MyWorldReviews.com

Sassafraz

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sassafraz is a 'hip' bar/restaurant in the Yorkville district of Toronto. When we first entered the restaurant (in the bar area) it was really noisy, but then proceeded through glass doors to the dining room that was much quieter. The food was all quite good, but there wasn't anything really special about it. The service felt a bit rushed, which lowered the restaurants rating.

Dress

Smart casual - jackets are not required, but probably wouldn't be out of place.

Cost

Dinner for four, with wine and desserts, was around $400. Entrees were around $30-$40.

Service

The service started off being pretty good, but we felt rushed out at the end of the evening. It was a quiet night and most of the restaurant had cleared out by 10:15. The waiters were blowing out all the candles and cleaning up and it felt like they wanted us to leave even though we weren't finished our tea.

Reservations

We made reservations, but it was very quiet on the evening we visited.

Items Ordered

Soup

roasted squash and red lentil soup with cumin cream

The squash with the red lentils was a good combination that I have not tried before. It wasn't as creamy or sweet as a typical squash soup. The cumin was also a nice touch and was a little more pronounced than in typical soups.

venison

chipotle crusted rack of venison with sweet potato dumplings, assiette of autumn vegetables and sauce Orleans

The venison was pretty good. It was served with a nice sweet red sauce that tasted like a wine reduction. It had a nice tasty chili coating on some of the venison that added a nice flavour and a little bit of crunchiness. The carrots and pearl onions were ok, but the sweet potatoes dumplings were amazing. They almosted tasted like plantains.

tenderloin

seared Alberta beef tenderloin with grit cake, winter succotash of black beans and root vegetables, ancho butter

The tenderloin was served on a grit patty. The two went very well together. There was also a nice sauce that wasn't as sweet as the vension sauce. There wasn't quite enough sauce for the whole steak though and I found it a bit dry at the end without the sauce. The bean and veggie succotaash was a bit disapointing. It was very plain tasting.

chocolate

chocolate flourless cake, almond crunch, espresso pastry cream and gianduja popsicle

The chocolate cake was very rich and dense. The ice cream in the popsicle had a great nutty flavor. The presentation was great. The dessert looks pretty small, but the cake is so rich that it was far too much for one person to finish after a meal.

cheesecake

macadamia nut crusted amaretto cheesecake, milk chocolate passion fruit truffle croquant, cherry tuille and cola syrup

The cheesecake was not cake like at all. It was really soft and creamy. It was covered in nuts. It came with balls of fried coconut filled with melted chocolate.