Our Summerlicious 2019 food trail took us to Cluny, a fine French restaurant in Toronto's Distillery District.
Toronto's Distillery District is a pedestrian-only entertainment, shopping and dining hub created by re-purposing historic distillery buildings of Old Toronto. The vibes and feel of the place reminds me a bit of Shanghai's Xintiandi ๆฐๅคฉๅฐ.
The Distillery District is just 10 minutes by streetcar from Toronto's Financial District. We took a 30 minute leisurely evening walk from the gleaming glass towers to the centuries old red and brown brick buildings of Old Toronto. It's a nice summer's day with a light breeze.
Many of the heritage buildings were converted into bistros, bars, cafes, restaurants and others into retail shops.
Some still operate as boutique distilleries with bar.
Our dinner this beautiful evening was at Cluny.
Guests can sit in the patio.
Or, the bar.
There's the patisserie and cafe.
We chose to sit at the main dining hall. (There are also private dining rooms.)
The ornate decor is described as Neo Parisian. It is just splendid. The restaurant felt opulent, luxurious yet comfortable and welcoming - welcoming because the staff were warm and friendly, fellow patrons were relaxed and cheerful banter rang from every corner of the large room.
For foodies, Summerlicious (and Winterlicious) are good times to be in Toronto. We get to try Toronto's fine restaurants at budget friendly prices. Tonight's 3 course dinner at Cluny costs CDN43++ per pax. About 200 restaurants take part in Summerlicious (and Winterlicious), so there are plenty of options for every taste.
We were served butter and house made bread once our orders were taken. We like the warm freshly made bread here.
From where we were seated, we had a front row view of the bread bar ๐
Our appetisers arrived.
Salmon tartare set on a bed of burnt chili salsa, topped with aromatic cilantro and served with crisp gaufrette potatoes (waffle fries). We love this appetiser.
Bayou balls with gruyere cheese and savoury tangy creole dip.
The meaty balls were crumbly gritty crisp outside and inside they were tenderly moist with minced meat and cheese. This tasty but hefty appetiser can be a meal in itself, even for me.
Our entrees.
Pan seared King Salmon served with wild rice pilaf, wild mushrooms, peas and truffled creme fraiche.
8oz hangar steak served slathered with garlic aioli and frites (French fries).
I requested for my hanger steak to be done medium. It was tender with a slight chewiness. It was mildly savoury and beefy. It's nice. All of 8oz, I had to work rather hard to finish it ๐
The savoury sweet, skinny crispy fries were really tasty.
Bittersweet hazelnut tartlet with milk chocolate chantilly and berry cremeux.
Buttermilk cake with zesty lemon curd and yogurt sorbet.
๐ Nice food, gorgeous if lavish ambiance, good service, budget friendly price, leave with a full happy stomach - all the boxes checked. What more can one ask for? ๐
What is Johor Kaki doing in Toronto? ๐ click
Restaurant name: Cluny Bistro & Boulangerie
Address: 35 Tank House Lane, Toronto, ON M5A 3C4
GPS: 43°39'02.4"N 79°21'28.6"W ๐ 43.650661, -79.357943
Tel: (416) 203-2632
Hours: 10:00am - 11:00pm
Date visited: 13 Jul 2019
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