Globe Bistro

A recent search on the internet revealed a coupon to Globe Bistro which is considered one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Toronto.  With its 5 out of 5 rating on TripAdvisor.ca, the restaurant boasts some of the best meals in the city.  The coupon that we found online allowed us to take part in their tasting menu for about 25% off.  It included a six course meal which ranged from sirloin steak to fish to a couple of appetizers.  A few of my friends had been here before and forewarned us that as good as their food, the amount of time spent at the restaurant could take upwards to three hours.  I said if the food was good then extra time spent waiting for the meal would be well worth the price.

We made reservations for the evening and were given a seat in the back of the restaurant since there were about eight of us. Looking around, the interior of the restaurant was nicely decorated with beautifully lit dim lighting giving it a modern romantic feel to it.  Since it was tasting meal, there really was no need to look at their menu as their meals were set.  With the coupon this evening, each individual was charged $45.00 per person.  We also got a bottle of red wine to go with our dinner as most of their wines are half price off on Sunday evenings.

The first meal to arrive was this Crouton Pate Spread on a small piece of toast.  There were eight pieces, one for each person at the table.  The portions were quite small and unfortunately many of us were pretty hungry.   The bite size appetizer was good however a bigger portion of it would have been better.

Crouton Pate Spread on Toast

Next to arrive was the Celery and SunChoke Puree Soup.  The soup was presented nicely with a simple and clean look to it.  The soup itself was very smooth which many people at the table were able to take notice of it.  The taste was unfortunately a little bit heavy on the salty side. Although I am personally immune to such saltiness, many of the people were saying that the soup was too salty for them.  The taste was however not all salty all the way to the end.  As one got to the bottom of the bowl, the soup actually became sweeter so that it actually ended up being a sweet and salty soup.  An interesting combination of tastes giving it a very unique flavor however the majority of the people at the table found the soup to be too salty for them.

Celery and SunChoke Puree Soup

The Greens arrived next which basically consisted of cauliflower, raisins, quinoa and frisee all mixed into one. The salad was a little dry as there was little to no salad dressing in it.  Eating quinoa dry is sometimes a little bit rough for the throat.  With little to no dressing in it, the only moisture coming from this salad were from the raisins. 

The waitress then came back and told us the next dish was "a break dish" in that it was to give us a break prior to the entree meal.  I wasn't too sure what that meant when all that was served up to that point were the soup and the salad.  As many of us were pretty hungry up to that point, the last thing we wanted was a break.  The dish they brought out to us was a small scoop of  Niagara Cherry Sorbet Ice Cream.The ice cream was good but real food would have been greatly appreciated. 

Niagara Cherry Sorbet Ice Cream

The entrees finally arrived.  First to arrive was a Lake Erie Pickerel which was a piece of pickerel immersed into a crab chili broth.  The fish itself was very fresh and tasty.  The soup itself was very similar to a tom yom soup in that it had the sourness of the vinegar in the soup mixed with a bit of chili spice gave it a spicy and sour taste to it.  Personally, I would have separated the two in that the soup practically overwhelmed the great sweet taste of the fish. Others around the table mentioned that the two went well together.  Either way, this was probably one of the better dishes of the night no matter how it was served.

The meat entree of the evening was the Foie Gras Puree mixed with Sirloin Steak.  The foie gras puree sauce I have to admit was very good however it was more or less a substitute for the lack of gravy or sauce for the dish.  My steak was made to well done even though it would have been better if was served medium rare or rare for that matter.  The pieces were rather small and there were only four pieces available.  What made it more difficult in addition to chewiness well done of the meat was that the meat was lukewarm at best.  I thought it was just my dish but none of my colleagues steaks were hot.  A little disappointed in that it sure looked good when it came out and considering it took almost half an hour for it to arrive after the last dish, I was expecting the quality to be better.

Foie Gras Puree mixed with Sirloin Steak

The next two to arrive were desserts. The first one to arrive was Cheese Mixed with Fresh Honey and Nuts.  The cheese was pretty decent however what really made this dish stand out was the fresh sweet honey.  The honey was pure, very sweet and had everyone lick their spoons clean.  The rest of the dish I found was unremarkable.  There were some nuts, a few slices of apple and that was about it.  If they had just served the honey, I think most people would have been satisfied with it.

Cheese Mixed with Fresh Honey and Nuts

Last was the White Chocolate Lavendar Mousse in Dry Meringue with Saskatchewan Berries Sauce.  This dessert was pretty decent in that the sweetness of the berries sauce mixed with the dry meringue and white chocolate lavendar mousse really had a bit of a wow factor to it.  This dessert was probably my favorite dish of the evening.  My only complaint was that all the dishes were somewhat disporportionate.  Some had bigger pieces of meringue, some had more pieces, some had way more berries sauce and some had considerably less. 

The problem I had with the entire meal was that the portions were extremely small and for the amount of money paid person, some felt that it was hard to get equal value for the amount of food tasted.  It was not overly filling and I'm sure some of my friends went out for late evening snacks afterwards.  The portions were all quite small and yet it still took two and half hours from start to finish for the 6 courses to arrive at the table.  Pictures of their actual meal look stunning on their website and I could only hope that the food is much better there and have bigger proportions.  I loved the second dessert and that was about it.  I was a little disappointed partly because I had high expectations.  Thank goodness for the Groupon discount coupon.  It would have been harder to stomach if we had paid full price for it.  For me, I would give my experience a 3.25 out of 5.

Globe Bistro

124 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M4K 1N1 (416) 466-2000