Address: 131 Bloor St W #211, Toronto, ON M5S 1R1
Phone: (416) 551- 9929
Website: http://toronto.lasociete.ca/
Credits: Yelp
Yorkville area is known for the luxurious stores and restaurants found along the streets and alleys. La Societe is one of the many eateries, known for its French bistro and posh interior decor. This is a great restaurant for after work dinners, dates, family reunions and parties. The atmosphere is just great and very romantic. It is just too easily accessible via the TTC subway or streetcar and has many parking lots in the area.
Credit: Girls on Bloor
The interior is spectacularly decorated and extremely detailed, from the stylish stained glass reverse dome ceiling to the mosaic flooring. It was absolutely stunning and an amazing attention grabber. It seems to symbolizes the attention to detail in french cuisine. The decor makes the restaurant fancy and dressy.
Their servers were bustling around the restaurant. I must note how they look even height and size, well kept and attractive. Each and everyone of them worked very hard to satisfy the diners. They all had smiles and looked sincere. It was very comforting and reassuring. Our waitor was extremely well mannered and patient, while explaining the menu and specials. He was very tentative that he could not stop filling our waters and bread. He was just so nice! I understand it is duty and is trained to be like that, but he kept an open mind and was accepting. It was great!
Quinoa Salad ($14) is mixed with black beans, green onions, sun-dried tomatoes and topped with lemon vinaigrette. The salad was very fresh and crunchy, with a hint of sweetness to it. It had a refreshing taste, much thanks to the zesty lemon, olive oil vinaigrette. I felt extremely healthy eating the appetizer because most of the food groups were touched upon – quinoa grains, beans as proteins and onions, tomatoes as vegetables. It sure sets up the expectation for the rest of the meal.
Mushroom Soup ($12) was drizzled with truffle crème fraîche. Portobello mushrooms, wild mushrooms and dried porcini were tasted in the soup. I believe the mushrooms were cooked in butter, onion and garlic to bring out its flavour and colour before blending and adding water plus cream. Truffle is usually a complimentary ingredient to a cooked food item for additional seasoning. The soup was rich and extremely creamy and had a strong mushroom flavour, while the truffle cream added a smokey aroma to the overall taste. It is interesting how the appetizers are quite contrasting, from light, healthy style to rich and heavy. But I do not regret it because this soup was amazing and remarkable. Literally, we downed down the soup till the bowl was shining clean. However, I hoped there were slices or bits of mushroom pieces that I can munch on.
36oz Tomahawk steak ($109) was dry aged for five weeks then grilled to medium, with a herb infused mustard sauce to dip in. On the side, it came with fries with mayo and a mixed green salad with balsamic vinaigrette, which was, once again, light and zesty. It is only served in portions for two. This platter pretty much took up the whole table space. This steak was a monster and, unfortunately, I had starters before the entree. We pretty much expected to have left overs.
The steak was very tender and juicy, all because of the dry aging process. The beef slices were extremely easy to cut and melts in your mouth. The fat is evenly distributed and well disintegrated. During the dry aging process, natural enzyme reactions in the meat breakdowns the muscles, therefore the soft and tenderness makes the meat more susceptible to absorption. The evaporation of the water from the dry aging process makes the beef juices more concentrated. I really enjoyed the steak. This was a very simple course, but the preparations were long. I must compliment how the overall outcome was very clean and savoury on the palette. Sometimes, a simple flavoured dish overrules anything complicated.
There are too many things on the menu I want to try. I will be back not only for the food but the overall experience La Societe gave me.
Ratings
Food 4.25/5
Ambiance 3.5/5
Service 4/5
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