Origin North Restaurant and Bar

Some good friends of mine decided to take me out to Origin North Restaurant and Bar the other night to celebrate my belated birthday.  Sharing the same parking lot as Bayview Village in the heart of North York, this place boasts of bringing a downtown tapas style restaurant to the northern parts of Toronto. 

Bay Scallop Seviche

We were greeted at the door by some pleasant staff members and were led to our tables in which we had reservations for that evening.  The waitress who greeted us knew the menu well and informed us that the meals ranged from smallest to biggest as we proceeded down the menu.  However, she also mentioned that because of the tapas style food, don’t expect even the largest proportions to be large.  Since it was our first time there we decided to go with a variety of dishes to try to get an overall taste of what Origin North was like. 

Beet Salad

We went with their Bay Scallop Seviche ($17) , Beet Salad ($13), Miso Black Cod ($33), Butternut Squash Risotto ($16), Smoked Pork Lettuce Wrap ($12), Fiore Di Latte ($17) and Spicy Spanish Fries ($12). 

Smoked Pork Lettuce Wrap

The bay scallop seviche was the first to arrive.  The scallops, mixed with lime, coconut and chili dressing sauce was immersed in another bowl of ice.  This cold dish had huge pieces of banana chips that were used to scoop the sauce and the scallops together.  I have to admit the spiciness of the dish caught me of guard a little bit as I was not expecting it to this spicy especially when immersed in the ice bowl.  There was quite a bit of dressing sauce and a fair amount of scallops inside the bowl, so much so that the lady actually had to bring us extra banana chips to help scoop up the sauce.  I personally liked the contrast of the cold dish and the hot spiciness of the dressing.  Although some people would prefer to eat the scallops on their own, the chefs certainly earn top marks for trying to make this an interesting dish. 

Butternut Squash Risotto

Next to arrive was the beet salad and I must say, presentation wise it looked really good.  Covered with goat cheese, red onions, yogurt, walnuts and cherry dressing, it certainly looked like a dish people would love to have, especially for Christmas.  After divvying it up, I have to admit that this was a pretty good tasting dish.  The beets were fresh, juicy and very, very tasty however what I thought really brought this dish to the forefront were the walnuts.  The absence of the nuts would have made this a very ordinary dish but just the extra nuts made it a wonderful dish.  It is a great dish to have especially if there are any vegetarians out there.  

The miso black cod was also quite amazing however the $33 price tag attached to it may turn some people away.  The cod itself was a real fat piece of fish that was still sizzling on its plate along with some baby bok choys and gingers surrounding it.  The fish was very good and there was plenty of baby bok choys lying around.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with the dish again except for the high price tag associated with it. If you can afford it, it is one dish one could certainly give it a try.  You won't be disappointed.

Miso Black Cod

The risotto arrived next where one can tell it was mixed with some pumpkin seeds, walnuts and mascarpone.  The risotto itself was a little soggy, creamy and quite bland.  One could not really taste the butternut in the risotto.  The only thing that saved it in my mind were the pumpkin seeds.  For some reason, there was a strong aroma coming from them and the taste of them being there saved this dish.  Otherwise it was not really a very good dish and not one I would want to try again. If you are a risotto fan, you may not like the method they made this risotto in. 

The smoked pork lettuce wrap was interesting to say the least. I have had quite a number of these in the last few weeks so it was interesting to compare this one from some of the other places   The meat mixture consisted of daikon, carrots, crispy noodle and peanuts.  There were only two pieces of lettuce so sharing was a little bit difficult.  The overall meat mixture was chewy and quite crunchy.  It was almost like eating a granola bar wrapped inside a piece of lettuce.  There wasn’t really a whole lot of taste to it despite the small pieces of pork that was embedded inside the mixture.  Part of the problem was that the lettuce was huge and there was quite a bit of dry crispy noodles associated with the dish.  In my mind, it had overwhelmed the wrap a little bit.  A creative sauce added to the meat mixture would have really helped enhance the wrap.  As it stands, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. 

Spicy Spanish Fries

The spicy Spanish fries was probably my least liked dish of the evening.  It was a mixture of fries and what I believe were olives.  It was made to look like a poutine of sorts however the dish just looked very sloppy.  It was hardly spicy and actually didn’t even taste the greatest.  We only finished half the dish as the grease and slop just seemed a little much.  It was recommended by one of the waitresses however believe me when I say it’s one dish worth avoiding.     

Last to arrive was the fiore di latte.  In essence this was really just a mozzarella bar served with a piece of grilled bread mixed with truffles, mushrooms and spinach.  There wasn’t really anything spectacular about this dish other than the huge wad of cheese that was on top of the bread.  Despite the large piece wad of cheese on top and the sprinkles of truffles on top of the bread, this dish was rather dry and tasteless.  

Fiore Di Latte

In the end all I could say is that it started off well however it ended with a bit of a whimper.  Although it’s a tapas style restaurant, some people will have a difficult time justifying paying so much and getting back not as much.   I personally liked some of the food however it is certainly not a place to be for the super hungry unless one is willing to shell out an arm and a leg.  The atmosphere was good and it would make a great place for a one on one date however some improvements in the food would be recommended.  As such I would give this place a 3.25 out of 5. 

Origin North Restaurant and Bar

2901 Bayview Ave #300

Toronto Ontario

 416-479-8833