Cafe Cinquecento

Location:

791 King St W., Toronto

www.cafecinquecento.com

Went here for a friend's birthday, one who is a trusted foodie with great taste, and she was right.

I loved the atmosphere and the service and the story behind Cafe Cinquecento.

The Fiat 500

Cafe Cinquecento

The menu left me absolutely TORN...there were many routes I wanted to go: there was pizza, pasta, the specials...and then....I saw BRICK PRESSED CORNISH HEN.

Our server explained it to me as follows: they cook the hen with a brick placed on top (exactly how you imagine) so that it cooks both sides crisply and keeps all the moistness within (like so).

I was convinced.

And pleasantly surprised.

Gallo al Mattone: Brick-pressed Cornish hen [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Gallo al Mattone: Brick-pressed Cornish hen $19"][/caption]9

Everyone else's meals looked wonderfully put together as well, and although it all took a while to arrive, to be fair there were 20 orders made!  In the meantime we enjoyed rounds of bread, bowls of mussels and anitpasto plates.  Yum.  There was a spicy salami on there that was very memorable.

Antipasto Grande: Cured Italian meats, grilled vegetables, grilled seafood and spiced olives [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Antipasto Grande: Cured Italian meats, grilled vegetables, grilled seafood and spiced olives $18"][/caption]8

Calamari con Salsa di pepperoni: Grilled calamari with roasted red pepper sauce on a bed of arugula [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Calamari con Salsa di pepperoni: Grilled calamari with roasted red pepper sauce on a bed of arugula $13"][/caption]3

Salmone al Ferri: Grilled salmon fillet with a side of orzo [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Salmone al Ferri: Grilled salmon fillet with a side of orzo $17"][/caption]7

Costoletta de Vitello: Veal chop grilled with fresh herbs [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Costoletta de Vitello: Veal chop grilled with fresh herbs $18"][/caption]8

The only dish that didn't stand out was one of the specials: The tilapia on a bed of risotto with sausage.  Which, at least, four of us agreed, was bland and the sausage tasted like Oscar Myer weiners. 

Tilapia risotto special

But, the wine was flowing and it was simply a lovely evening of celebration.   There also suddenly appeared a lovely vase of red roses for the centre of the table!

Roses for the birthday girl!

And, I'm still astounded that the birthday girl picked up the whole tab!!

TV, the next one's on me!

Marcel's

Location:

315 King St West,  Toronto
Cost: Winterlicious $15 lunch ($69 for 4)

www.marcels.com

Winterlicious has been extended until Feb 28th, and Marcel's lunch menu was quite tasty for anyone who's still keen on getting on the "Licioustrain".



Here is their lunch menu:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soupe du jour
Fresh daily soup
or
Salade maison, vinaigrette balsamique
Mesclun greens with balsamic dressing
or
Terrine de campagne maison
House pâté with crostini

~~~~~~~~~~~

Filet de sole, sauce Champagne servie avec du riz basmati et légumes de saison
Filet of sole in a Champagne sauce served with basmati rice & seasonal vegetables
or
Filet de porc, sauce moutarde avec pommes purées et légumes de saison
Pork tenderloin in a mustard sauce, mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables
or
Penne au saumon fumé, sauce rosée
Penne with smoked salmon in a tomato cream sauce

~~~~~~~~~~~

Crème caramel
A bistro classic
or
Sorbets au choix
Daily choice of fresh sherbet
or
Glace vanille, sauce au chocolat
Vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The soup of the day was Beets and Carrot soup.  I love beets so I had to try it.  When our server brought our dishes to the table, he quite rudely requested us to move our plates to the side.  We were slightly taken aback, but soon forgot about it as we indulged into our appetizers.

The soup was thick and creamy, posing a potential problem for my lactose-intolerancy, but nevertheless, tasty.  It had a real "beet-i-ness" to it!  



My friend ordered the House pâté with crostini which she claimed was very good and not as fatty as can be.



For her main, she opted for the pork tenderloin in a mustard sauce, with mashed potatoes and veggies.



The rest of us went for the penne with smoked salmon in a tomato cream sauce.  I was assured that there was only a "little bit of cream" in it....



Didn't look that way to me.  Aside from eating around the cream sauce,  I found the tomatoey chunks of salmon to be very flavourful and  overall the dish was fantastic.  To be honest, I had to refrain from slurping up the remaining sauce.

For dessert, we all went for the Crème caramel:



I probably should have gone with the sherbet since by this time I was all creamed-out, but it was so cold outside that the idea of crème caramel appealed to me; for some reason I thought it would be warm (?).  Also, it's probably listed as a "bistro classic" because it can be made in abundance and kept aside for when it's needed (ie. for a Winterlicious crowd). It was good, but I don't think I am a fan of crème caramel [*shrug*].

All in all, a nice experience at Marcel's...and the rest of our service was totally fine.