remembered to snap a picture. Although I hadn't yet taken a bite when I took the picture though. Clearly I am improving in my willpower.

Overall I enjoyed the dinner quite a bit, and thought the service was good too (although it wasn't that busy). Would I go back? Probably, if it weren't for the fact that there are about a million other restaurants in Toronto I'm dying to try first : )