 he rise of the high-quality neighbourhood restaurant, spurred no doubt by ever-increasing numbers of well-trained ex-fancy -sous-chefs being unleashed on the marketplace has been one of the most impressive areas of improvement in Toronto dining over the past couple of years.
*Michael Wilson has replaced David Gaunt as executive chef.
Crush landed on King Street West of Spadina offering a chic bistro/dining room setting for lunch and dinner on a block that's home to a growing number of dining options. With a spacious interior, superb wine selection and a creative menu, Crush holds its own.
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455 King Street West, Toronto, ON
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6 Reader Reviews
This place has improved immensely. Visited on the weekend, and – I don't know, new owners, something – but fun, stellar place.
Bruce Ramsey's Rating: 4 Stars |
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Food was tasty. However if you are very hungry, the portion sizes are rather small. And I must say, the service was terrible...so I doubt that I will be returning. There are enough good restaurants in the city, why bother with the ones with bad service.
KT's Rating: 1 Stars |
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I had the pleasure of dining at Crush on Friday March 9th. From the moment we arrived we instantly felt welcomed. I am unsure who the previous reviewer met, but it certainly was not Jamieson Kerr. Jamieson escorted us to our table and then took time to assist us in choosing a fantastic bottle of wine. He truly understands hospitality. The food was so delicious! I suggest the Rabbit when you go to Crush. The service was very warm and attentive. Overall, a GREAT night.
Haley's Rating: 4 Stars |
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Last evening, my lady friend and some friends of ours dined at "Crush" restaurant. The main reason for the occassion was to experience the Winterlicious Menu.
I was not too interested in the "Winterlicious" menu and opted for the "Steak" on the menu instead (pretty mediocre-could have had better elesewhere for less). My friends all choose the very disappointing "Winterlicious" menu, and one from our party even sent back their food. We were later asked to leave as we had been at the restaurant for almost 3 hours and other guests were coming. It seemed that we were an inconvenience to the owner.
Yes- Jamieson Kerr is the most rude and abnoxious owner I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. His staff are very sensitive, so god forbid you call your server over as I did to ask for refills on wine .
Our server felt I was very demanding by requesting some more bread and wine for our group.
If you are interested in a fine dining experience where you will pay as we did ,$300.00 for 4 people, do not choose this restaurant. There is definately better establishments then CRUSH.
CRUSHED
Dale's Rating: 1 Stars |
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I dine at Crush a lot--both for business and for pleasure--and have to say, it is one of the best restaurants in town. I know all restaurants have the occasional bad night, and I must assume that 'Phil' was there on this rare occasion. But I must say, I've never had a bad meal at Crush!
From the service, to the wine list, to the food--all is of exceptional value. Plus if you like wine--this is the place to go. You can sample wines by the glass from around the world, and get learn a little something at the same time. Several members of the staff are sommeliers and they're not pretentious at all. The food is always interesting and dependable.
We've also had the occasion to use the private dinning room and it's been great too! Our clients have loved it!
There are many great restaurants in Toronto--that's a given--but this one is definitley worth a repeat visit.
And as an aside, from my experience, fois gras is often served 'pan-seared.'
Jenny, Toronto
Jenny's Rating: 4 Stars |
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So last night we eagerly went to the Crush Winebar on King St down the road from our hotel, and I thought I would write up a quick review for anyone that's thinking about going there:
First Impressions & The Bar
The atmosphere when you walk in is very warm. The lighting is nice and low, and the restaurant manager is the person who greets you at the door. Very friendly woman, however she asks if we wouldn't mind waiting in the bar for our table as she wants us to sit in a nicer table than what's ready (right at the door pretty much). No problem, we don't mind relaxing with a glass of wine and chatting, after all a good meal is worth waiting for!
She seats as at the bar, and it takes awhile for one of the bartenders to come by. When he did, he had the personality of a wet sock but hey, how "outgoing" do you need to be when basically serving wine exclusively. Amy has a glass of red and I noticed some high end tequila that I had on the rocks. Very good drinks!
The hostess/manager comes over after about 45 minutes and tells us that our table is ready. So off we go to sit down, near their open concept kitchen.
