Rodney's By Bay

My daughter's godfather and godmother decided to take me to Rodney's By Bay for the celebration of my birthday.  We all love raw oysters and seafood and since we had never visited the new Rodney's in the heart of downtown Toronto, we thought it would be a great idea to do it.  We had been to the old Rodney's before located on the west side of downtown Toronto however we decided to go to the new one at Bay and Adelaide. 

Raw Oysters

We made reservations to be there for 6:45 pm and it was probably a very wise decision.  The place filled up very quickly and people who showed up without reservations were turned away at the door. 

Crab Cake

Amongst the four of us, we went with three dozen raw oysters, crab appetizer, tuna tartares, fries lobster poutine and seafood ravioli.  The raw oysters arrived first and we went with a combination of east coast and west coast oysters.  We chose Raspberry Points, Mallepeque, Lameque, Village Bay and Kusshi oysters.  As well we went with a special order of Kumamoto oysters which cost more because they are from Japan. 

Seafood Ravioli

The oysters were opened before us by one waiter.  After opening them, he placed them in an ice basket to make them colder.  After ten minutes of chilling, the waiter brought them out for us to eat. It is hard to really tell you which one is good as it is of course different from one person to the next.  Truthfully the Raspberry Points and the Kumamoto oysters were my favorite.  The Kumamoto was creamy and very tasty.  Then again all the oysters were very tasty and were quite fresh. 

Tuna Tartare

The crab cake arrived next and it was made on top of a salad.  The salad had a slight mixture of vinegrette sauce added to it and with the addition of the crab cake, it was certainly a refreshing appetizer.  The crab cake held together pretty good and was not overly flaky.  One can certainly taste the crab meat inside of it.  It also came with 4 pieces of crab immerse in a cup full of ice.  The meat was tender, fresh and chilled to perfection.   

The seafood ravoli was very rich in taste. Made in a curry sauce, this dish contained 4 raviolis in it.  Although the raviolis were tiny, they were packed with seafood and it was amazing.  It was not sticky at all and the curry sauce, albeit mild, provided that extra zing to this dish.

Next to arrive was the tuna tartare.  This was absolutely amazing.  I probably could have ordered 4 or 5 of these on my own.  It was just that good.  The first one was just a regular tuna tartare.  The middle one was immerse in sesame oil and the last one was marinated with jalapeno sauce.  All three were absolutely amazing.  It was probably one of my most favorite dish.  

Lobster Poutine Fries

The last thing to arrive was the lobster poutine fries.  I had never had a dish like this before.  I pictured this dish to be very heavy since many poutines are thick, heavy, most likely high in fat and/or very cheesy.  This lobster poutine was from it and surprisingly was very good. Although it probably has a bit of fat content to it, one certainly can not seem to taste it when one is eating this dish.  It actually had a very light taste to it.  I don't know whether it was me but I really couldn't stop eating this dish.  Normally when I eat fries or poutines for that matter, I usually stop after about 10 fries however this was so good that I really couldn't stop. 

Overall, it was one of the best night's ever.  Certainly for those who are budget conscious, it is not for the faint of heart.  The food was amazing and I would recommend it for anyone out for a special night.  For some reason, I think this place is better than the one on King Street.  I think it provides slightly more variety although that could be open for debate.  Overall it is definitely another must go.  I give it a 5 out of 5.

Rodney's By Bay
56 Temperance Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada

416-703-5111