Further Impressions - Sitting at our table
We had some questions off their lengthy pricelist, specifically around a Barolo wine. The hostess sent over the sommeilier who gave us a quick history lesson on Barolo. We mentioned that really we should probably pick a wine once we have decided on what we will have, and I mention that I was likely to have the pan seared Tuna (See my other blog entry, been dieing to find a place in Toronto with a version that I like as much as what I had in San Diego and Florida).
"Unfortunately I think that may be sold out, but I will check on it for you". Ugh. Well that's a bit of a bummer, so I keep looking through the menu and see they have a seafood platter type of thing. That will fit the bill nicely.
At this point our waitress finally shows up and I asked her about the tuna (Since the sommeilier hadn't been back) and she said it was indeed sold out, as was the seafood platter. Now I am fairly surprised, since these are static menu items for them (and it's only 9pm), it's not like it was a chef special. I was pretty disappointed and Amy offered for us to go somewhere else, however I know Toronto and I know how difficult it can be to get in somewhere for a late dinner without a reservation. The waitress left us at this point to discuss options, and I decided I would try their special that night which was a Caribou leg with some sort of a cedar reduction. Can't say I have had Caribou (nor it's leg), so I figured what the hell I will have that.
I ordered the Caribou with 8 oysters to start, and Amy ordered the Foie Gras along with her main (Chicken breast stuffed with all sorts of goodness).
Fast forward 15 minutes and the waitress comes back to tell me that the Caribou is now sold out and would I like a veal chop? Umm no... I would not rather eat a piece of baby cow thanks. Any other night I probably would have been a LOT less graceful about the ridiculousness of them being sold out on 3 of 8 menu items, however it was supposed to be a relaxed evening on the town. So I took a deep breath, asked for the menu again and waited awhile for her to come back.
I scan through and there really was nothing else on the menu that I was interested in eating for $40 a plate, so Amy and I agreed to just order our appetizers then go elsewhere to look for something to eat. The waitress came back, I told her that we would just order our appetizers and then move on to somewhere else for a meal.. Her response of "I haven't put your order in yet if you just want to leave". This is where Amy and I disagree significantly, to me that was a fairly rude and "I don't give a damn" attitude, Amy thought it was considerate for her to offer the option to bail entirely. Take it for what it's worth I guess.. We stick with our appetizer order and continue drinking some wine and chatting.
Finally the Appetizers Arrive!
The appetizers show up, and surprisingly my raw oysters were fantastic! I am pretty picky when it comes to oysters, and I think it's because they were small. I don't like having a mouthfull of slippery raw oyster, so this worked out quite well. There was a sweet onion sauce that you could add on to the oysters that was FANTASTIC. Very very very good.
Amy was fairly disappointed in her Foie Gras, nowhere on the menu did it say it was only pan seared as opposed to cooked which is what she's used to. I tried it, it was ok.. Granted now that I have read up on how it's made, I don't think I will ever touch the stuff again (Yeah, they call it the "Delicacy of Despair" for a reason!). My poor wife is going to get tired of my granola ways one of these days I am afraid hehehe.
So we eat, and we pay our bill. At that time the sommeilier drops the bill on the table and says "We took care of your last two drinks", while definitely nice and not something they had to do, it still didn't sit right. Throughout the whole experience you could tell that the staff just didn't give a damn about the customer, what they thought or the fact that they were sold out of 40% of their menu items.
The little food we did get to experience varied from great to not-so-great, the atmosphere was nice albeit a bit loud once all the tables were filled, and in my opinion the experience was a wasted effort.
We ended up walking up the road (then getting in a cab because it was so damn cold out) and heading to Milestones for some late appetizers there, which was a great idea (Yeah I know everyone says "Why on earth there?"). Because that's where I met Amy, that's why, and the service AND food was a step up from Crush (with the prices much lower).. Plus baby animals didn't have to die for our spinach dip.
So if you are thinking of going to Crush Winebar in Toronto, save your money, time and aggravation and go somewhere that treats their customers well and can actually plan a menu properly.
Phil's Rating: 2 Stars |
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Crush Wine Bar |
455 King Street West, Toronto, ON
416-977-1234
King West
Eclectic
Restaurant, Bar
Mon. to Fri.: 11:30am - 11:00pm
Sat.: Dinner Only
$$$ (Within Reach)
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American Express |
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